Being an authority figure in your industry is important. However, offering authoritative content through your marketing is rarely talked about. When businesses look at content marketing, they have a few reasons in mind: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a place to sell products, or a lead generation tool. All of these uses are perfectly valid. They are the most common purposes to use content marketing.
However, the type of content matters. Adding authoritative content into your marketing strategy should not be overlooked.
In this article, I’m going to explain authority-building content, why it’s important, and how you can use it as part of your marketing strategy.
What is Authoritative Content?
In short, “authoritative” or “authority-building” content is content that takes a deep dive into a particular topic. It offers a lot of valuable information. Most often it is used to build a brand’s reputation. It’s designed to make you a trusted and forward-thinking figure within any given industry.
This type of content doesn’t have a specific formula, despite what many marketers suggest. Writing good authoritative content is largely about the amount of valuable information provided. Secondly, how well it’s delivered. We’ll touch more on this below.
Another key difference with authoritative content is that it is not directly intended to generate sales. Instead, it is used to help create trust between customers and your business. The goal is to establish your brand as an industry leader.
While authoritative content is still in some ways a sales generation tool. It is extremely indirect. Sales shouldn’t be your primary intention when creating it.
So why is it important?
As mentioned before it is a great way to create trust and establish your brand. However, there are many other reasons why it’s important.
One of the primary reasons is important is Google’s E-A-T algorithm. E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. As the name suggests, this algorithm helps to show the most expertly-written, authoritative, and trustworthy content available for any topic.
When we talk about algorithms, it does not mean you need to start getting mathematical with your content. That will not appease Google and not help your ranking. Well, unless your company does something with math. However, there are some practices to put in place when considering Google SEO. It’s important that your authoritative content is packed with genuinely useful information. Plus it should be delivered in an authentic way.
Authoritative content will also help you build backlinks. Backlinks are a very important part of any SEO ranking strategy. Essentially, they are links to your content on another website. Using authoritative content can build your reputation as a respected source. Especially if other websites can link back to your content in their content.
For example, if you wrote a piece on YouTube marketing statistics. It includes in-depth research and analysis reports performed by yourself. There are many websites and content marketers who could use your article as a basis for their content. They then include a link to your article showing where they got the data for their article. Boom! They have just created a backlink for your business.
How do I make my content more authoritative?
To put it simply, go more in-depth with your content. Instead of skimming the surface of a topic, focus on an important aspect. Pick any topic and hone in on it. Dig deep. Be sure to include as much valuable information as possible. Don’t be afraid to give out a few industry “secrets”. This will help to establish your brand as an industry expert.
A good sign of an expert is someone who can break down complex concepts and topics into an easy-to-understand format. This is definitely something you want to try and achieve when creating your authoritative content.
Building on the previous point, authoritative does not mean you continuously speaking in complex technical terms. Instead, it’s the ability to simplify complicated topics. Put it in a way most people can understand what you’re saying. It is important to use technical terms where necessary, depending on the topic you’re discussing. However, if you can easily explain technical terminology, it shows that you know what you’re talking about.
Another way to make your content more authoritative is predicting and discussing potential future trends for your industry. You can talk about where you think your industry is going. For example, what’s going to be popular over the next 1/5/10 years. What you think needs to change to push your industry forward.
Writing Authoritative Content Can Be Tough
It can be tricky to come up with authoritative content ideas. Even trickier to produce them. There are a lot of aspects to it and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. However, if you begin writing your content in more detail with more in-depth research. Then deliver the content in an easy-to-understand format. You’ll be on your way to creating great authoritative content.
Remember, your primary focus should be to provide the most valuable information possible to your audience. Don’t focus on attempting to make sales or generate leads.
For more information on how to improve your marketing strategy and grow your business in 2021, check out the latest posts on the Intentionally Inspirational blog.
Written by Lewis James