Why You Should Build An Authority Site For Your Business
As an online business owner, you must have a presence so you must build an authority site as a platform to deliver your message.
Hey, Trish Davies here, and over the last few posts I have focused on creating your story and your message. I have concentrated on defining what makes you the person you are and how to attract like minded people to you. Your story is your unique selling point and something that people will connect with, but you need a platform to deliver it.
I know that there are platforms that you can publish your message such as social media and forums. They are powerful but to establish your authority status you must have your own platform. A platform that you are 100% in control of and your own piece of real estate online. I am talking about your own website so now is the point to build an authority site to set you apart from others.
So How Do You Start To Build An Authority Site?
Before you break out in a cold sweat the process of getting your authority site online is relatively simple. You will need to gain some certain skill sets but this will only help with your own personal development in online business.
The great thing about the digital age we live in is that there is software that does most of the heavy lifting. Before we get into that though everything starts with a name and in this case a domain name.
My personal recommendation is that your authority site is built around your personal name. I say this because when as your profile grows you will find that many people will enter your name in Google. Google, and the other search engines, will recognise that and start to show you within their search results.
If possible, always try and get your name with the dot com (.com) extension because it is deemed more professional.
You will in time have many profiles such as social media and YouTube, but your main hub is your authority site. Your other profiles will link to and away from that authority site therefore will also appear in the search results. This will only help you gain more authority in the eyes of your potential audience.
So, your authority site is your platform to deliver your message through the written word and visually. I mentioned in a previous post that written content is very powerful, but it depends on the content. Each post you create must have a purpose, so this is where you draw upon your unique perspective. Your story!
Layout & Navigation Of Your Authority Site
My advice is to keep things as simple as you can when it comes to layout and navigation. You want your authority site to flow and people visiting want to know what you site is all about. Therefore, your home page is where you can tell them what they want to know.
They also want to know about you which is why I have lots of information about myself on the home page. I also have information relating to my other businesses and the coaching programs I provide. All this information instantly creates authority which will instil confidence in the visitor.
All of my businesses sit under the umbrella of TrishDaviesInternational.com as this is my authority website.
I mentioned earlier that I recommend having your own name as your authority site. This is what I have done but with a twist. The twist was I added “International” after my name because TrishDavies.com had already been registered.
You may be faced with the same situation when trying to secure your own domain name. If that happens then just get a bit creative as I did
Across your navigation bar at the header of your authority site is where you can direct visitors to any other websites that your may have in your network. It is also a great way to direct people to other products and services that you have within your portfolio.
Your Authority Site Is Like The Trunk Of A Tree
A member of my mastermind summed this up very well when he said that your authority site is the trunk of a tree. As we all know the trunk is the centrepiece of a tree and the roots act as a foundation. Branches then stem from the trunk and they have many functions.
The play the part of being a support for the structure and what ever the tree produces. Also, they help provide transport for what the tree needs to survive such as food and water.
So, I am going to use this analogy for my own website network and how the main authority site provides support for my other websites.
Trish Davies Websites & Network
The image below represents how my business is structured with TrishDaviesInternal.com being the authority site or trunk of the tree.
Then I have three other websites branching of from the authority site. BuildYourAU.com is the website that you are currently on.
It is complimented by a real estate investing site called BuyingUSRealEstateTraining.com and a website called LeadYourLifestyle.com. This site gives information regarding a home business system that I use within a business model called Affiliate Marketing.
On my main authority site there is information relating to all these websites and businesses. When people land on my site the theme is that I provide information on wealth creation and personal branding. All these websites and businesses fall into that category, so everything is congruent.
Each of the branches or websites then provide specific information relating to that investment or wealth creation opportunity. So, the authority site gives the foundation and provides the fuel for those websites to thrive. The fuel is website visitors, but the other websites also support the main authority site.
They link back to the authority site which helps to build the authority status of that site with the search engines. You can look at it as though I have created my own eco system that works together.
This eco system is 15 years in the making and you initially will just have your authority site. As times go by you will be in the position of building your own eco system with websites branching off. It is important to remember that your authority site will always sit in the middle, or the trunk so to speak.
For now, just concentrate on establishing your authority status and build an authority site for your business. This is something that we focus on intensely within the Build Your AU program so click here to see how the program works.
Helping you build your authenticity, authority and audience.
Trish Davies
Recent Comments