Authority [in progress]

What is Authority?

What is website authority and how does it affect SEO?

Authority refers to the ranking, or power, of one website compared to another. For example, you’re a small local newspaper and you just created a website in the recent year. Who would you rather have link to your site? Another small newspaper website or CNN.com? You would want CNN to link to your site because they have a bigger link profile and higher authority than another small news source.

When a site with high authority links to your site, the crawlers notice that this highly rated site is linking to you, that must mean you have notable content that users may find helpful. Thus, the crawlers will rate your website higher on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Another example of authority would be the personal references on your application. The person interviewing you can call either your parents or your previous employer. They will probably call your previous employer because they have a higher authority when speaking about your work ethic.

High authority is gained through improving your SEO. This is done through link-building strategies, keyword planning, and a well thought out site structure. All of this will increase your ranking on the SERP and in addition, will increase your overall authority.

Why is Authority important?

How does a page or site gain Authority?