Getting Links From Authority Websites

search-engine-optimization
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Everyone knows that links are extremely important for your web presence and the success of your business. However, there are links and there are links. Some links are not good quality and won’t help you. Others will help a lot.

The importance of the quality of the link

There are a large number of links on the Internet that are not of the highest quality. You can buy cheap links, if you desire to do so. There are several different people and places that have links for sale. Of course, if you buy links from a questionable source, there is certainly no guarantee that your links will do what you want them to do. If they don’t, you are putting your success on the line.

What is an authority link?

If you are buying cheap links, they are not authority links. You may be asking where you can get authority links and what they are. First of all, you need to go to an authority site. Authority sites are not difficult to find. However, you can’t always count on their being the top sites in the search engines. In fact, sometimes, you won’t even find them on the first page of the search results. It depends on the niche. One of the issues is that, after a search,  many people automatically choose whatever appears at the top of the page and that is not always the best choice. It is very important to consider the source before you choose the first item at the top of the page. The same concept applies to authority sites. They are sites that can be trusted as credible and true. However, placement in the search engines is not good enough in the credibility department. Authority sites generally get a lot of attention once people have caught on to them because of their credibility. You can trust the information that you obtain from those sites.

How to identify an authority site

In the past, you could safely rely on the top listings in the search engines being authority sites. However, that is less often the case now. Nowadays, it is much harder to identify authority sites easily. Because the data are read differently now, it often causes the search engines to push inferior websites to the top of the list and thus pushes higher-quality (authority) websites to appear further down in the rankings. If you are a person who relies heavily on analytics software to tell you about the quality of your results, those results may be skewed.

It is important for you to understand that you have to work harder to determine quality websites than you ever did before. A lot of the trust has gone out the window with the tidal wave of information that is available. When it comes to the number of people on social media channels and the number of connections that those people have, you know that it is often not about quality. It is about quantity instead. That completely dilutes the quality. If you were to ask any of those people with absurdly large numbers of connections, it is a safe bet that those people don’t know a large percentage of those connections or even have much in common with them (professionally).

Different kinds of authority sites

Formal societies

There are several different types of authority sites. In most cases, the searches that people use are not simple. They often consist of many facets and levels of searching. Consequently, the results that are obtained are often sophisticated and extremely valuable. Searching through social media channels is a great way to go because you obtain results quickly and easily in most cases.

If you are used to producing and syndicating a large volume of content, you are probably well aware of who your influencers are. Some authority sites for connecting with your influencers are chambers of commerce, large organizations with a large number of members, large, prestigious societies, etc. If you feel comfortable with it, it is probably worth the time and financial investment to connect with these people. The benefits far outweigh the risks in general.

News websites

Well-known, high-integrity websites are generally considered authority sites. You can trust those. Sites like BBC, CNN, Huffington Post and other newspapers are excellent choices. The next step is getting the people in charge of those sites to accept you and to submit content to them for publication. Of course, it goes without saying that your content must be top notch.

Conclusion

Now that you understand what an authority site is, the question is how you obtain those links. The first thing that you can do is to ask. In a lot of cases, if you ask, you will get. You can make requests of this type through Emails. Of course, that is not the only way to obtain those links. Another way is by creating really exciting content and then promoting it. Finally, you can take links from websites that your influencers use. This is a backdoor approach but it is often effective in any case. As important as links are to the success of your business, it is critical that you are discriminating about which ones you choose. After all, it is your business’s reputation on the line. If you get involved with authority websites, you will be developing good quality relationships with influencers and your relationships will be mutually beneficial.

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Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

3 Responses

  1. Akilah says:

    Via LinkedIn groups
    Group: Business Writers of America
    Discussion: Getting Links From Authority Websites

    Good article. An effective backlinking strategy takes work, time and trust.
    By Jacquelyn Lynn

  2. Patricia Weber says:

    Via LinkedIn groups
    Group: Linked User Group (Official Linked User Group)
    Discussion: Getting Links From Authority Websites

    I didn’t realize people bought links. Where HAVE I been?
    By Patricia Weber

  3. Pawan says:

    From Pawan via Business2Community

    Authority Websites are the one which is really loved by Search Engines like Google and getting backlink from such websites can really give positive single for your blog/website from SEO point of view as one backlink from Authority website is much better than thousands of cheap quality backlinks.

    One must always try to build quality backlinks from sites having good Domain Authority!