Authority As A Pillar Of Semalt SEO 



SEO can't function on its own; it is made up of several elements which, when blended in the right proportion, gives a well-structured SEO. However, there are four main pillars when constructing a well-structured SEO. Like in buildings, pillars play a vital role. They take on the weight of the house and provide a rigid structure that helps the building survive even the harshest weather. The same applies to the pillars of SEO. These elements create the skeleton on which we build SEO friendly websites and web content.

Search engine bots look for authority, relevance, and trust of the website in the content and links used on a website. These elements prove that your website is safe and useful for search engines, and they are prompted to move it to the first page. Semalt, as an SEO expert, has spent years polishing its knowledge and strategies in helping websites get to the first page. As a result, we have thousands of websites that Semalt built and taken to the first page.  

Imagine a time before the internet and search engines, imagine how difficult it was getting information, especially in areas that were geographically distant from you. This meant we had to go on quests, searching for a source that had answers to our questions. 

Imagine you wanted to study the difference between Einstein's general and special theory of relativity. You could maybe ask your next-door neighbor, but what if they don't know the answer? If you could ask a physics professor, that may be the best option for getting your answer, but imagine the challenges these options come with. Finally, you may seek out information in a library. A librarian guides you to some books that shed light on your topic to get the answers to your problem.   

Authority as an SEO pillar 

In each of the cases above, the researcher who, in this case, is 'you' had to decide on the source of information. That decision marked out which source of information had the most authority to you. Authority in SEO is the qualitative measure that improves the visibility of a website and its contents, helping it to rank better. It has also become a core practice that SEO experts such as Semalt use to help your website rank better. Now, here is how authority works. The authority of a website determines the number of traffic it carries. For example, Google is a website with the most authority when it comes to search engines. This is why you're most likely to change your default search engine to google on any device you use.  

We will be discussing the branches of SEO authority, namely:
  • Domain authority 
  • Page authority 
  • Link authority
To better understand SEO authority, we will be studying each of them and seeing what areas they influence.

Domain authority 

The term domain authority became popular after MOZ introduced its metric. This is also where you will find most of the confusion associated with SEO authority. Some individuals use the term Domain authority when discussing domain authority, while others use is when talking about the MOZ metric. We must understand that domain authority means more than just a metric.   

To clear things up, we will be discussing Domain authority as a concept and Domain authority as a metric. Have you ever heard of the PageRank algorithm? While it is still used as part of Google's algorithm, it hasn't been publicly available for years. It was also the first metric used to measure domain authority. 

What is domain authority? 

Domain authority is an indicator of how well a domain can rank made up of several signals that prove that the website is of high quality, and its content can be trusted. These elements are what constitute a domain's authority. 
 
Some of these elements are: 
  • Age and trust 
  • Popularity 
  • Relevance 

Age and trust

Domains that have proven to have a good track record often survive for years. This lets Google know that they have earned the right to rank high. For a good track record, we can say that the website has hardly ever breached Google T&C. 

Unless a website migrates, search engines may not put a one day, week, or month old domain on their first page. Every new domain first has to earn its position, and age plays a role in that. However, writing good content as well as earning good backlinks also help. 

Popularity

Use the celebrities of today as an example. A large number of us want to associate ourselves with them for the advantages we are likely to get the same applies to be popular as a website. Once you can become famous, Google and other search engines will place your website on their 1st page because they get to benefit also. 

Some factors to consider when determining popularity are: 
  • Quantity of backlinks: the more backlinks your domain has, the better.
  • Quality of backlinks: quality backlinks attracts more authority and creates more trust. 
  • Amount of unique linking domains: the higher the number of domains linked to you, the more popular your webpage becomes which increases your brand awareness. 

Domain Relevance

The relevance of a domain plays a significant role in ranking a domain. You gain relevance from the content and the external links associated with a domain.  

What is a good level of domain authority

There isn't any right answer to this question. However, it all boils down to being successful in your market. When you have more domain authority than your competition, you simply will have the right amount of domain authority. But you will need more domain authority when you're moving to a bigger market. This is why we at Semalt try to put in consistent effort in improving your domain authority. This is because we believe your brand and business are always improving and need to improve to keep your business alive. The higher your domain authority, the better. 

Page authority 

Like domain authority, the authority of a page is the ability of that page to rank. Page authority shares the same differences in page authority concept and page authority metric. And as with domain authority, the higher the page priority, the better.

Page authority can be determined by:
  • Age and trust 
  • The amount of value received from links
  • The freshness of the last update

Age and trust 

Many of the pages with a good track record have been around for years, which has helped them rank. New web pages usually have to prove their worth before they can get ranked, and this process will take time. By taking good care of a website, we can provide it the right conditions to allow it age. By filling it with good and well-structured content, a website begins accumulating inbound and outbound links. This shows Google that you are trustworthy, and you can back up your claims making the page more authoritative.  

The amount of value received from links

Link quantity and quality are an indicator of the authority of a page. With an abundance of quality internal and external links, some form of authority is passed as well to such a web page. Like the explanation given for domain authority, having links in your site would help Google find your website and verify your authority.

The freshness of the last update

Search engines prefer pages that are frequently updated. In gaining authority, web pages need to stay updated and frequently refreshed. By doing this, you make it impossible to have stale information on your website, and you give your visitors fresh content regularly. You should periodically visit your most relevant content and update it regularly to stand a better chance of getting ranked.  

Page relevance 

Making a page relevant goes further than high page authority. You will need to have relevant keywords scattered around your web page to make it to the first SERP page. You boost your page relevance by improving your page content through keywords, internal links, and external links.

How to check your page's authority

You can find out the authority of your page by answering the following questions: 
  • Is the page ranking for some high competition keywords? 
  • How many backlinks are on the page? 
  • What's the quality of the backlinks on the page? 
  • How are many unique linking domains on this page?

Link authority 

Link authority is an indicator of the power and authority a link carries. As with the other types of authority, the higher the link authority, the better it is for the website. Several factors influence the authority you have in each link they are:  
  • No, follow attribute: this is common in backlinks that have been bought and are typically not earned.
  • Page authority of the linked paged: the authority of the page, which contains the link, is a strong determinant of the authority the link carries.
  • Amount of links on the page: be smart about the number of links a page carries. Seeing that the page determines the authority of a link, too many links isn't so useful.
  • Link location: the location of links are important in determining the authority they possess. Search engines attribute more authority to links within the page's content (contextual links). 
Thanks to Semalt, several websites have been able to achieve authority, which has proven useful in achieving better ranks on search engine SERPs.