GOOGLE DISCUSSING BIG SITES AND AUTHORITY

John Mueller of Google did an Office Hours hangout last October and discussed a lot of things about SEO, Google, and website ranking. One of the things he shed light on is whether the website’s size (or the number of indexed pages) influences how Google gives it authority.

In the video , he discusses the following points:

1. Sites that have thousands of indexed pages do not have an advantage over smaller sites that have less.
2. The number of indexed website pages is not a sign of website quality.
3. Google doesn’t look at the website’s size—it looks for relevance (usefulness).

Now that John has debunked the myth, we should focus on how to increase our website’s domain authority.

Domain authority (DA) is a website ranking tool developed by Moz. Since it is not developed by Google, it is not a clear-cut indicator of a website’s authority although a study by Ahrefs confirms that domain authority can play a big role in how much organic traffic your site can get from Google.

Domain Authority (DA):

• Has scores from one to 100. The greater the number, the greater the domain authority.
• Is determined on a logarithmic scale for the number of relevant backlinks—links to your website from other reputable sites—your site has. Note that you also need high-quality backlinks because it plays a role in your site score.

One thing is clear—when a site has a high DA score, the more likely it will receive increased web traffic and better SERP rankings.

If you want to increase your SERP rankings, you need to ramp up your domain authority strategy. It takes a while to develop, however, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t see results right away.

Google has a very short checklist to ensure your site gets indexed higher on SERPs. Read my tips below on how you can improve your domain authority.

• Prioritize quality. Always. Prioritize and analyze relevant backlinks. Make sure that quality sites with backlinks have a do-follow. The same thing applies when it comes to content creation—create stellar content. This makes it easier for you to get natural backlinks.
• Constantly update older content. Analyze for page authority, check the page speed of your website, and update content. It is recommended you update content (on the same post) twice a year.
• Work on on-page and off-page SEO. Consider enlisting the help of an SEO expert from a digital marketing agency. Agencies like IBA Advertising can do a site audit and identify which areas your website needs to improve.
• Make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
• Increase social relevance. Build social media presence and share content.
• Check page rank. Always check at the end of the month by preparing a report. Check which keywords are your website ranking. If you can do a weekly report is better but the important thing is for you to be able to check page rank if it’s increasing or decreasing. Use reporting software to make it easier for you to do this regularly. Software such as SEMRUsh or Agency Analytics.

Do not believe so-called experts when they say they can take your website to the top in a matter of months. Building authority on the web (and even in real life) takes time and you don’t see immediate results. Patience is key. However, teaming up with the best digital marketing agency can help make the load easier. Give me a ring today.