Running an online business isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are many factors involved and a lot of things to look after.
Today, just creating a blog and maintaining social media accounts are not enough, you need to do more than that to influence the audience and get them to trust you. Being an authority figure means that you can influence a large audience via your actions because they trust you.
Don’t Be A Trend-Follower, Be A Trendsetter
A lot of online businesses have been found dwelling on the principle of following the tactics and methodologies of other brands and expecting the same success. This could backfire too because you don’t know what the other brand did to achieve the success it has now.
It’s not very original to copy someone else’s ideas. It’s more like you’re following an already introduced trend and this decreases the trust of customers and also degrades your online authority because people have already seen what you’re showing them, they want something new, something to remember.
You should be a trendsetter rather than a trend follower. Think of innovative ways to advertise your brand. Run campaigns differently, distribute free samples, host contests etc. You never know what might click your business and improve your online authority for good and earn you more customers.
However, this does not mean that you should pay no attention to your competitors. It is important to keep an eye on them and learn from them, but do not blindly follow what they do. Remember that no two businesses are same, and what works for them might not necessarily work for you, so always go the extra mile and come up with your own solutions.
Importance Of Building Online Authority
Owning a brand doesn’t mean that you’re an online authority too. To become an online authority, a lot needs to be considered and consistent quality is the first to be taken into consideration.
There are many businesses competing for the top spot in the rankings, here’s where online authority comes into play.
Being an authority means that you are an expert in your niche. People look up to you because your work influences them. Your experience sets you apart from the other packs who are fighting for clicks and views. This is how important it is to create a name for your brand in the online world.
Building up your online authority isn’t easy, it takes time and patience. There are many elements involved that can eventually help you win your customers trust and loyalty.
Elements Required To Improve Online Authority
- Good Quality With Visual Components
Many businesses fail to understand the importance of quality over quantity. However, there are many brands successfully producing good content. What you can do here, is add the visual element in your posts. Content which is aided with an image once every 100 words gets twice the number of social shares compared to content with fewer images. So you can come up with pictures, or even better, you can add infographics to your content because article with infographics are shared more than any other content type over social media. It will give your content a great boost and maximize the traffic.
Let us consider The New York Times, the website is known for winning Pulitzer prize for journalism. This indicates the excellence this website puts out on the web and is one of the most talked and referred to websites, all because of their online brand authority. When you say “The New York Times”, the other person will catch in a jiffy who you’re referring to. That’s what we’re talking about.
Online authority takes time to build. There’s no shortcut to it, you have to take on the long road and keep delivering your best with honesty.
- Write In-Depth Content
It’s a wrong assumption to say that short content gets more engagement because according to a recent survey, longer in-depth content gets 9 times more response than shorter content. The reason for that is you cannot fit in every piece of vital information in a 500 word post.
Remember, the deeper your content, the more fruitful results you’ll get. It also requires your content to be well-researched because that is what will push you ahead in the game. If you upload content that contains fluff then you will not be able to get good results.
- Relevant Linking Within Your Content
Authoritative links is what you should be looking forward to. They include putting high-quality and relevant links within your content. Your links should be informative and not directing to something which isn’t helpful or out of the picture. The more you satisfy the readers, the more acknowledgement you’ll get from the search engine and this will help you build good online authority.
- Guest Posting On Well Known Sites
The power of guest posting shouldn’t be neglected. It may be time consuming but it helps you in the long run.
Find a reputed blog and post your views there as this helps a great deal in improving your authority in the online world. You can also hire the services of a company like Globex Outreach to help you do that. Writing to websites and asking for a space can be time consuming, which is why hiring such companies is the best solution that you have.
You must remember the importance of time lag. Think of someone like Huda Kattan or Neil Patel; they took years to reach where they are today. All this was made possible due to their continuous hard work. You must be willing to put your best foot forward and then wait for results to come.