The Growing Importance of Authority Sites In Social Marketing
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The Growing Importance Of Authority Sites In Social Marketing
The following is an article from Jack Humphrey.
It is from the backroom of his Authority Site
Center, and is intended as an ad for said program
but frankly what he says is pure gold, so will just
post it as is.
Floyd
*************************************************
As Web 2.0 becomes less of just a buzzword and
more of a reality, the types of sites webmasters need
to publish will increasingly become more important.
In other words, mini-sites are slowly dying and cookie-
cutter article sites are on the way out as well. Web
surfers will become more value-focused and web
companies will become larger.
Over the next few years expect larger conglomerates
to be buying up profitable websites in their chosen
markets. Expect smaller sites to either be bought or
driven out of business. My intention is not to scare
you, but this outcome is inevitable.
Large businesses have always taken two approaches to
their desired markets. They either buy their competition
or they push them out of business. You want to be
prepared when this trend begins on the Internet.
Being a webmaster and online marketer, you should be
preparing for one of two scenarios. To position yourself
for a buyout to a larger company or to become the larger
company that dominates your chosen market.
Whichever route you choose is entirely up to you, but I
would suggest that it would be in your best interest to
begin focusing on authority sites. You can either start
building them or turning your current sites into them.
Whatever your approach may be, I assure you it will
help you sleep better at night.
What Is the Definition of an Authority Site?
A fairly comprehensible authority site definition was
put forward by Jason Dowdell of Global Promoter.
Jason defined it this way:
“Authority sites are sites that have
been linked to and referenced on other web sites
covering the same subject matter and they also will
have hundreds if not thousands of pages covering
that subject matter and nearly every facet of it“.
That definition is one man’s opinion, albeit a good
one, but let us go directly to the source. Many search
engine optimization and search engine marketing
experts believe Google has derived their primary
algorithm from a document titled, “Hilltop: A Search
Engine based on Expert Documents.”
The PageRank formula as we know it today was
derived from this paper, and the authors, Bharat and
Mihaila, define an authority site in the text below:
“We believe a page is an authority on the query topic
if and only if some of the best experts on the query
topic point to it. Of course in practice some expert
pages may be experts on a broader or related topic.
If so, only a subset of the hyperlinks on the expert
page may be relevant.“
“In such cases the links being considered have to be
carefully chosen to ensure that their qualifying text
matches the query. By combining relevant out-links
from many experts on the query topic we can find
the pages that are most highly regarded by the
community of pages related to the query topic. This
is the basis of the high relevance that our algorithm
delivers.”
What we have reprinted above is the foundation of the
PageRank system and the determination for deciding
which sites will be authorities. I highly recommend you
read and re-read the full document until you understand
every aspect of it.
What Are the Components of an Authority Site?
Allow me to present you with a diagram at:
http://www.contentdesk.com/authoritymap that
dissects your typical authority site. As you can tell
from the diagram, a considerable number of components
and systems must be in place for the authority site to
function profitably and reap the benefits of the
“Authority Site Formula.”
The Authority Site Formula = Visitor Optimization (VO) +
Content Optimization (CO) * Creative Marketing (CM)
A simple question must be asked. What do 99.9% of
authority sites provide? In a sentence, an incredible
amount of original content and a superb visitor
experience. The search engines want you to succeed
and they want you to make money, but you have to play
by their rules. In the future, focus your efforts on visitor
optimization and content optimization instead of search
engine optimization.
What Is the Anatomy of an Authority Site?
About.com is the definition and was the original
authority site. Their site has a generic domain name
and hundreds of subdomains on different topics.
Your authority site should take the same approach,
but not on such a general level. If you launch an
authority site, it should be geared towards a well
defined and large market. After you launch the site
and generate some traffic, you should create sub-
domains that cover specific areas inside that larger
market.
For example, Diabetic-Resources.Com is not an active
site; but if it were, then a typical authority site setup
would be something like:
* http://supplies.diabetic-resoures.com *
http://diet.diabetic-resources.com *
http://insurance.diabetic-resources.com *
http://symptoms.diabetic-resources.com *
http://treatment.diabetic-resources.com
Using this approach, you are able to target your
general market while generating more targeted
traffic pertaining to related sub-markets.
As a rule of thumb, the index pages on your domains
and subdomains should be more focused on content,
but the article and commentary pages should be more
focused on advertising. Just do not ever lose sight of
the most important aspect of your site, which is visitor
experience otherwise known as visitor optimization.
What Does It Take to Create an Authority Site?
You want to create a site that generates thousands of
visitors a day mainly through the major search engines,
and would ultimately be the one-stop source for
information in that particular market.
Your site must employ three traits to become an
authority site. Let’s discuss all three necessary aspects:
Dynamic: You should have as many RSS feeds as you
can muster to incorporate throughout your site. Your
visitors need to be able to receive RSS feeds for any
keyword, category or archive as well as create their
own. One feed is no longer enough to satisfy your
visitors.
Interactive: You should be engaging the minds of your
visitors at all times using surveys, commenting and
feedback. Make these features easy for your visitors
and your site will grow exponentially. Why? Because
they feel like you actually care about them. Interaction
is a powerful tool and creates a sense of community on
your site.
Consistent: You should post to your blog often, and
you should always provide quality and original content.
That doesn’t mean you need to produce 800-word
articles three times a week. Your goal should be to
become a news master. You need to be an “authority”
on the news happening in your niche.
If you follow the steps and guidelines listed above,
then you will be on your way to being the owner of
an authority site.
*************************************************************
See what I mean?
This is why I have become a customer of Jack’s,
and am working to put together my first “Authority
Site”. Don’t worry, I’m not going to abandon this
blog. Just planning on it being a stepping stone
to bigger things in other niches as well.
Check out this program HERE
(yes, this is an affiliate link)
Or just grab the Authority BlackBook
at absolutely zero cost.
That’s it for today.
Eat a peach!
Floyd Bogart
Add to Onlywire
A Social Marketer On Someone Elses Computer…
is like a fish out of water.
Don’t have my bookmarks, usernames
and passwords, current projects files
or any of the other hundred tools that
I use everyday without thinking about it.
This is what happens when you primary
computer goes down for even a day or
so. You download the wrong plugin, you
open the wrong email without your firewall
in place…
You screw up!
And then something good comes from it!
I ended up using my old Toshiba notebook,
and as I went scrounging around for a few
crumbs I may or may not have had when I
switched over to my new HP and there it was.
The leftover file from an ad campaign from
two years ago promoting a program that I
had more or less forgot about. I thought:
“Hey, in it’s day that thing
really made me some cash!”
So I stopped and went to take a look at
what they were doing these days.
Imagine my surprise to find $140.35 sitting
in my commission account! Wasted no time
requesting that of course, but still stuck
around to see what there was in the backroom.
Logging in I had noticed that their landing
page was totally different, so figured there
may have been a few changes but wasn’t prepared
for what I found.
1. A suite of 24 SEO Tools.
2. 35 killer website template downloads.
3. 15 Squeeze Page downloads.
4. HTML for 4 Splash Pages.
Not to mention a backlog of 1200 leads ready
for me to download complete with all contact
information plus time/date stamp and IP…
I haven’t even scratched the surface as to what
this program has to offer, and I am not going to
go on and on about it. That just isn’t the point
I am making…
Well, maybe I had left these guys behind but
they hadn’t missed a beat.
The moral of the story is to stay up on what
is happening in your market, and with your
income streams past and present.
If you are interested, you can see
what this program is by going HERE
If you’ve gotten this far, I’ll make you a deal.
Join for free and if you decide to try them for
even one month as a paid member, then I’ll
give you your choice of two websites from
the catalog HERE
And I will include free hosting on them for
2 years as well. All for taking a trial run and
getting some leads and tools in the meantime.
Just a thought.
But do yourself a favor and stay abreast of
those old programs that used to really rake
in the cash for you.
You may be surprised!
Eat a peach!
Floyd Bogart
Think Universally - Apply Internally
The title of this post is a reworking
of the Green Movement’s mantra of:
“Think Globally - Act Locally”
Much has been written, both online and
off about carrying this out in our
efforts to address the crisis that this
planet is in. Considerably less has been
said about this concept in our “spiritual”
development as a species, and as individuals.
Don’t get me wrong, Mr Tollle, Mr Chopra
et.al. are addressing this in their own
ways, but implementing this as individuals
takes some thought and occassionally some
interaction with others on their own journeys.
Eckhart Tolle is definitely the most visible
personality currently in the Self-Actualization
“movement”. He speaks and writes about the
gradual enlightening of us as a species and it’s
implications long term for the very nature of
our existence.
While I can’t say I agree with all of his
conclusions, I would agree that something will
fundamentally change as this type of inner
directed progress becomes more and more prevalent.
This conclusion does not ignore the fact that
there is probably just as much written, spoken,
posted and shouted declaring Mr Tolle to be an
AntiChrist as there is in exploring what he
actually has to say. Can you name one single
time when real progress was not met with
opposition if not open hostility and resistance?
And yet we have radio, television, an accurate
globe for our map of the world, as well as a
basic understanding of how we function as an
organism. I say basic, as this whole area of
our “spiritual” side and how it interacts with
our physical selves is still mostly a mystery.
Dont’ get me wrong, I see the amazing things
being accomplished in this realm. It is obvious
to me however, that the really cataclysmic type
of advances are all in front of us.
The type of sharing and coaching that is now
being done, such as Mr Tolle’s webclass with
Oprah Winfrey makes the journey more accessible
for many, but this is still mostly a solitary
journey. One which will happen for each individual
at a different pace, and in no set order.
This is why I say that it is important to Think
Universally and yet Apply Internally.
If you seek confirmation of what you have been
experiencing on your path, you will more often
than not be frustrated, and in come cases
ridiculed.
Our spiritual selves are definitely in a state
of evolutionary flux. This is true for us whether
we acknowledge it or not. Railing against it is
as fruitless as complaining about the tide. It
will just roll in anyway…
It probably shouldn’t surprise me so much that
most of the resistance to this comes from what
passes as “Christianity”. The very things that
are shouted down due to “faith in the Bible” can
be directly linked to things that Jesus spoke
and taught about regularly.
On the other hand, the Bible speaks frequently
about the importance of cleanliness, and yet at
one time the “Christian Church” forbade bathing.
Just remember that all or your most important
accomplishments in this arena will occur with
no witnesses. The satisfaction that you draw
from them must also come from within. This is
not to say that they cannot be shared to a
certain extent. Just don’t be disappointed if
you are unable to get the magnitude of what you
experienced across. Your accomplishment remains.
And your accomplishment adds to that of us as
a race as well on some level. So continue to
Think Universally but remember that you must
Apply Internally…
Eat a Peach!
Floyd Bogart
What Do Alexa Ranking and Google PR Have To Do With Social Marketing?
What Do Alexa Ranking and Google PR Have To Do With Social Marketing?
As we consider this, remember that we
are only discussing Social Marketing and
not the technical side.
(at least until a bit later)
This question would not matter at all
except that you , and I are only human,
like all of our readers…
Huh?!
Well, when you consider the validity of
what someone has posted to their blog,
commented on someone elses, or written
in an article, you are bound to ask (if only
subconsciously) “Why should I listen to
this bozo!” And hey, that is a fair question!
One way of satisfying that is checking if
other seems to be listening to this “Bozo”.
Ever since I installed Alexa for Firefox, I
almost automatically check to see the Alexa
Ranking or whatever site or blog I happen to
be visiting. This tells me at a glance what kind
of traffic they are getting, and therefore, to an
how much they know what they are talking about.
The same can be said of Google PageRank, but
I find that Google’s constantly changing algorythms
make the results less consistent than Alexa Rankings.
It is also telling to compare how your own sites are
doing when compared to those you are paying
attention to.
Think about it for a minute. Why would you spend
hours pouring over traffic generation information
from someone with an Alexa Ranking several hundred
thousand worse than your own blog’s?
Blogging is a vital part of Social Marketing for us all,
so it is also important to do what we can to improve
our own Alexa Rank as it means more visitors as
well as more perceived prestige within a niche.
Remember that Alexa Rank is based on visitors from
others with the Alexa Toolbar. So if you want your
own visits to be counted, then get it!
Likewise, I noticed steadily increasing Alexa Rank
once I put an Alexa Widget in my sidebar below my
profile. Placement may be meaningless,but is should
be easily visible on your page.
Note that all of this is about perception as much as
anything else. How so?
Well note that the Alexa Rank of this blog is 685,830.
This will change (hopefully improved) almost continually.
What the number means is that this is theoretically the
685,830th most visited site on the entire internet.
I say theoretically, as I know of a site getting almost
five times as many visitors with an Alexa Ranking of
3,895,598. How can that be? That site is currently
being promoted almost entirely by offline methods.
Thus very few of these visitors have the Alexa Toolbar
installed on their computers.
Improving Google PageRank seems mostly to be about
getting and maintaining a steady stream of high quality
(read that pertinent) links to your site. My experience
with this is that as soon as you rest on what you have
done you will start to slip. I also find that you cannot
count on what you have been doing to continue working.
When it comes to Google, you have to constantly keep
up with the most up to date information available.
I won’t spend much time on this here, as frankly I am
not as up to date on this as I need to be. Guess you
know what I’ll be boning up on next…
Hope you’ve enjoyed my musings.
Eat a peach!
Floyd Bogart
Approaching Social Marketing From A Negative Perspective
Approaching Social Marketing From A Negative Perspective
This practice has grown for some time now.
No doubt you are familiar with The Rich Jerk, and
the plethora of imitators that popped up in his wake.
That kind of in your face attitude in sales copy, as
well as product ideas has been quite possible for one
very good reason…
It stands out!
What is more, it also makes it easy to dismiss
questions that are inconvenient with and
“I just don’t care!”
That kind of take it or leave it attitude can be
quite persuasive, and is quite effective at a
time when many are so barraged with information
that they are beset with analysis paralysis.
So blog posts titled “Ten Ways To Fail At X“,
or Squidoo Lenses like “How To Guarantee
Failure At Google Adwords” are becoming quite
common.
True these differ from the crassness of a Rich
Jerk approach, but they share a negative
perspective, that is disarming and if not over-
done will get results that a straight ahead attack
on a subject will not.
Another of these tactics is a review of a product
where the email subject or page title starts with
“Don’t Buy Product Z Until You Read This”
Be careful though, as your content must indeed
give a valid reason for that “delay” whether it is
a bonus or an alternate product that has more
value, benefits or flexibility.
The psychology behind any and all of these tactics
is valid, and can be utilized in a great many ways
to motivate your readers, prospects and customers.
Just don’t overuse any one of them or you risk
losing that effectiveness as it requires at least some
element of surprise. Much in the same way that
old subliminal advertizing starts to fail when your
average reader knows to look for the outline of a
naked lady in the icecubes of a liquor ad.
If you pay attention, you will recognize Diggs, Twitts
and all manner of Social Media posts that take a
negative slant to their tone.
Watch them and see if there is anything you can learn
from them. Try out a Twitt or two before you tackle
an entire page or you may find that you haven’t the
voice for it. If you don’t then don’t attempt it on that
large of a scale. The most important thing to
remember here is that this can’t be forced!
Use of a negative perspective in your copywriting and
all of your Social Marketing, Social Networking and
Web 2.0 activities such as blogging and forum threads
needs to be more than just a gimmick.
Useful content needs to be conveyed just as at any
other time you sit down to type anything for online
publication.
Know and develop your voice as you write, and make
sure that you ask others what their impression of
the tone your writing sets is. I can almost guarantee
that is will differ somewhat from your own view.
My own challenges include an over reliance on certain
adjectives and modifiers making repetition a challenge
to avoid, as well as a far more formal tone than I am
aware that I use.
These would never have occurred to me had I not
sought out the opinions of others. You need to as well.
Grab a great Article
Marketing eBook HERE
More soon!
Eat a peach…
Floyd Bogart
An Eckhart Tolle Case Study
An Eckhart Tolle Case Study
With all the uproar (both positive and negative)
about the Eckhart Tolle/Oprah Winfrey webclass,
I thought it might be good to take a look at the
effect that this type of self development is having
on an actual human life.
I came across a blog post in a Google Alert I that
I have set up to keep me informed about just this
kind of thing. Julie is a blogger that goes by the
title of Nature Chick. Her blog is not about her
spiritual progress, but about her life in general as
many of the best blogs are.
Take a look at her post about The Power of Now
and it’s affect on her life HERE.
She doesn’t seem to have become a zombie, or
a self denying ascetic. Actually she just seems
to have become someone that is enjoying life for
the first time in quite a while.
I see, hear nor feel anything within this woman’s
experience to concern me for her emotional or
spiritual wellbeing. What is more, I see no danger
to her personal belief structure either.
We live in a society where dysfunction seems
to be the norm instead of the exception, and
not everyone has the resources, time or even
the emotional strength and will to overcome
their issues via intensive therapy.
So maybe this is a shortcut to a healthier life
and world view that can allow a significant
portion of the population to live a happier and
more fulfilling life…
Why is this threatening to some people?
Floyd Bogart
The Longer I Live, The More Often "Balance" Is The Answer To My Questions
The Longer I Live, The More Often “Balance” Is The Answer To My Questions
I have seen so much resistance in the past
few months to the teaching of Eckhart Tolle’s
“The Power of Now” principles, that I have
had to ask myself: Why?
Invariably, the arguments against applying
these tenets to life seem to be extreme
interpretations of what Mr Tolle is saying.
This is not an isolated instance to approaching
Self Development or Self Improvement issues.
The answer to challenges to what is being said
regarding by Mr. Tolle, is usually the same one
to counter those against Deepak Chopra or even
to the Bible.
You have to apply what is being said with balance.
Principles being taught, are taken out of context
and discussed as if they are all encompassing, and
not intended to be applied within the confines of
a particular paradigm.
This is not balanced.
Balance is at the heart of what each of the three
sources referenced above espouses. Tolle, Chopra
and God are each all about applying principles in
our lives with balance.
It is frequently stated that you can quote scriptures
to defend almost any point of view that you wish.
This is only true if you do so without the balancing
influence of it’s context.
Likewise, to say that Eckhart Tolle is advocating
a total relinquishing of the concept of self, is not
a balanced application of his intent. This particular
principle must be viewed in the context of the current
over emphasis on self that is prevalent in society
today, which is just as unbalanced.
For that matter, if you want to criticize Eckhart Tolle
for preaching a denial of self, you have to throw out
most of the Bible as well anyway.
If you read my previous post, then you know that I
have recently been reading Dr. Teri Speed’s book
“The Incurables: Unlock Healing For Spirit, Mind
and Body”.
In approaching illnesses and other of life’s problems
by addressing all three aspects of a person’s being,
Dr Speed seems to be using balance, in my opinion.
No doubt I will be posting more about balance in
future posts…
Floyd Bogart
News Via Twitter - Is Everybody Missing The Point?
News Via Twitter - Is Everybody Missing The Point?
I have read several news items today referring
to the stories about people posting relevant and
important news to Twitter quicker than any
other medium had done.
Surprisingly, this is being mostly treated as a
gimmick, and with tongue firmly planted in
cheek. Take for example THIS ONE posted
by John Murrell at Good Morning Silicon Valley.
IMHO the point is not whether these Twitts beat
the conventional media to the punch, it is that here
we have one more way that news can, and is being
gotten out that is not corporately controlled.
Over and over again we have seen that “our” news
media is actually not ours. It is controlled by the
large corporations that own them, and they clearly
have their own agendas which may or may not have
anything to do with keeping us fully informed.
So to be so glib as to say that these Twitter updates
allowed us just to feel “saddened and powerless
minutes sooner” is not just naive, but also quite
dangerous.
Do yourself a little favor and do a Google search for
“Net Neutrality” or even just a Digg Search and
educate yourself.
Think this has nothing to do with Social Marketing,
Internet Marketing or your business in general?
Well, if AT&T, Sprint and the rest of the telecom
giants get to control the content of the internet,
who’s sites do you think will come down first?
MSN.com, or your blog?
That forum you created and nurtured with your
own hands, or Yahoo!
And don’t think that they have to just out and out
ban certain types of sites to get rid of them. It is just
as easy to eliminate content by levying fees for their
customers to access your content to shut you down.
This is not an issue that is going to go away soon.
Hey if they can do this, before you know it they
can suspend your basic freedoms!
Oh yeah, they already did…
Rant over!
Floyd Bogart
Is Brant Walker an Anti-Social Networker?
Is Brant Walker an Anti-Social Networker?
This came to my attention via a Digg
shout, sent to my by a friend in my
network.
It raises several very good questions
for us as Social Marketers. Hopefully
it will also inspire us to think in new
and profitable directions.
Check this out HERE
The story is about Brant Walker, a
Social Internet Marketer that has
started several controversial Web 2.0
Websites.
Each one approaches the social interaction
at the core of Web 2.0 from a different
perspective than had been attempted
before. Many say that this is from a
negative one.
The sites are all successful enough that
he has sold some for a good chunk of change
so this may fall under the “No such thing
as bad publicity” category.
Go read the article and think about these
issues. Is there such a thing as negative
Social Networking and therefore negative
Social Marketing?
One thing is for sure. Brant Walker’s sites
have garnered significant attention. At least
two of his sites have been taken down:
BumFinder.com and FakeYourSpace.com.
The first due to negative publicity and the
second die to a cease and desist order from
Fox (Owner of MySpace.com)
His most recent success (that we know of)
is another Web 2.0 endeavor that also leans
to the negative side of social networking:
RottenNeighbor.com
This site appeals to a darker side of social
interaction by giving people a place to bitch
and moan about their neighbor’s uncut lawn,
garbage pile and late night carousing.
Whether you think this kind of site is a good
thing or a bad one, you can’t dismiss the fact
that Mr. Walker is getting serious traffic!
As of this post, RottenNeighbors.com has an
Alexa Ranking of 55,552.
Nothing to sneeze at is it?
It will be interesting to see what form of
Social Networking this guy will come up with
next. We may neer know, as you will note in
the article, he has had to go covert with his
sites to avoid too much scrutiny based on his
previous sites.
I dunno about you, but this does make me
rethink my site ideas. Social Marketing will
never be the same again. Which is just fine,
as one of the best aspects of Web 2.0 (already
headed for Web 3.0) is it’s ever changing nature.
Haven’t you noticed that blog posts, Squidoo
Lenses, HubPages and forum threads all get
higher rankings, more traffic, and greater
exposure when there is some kind of controversy
involved?
I know that I have, and fortunately I recognized
it for what it was, and capitalized on it. We should
all be doing so!
To do so requires that our blogs, lenses and every
other web property that we develop be as interactive,
as “Web 2.0″-ish, as Social as we can make it.
Wikis, polls, guestbooks, rating systems, and comment
encouragement all need to be utilized, and more…
So my answer is that Brant Walker is a very successsful
Social Networker and Social Marketer. How can you
blame him, or cast aspersions on him for getting to the
very essence of the Web 2.0 Phenomenon.
Floyd Bogart
Cure The Incurables
Cure The Incurables
I have lately come across a very interesting
author in the person of Dr. Teri Speed.
Her first book is entitled:
The Incurables: Unlock Healing for Spirit, Mind, and Body
You can learn, read and listen to more
about her HERE
Dr. Speed is a surgeon that is unique in that
she addresses not just her patients physical
needs, but that of all three aspects of their
beings.
Do yourself a favor and check out her site!
Floyd Bogart
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