It seems like a simple question? Where does Google see you as an authority? It also seem like a critically important question.
For years bloggers have been taught to pick a Niche and become and Authority in the Niche. We have also been taught that SEO ranking in done at the page level. Each page is ranked based on the keywords contained on that page. (I talk more about keywords here.) We have been taught to concentrate on “On Page SEO” and “Backlinks to Pages.”
Times are a’changin’!
Matt Cutts (Google’s Spokesperson on SEO Trends) gives us a clue in his video on Webmaster Tools. Here is his quote: “We are doing a doing a better job of detecting when someone is sort of an authority in a specific space. It could be medical, it could be travel, whatever. And trying to makes sure that those rank a little more highly, if you are some sort of authority or a site that according to the algorithms we think might be a little bit more appropriate for users.”
Webmaster Help Video – Check Out Minute 4 and 36s
Basically Matt seems to be saying that Google is moving to a two layer system.
- Where does Google see you as an Authority
- How Relevant is your page to a user’s search Query (Traditional SEO)
Google is working to give a higher ranking to sites that Google sees as an Authority in the area the user is asking about. This would mean that pages with approximately equal on-page SEO and backlinks would be ranked differently based on the site that they belonged to. For example if there is one site that usually focuses on Travel and another site that focuses on something else, a travel related query would be more likely to be sent to the travel heavy site.
$64,000 Question! Where Does Google See You as an Authority?
None of us know Google’s algorithms, but we can take a clue from the Webmaster Tools Website.
Note: You SHOULD make sure that the Google Webmaster Tools is active on your site. One of the easiest ways is to use the SEO by Yoast plugin. There are several simple videos on YouTube that show how to copy and paste a single line into a text box and verify your site with Google Webmaster Tools.
One of the major tables in the Webmaster Tools shows you the words that Google sees you talking about on your site. It is fairly obvious that they use this information heavily to determine what they think your site is talking about. In other words “what does Google See You as an Authority on?”
Webmaster Tools – Keywords Index
#1 – We are looking at Google’s Webmaster Tools site
#2 – Click on “Content Keywords”
#3 and 4 – You can see that the seven variations of the word blog is rated as having the most significance on my site.
It doesn’t make much difference what I think I’m talking about on my site. Google sees my site as working to be an authority on blogging.
I suggest you go take about look at your site.
A Quick Look might tell you “Where Does Google See You as an Authority?”
Until next time, you have a Great Day! Oh Hale Yes! 🙂
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Hale Pringle – Hale Yes!
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Email: Hale@HalePringle.com
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Helpful as always, Hale. I will be following your suggestion here for google webmaster tools. Thanks.
Amy Hagerup recently posted..Four Lessons for Overcoming Jealousy When Comparing Yourself to Others in Your Industry
You are most welcome Amy.
It kind of surprised me how definite Google was about where my writing is targeted.
Regards,
Hale