Building Online Business Authority And Trust

The internet has become a pivotal resource in the way we do business today and has helped many entrepreneurs get their business off the ground and thriving. Yet, with as wide reaching as the internet is, it can be difficult for businesses, large and small, to get noticed. Even more important, how can those companies increase their web-generated business? Is there a way that businesses can convey a sense of legitimacy, develop or strengthen their brand or become recognized as an expert in their field?

In short, yes, there is. It’s called Online Business Authority and it falls into the same category as Public or Media Relations. Similar to public relations efforts in print media, to increase online authority you need to put forth some effort and reach out to the appropriate media outlets or audiences. Over time, you’ll earn a reputation as a trusted resource.

Shaping Domain Trust And Online Business Authority

2012 authority building is different than that of a decade ago. It used to be that you could build up your online business authority with links galore, no matter the content. Now, it’s more important to have fewer high-quality, natural or organic links, than hundreds of bad or average links if you’re trying to increase website authority.

But link building in and of itself is not necessarily the best way to increase website authority or build trust. What works better is establishing yourself as an expert in your field and gaining exposure from that. Once you do this, you will increase website authority naturally and legitimate websites will soon want to be linking to your website or blog.

Establishing Yourself As An Expert

How can you establish yourself as an expert? Again, it comes back to taking the time to put yourself out there:

• Reach out to reporters, magazine, blogs, local and national news outlets. Volunteer to speak at industry conventions or to author or edit industry articles and publications.

• Start blogging. Blogging has become a popular way for experts to establish themselves. By blogging on your own website you maintain complete control over the information that goes out and what readers learn about you and your business or expertise. It’s important to include a head shot and use your real name on your blog.

• Always be on the lookout for opportunities. The more exposure you get and the more widespread that exposure, the greater your expertise appears.

• Use your past work to establish expertise. Here’s where the blog comes in handy. When you’re contacted by a journalist or media outlet, refer them back to work you’ve already published. The more you have, the better, since it clearly shows you know what you’re talking about on a particular subject. If you’ve been cited by other outlets, broadcast the information! It acts as proof of your expertise.

• Work each and every lead. Leads are precious. You won’t get one every time you try so when you do make sure you take the time to follow up on them and work them to your advantage.

Quickly Increase Website Authority

While you’re working on establishing yourself as an industry expert, there are some simple things you can do to your website to make it appear more trustworthy to visitors. These include:

• Contact us pages
• Physical addresses
• Executive team profiles
• Phone numbers
• Terms and conditions pages
• Copyright statements
• Current dates
• Privacy policy is a machine readable version as defined by the W3C
• Stories that have author bio-lines and photos
• Author profile page
• Author social media
• Authorship markup

Just like any other PR effort, it may take some time to establish your expertise but the payoffs are enormous. Once you’ve gained even a little bit of exposure, it can and will build up your reputation, driving traffic to your website and ultimately your business.

The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of Revolution Flyers, Inc.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13th, 2012 at 6:33 am and is filed under SEO/Web Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.