Comments on: I Jeff Quipp Am Not an SEO … I’m an Authority Builder

By: SEO Consultant Joel

SEO Consultant Joel — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:18:18 +0000

Great post all around. I agree that having a great site and content will make you an authority and help you to build links.

By: Malcolm Lambe

Malcolm Lambe — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:10:21 +0000

Don’t know about the others but the reason Darren Rowse is perceived as an “authority” is that he was one of the first to build a site around so-called “pro-blogging”. He got lucky. He’s no more of an “authority” than a lot of other busy bloggers. And you’ll note he’ll write about anything that’ll bring him affiliate income. Load of hogwash this “authority” business. Next you’ll be telling us DMOZ is the “authority” directory (just send your “contribution” in an unmarked envelope). One thing’s for sure – the net is not a level playing field.

By: Terry Van Horne

Terry Van Horne — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 21:40:21 +0000

I agree in such that anything that gets SEOs out of their pre-occupation with “links” and realizing “authority” is not about the quantity but quality of links is a step in the right direction.

I spend more time evaluating competitors sites then I do on link development. I know that if I can identify an “Authority Niche” opportunity then with a lot less work all the Authorities find it and… you’re in the club.

Too often I see SEO’s that see the keyword “mortagage calculator” and… they add a mortgage calulator. No research is done to:
A. Build a better calculator
B. Find an unmeant user need in a calculator and meet it
A. Use A and B to leverage all the Mortagage calculators out there.

For instance I see lots of calculators but I’ve never seen one that would keep results from every calculator for comparison by the users later.

The three “authorities” mentioned chose a niche they were very good at and the content made it happen er… in at least 2 cases. In one case well… they aren’t an Authority they are a “famous” or well known SEO. IMO, there’s a difference.

By: Utah SEO

Utah SEO — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 06:00:05 +0000

Yes, that’s really what Internet Marketing boils down to. Authority perception Development…you could drum but a dozen different titles.

I might be the only South Park fan here but…”RESPECT MY AUTHORI-TY” 🙂

By: Dr. Pete

Dr. Pete — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:28:43 +0000

Interesting discussion, Jeff. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the construct (and illusion) of authority online. Just as the search engines fall prey to their own algorithms, we humans have certain rules that we use to judge authority, and we aren’t always right either. It’s fascinating to compare how people and machines make judgments, and it’s an important area for both SEM and usability.

By: Ross Dunn

Ross Dunn — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:12:54 +0000

Great article Jeff. Dude you are on fire these days!

Anyway, my first instinct is YES! YES! That is exactly what I try to get across to my clientele… build your site into a resource that establishes authority.

@ SEO Catfish is right that getting info into search engines is an SEO practitioner’s role but that is awefully basic. It is like saying an advertiser’s job is just to get people to see their ads. That is a part of it but hardly the main point… the advertiser’s role is to make people act on the ads. By the same token an Authority Builder’s role is to get information out there that increases the positive opinion of readers and builds the perceived expertise of the writer/company.

Anyway, I rambled, sorry. Anyway, I am not so sure I would put “Authority Builder” on my business card but it is definitely a term I plan on using to describe in 360 terms what our objective is with each client in search engine marketing.

By: SEO Catfish

SEO Catfish — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:20:09 +0000

Really good article. I don’t believe that SEO is all about authority building because sometimes it is a matter of making the information more available to search. But certainly as it relates to external link building and moreso, the overall content strategy as it relates to being a thought leader in your space, I agree 100% with what you are saying.

By: Matt Ridout

Matt Ridout — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:10:03 +0000

“Say it with me now; I (your name) am an Authority Builder.”

Brilliant line Jeff, I said it by the way. It’s an interesting take for sure, like you said, sometimes the client won’t need an “authority”. In my experience I’ve been lucky enough to work on sites with that “authority”.

Great post

By: glengara

glengara — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:50:47 +0000

“Yet, they’re amongst the best known and most trusted people in our industries.”

Trusted? You seem to have bought into the celebrity culture thing….

By: Marios Alexandrou

Marios Alexandrou — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:23:27 +0000

If you can come up with a nice TLA that uses Authority Building in it, I’d be willing to switch away from being called an SEO 🙂 Who among us optimizes search engines, anyway!?