“I am the authority. A guy sends an email and begs for a backlink, and you think that of me? I am the one they beg for a link.” – Walter White S4E6. As we can see, this exact quote from Breaking Bad, definitely word for word, perfectly highlights the importance of being an authority on Google.
The best backlinks you can get come from websites with the biggest domain authority, or DA, these links are worth more than lower DAs, and have the richest link equity, which means the more you get pointing at your site, the more likely it is that Google is going to recognise you as an authority. This leads to others then coming to you for backlinks to their site, and so the circle j*rk goes on.
There is a trifecta of authority types, each serving each other to push your Google rank to the top, so let’s get into it and have a look at them, and later understand how links come into the equation and why they’re so important to the whole shabang.
A website’s authority is what Google considers to be the most ‘relevant’ and ‘quality’ content in relation to what a visitor to the engine has searched for. This is determined by its ‘E-A-T’ metric, with E meaning ‘Expertise’, and T being ‘Trustworthiness’. Although the A – ‘Authority’, is an equally important part of Google’s search metric, without relevance and quality, no authority can be gained, and if it is artificially via ‘black-hat SEO techniques’, Google’s algorithm will detect the content itself is substandard and penalise it in the search rankings appropriately.
There are three relevant and related authority types that should be focused on when seeking backlinks to boost your own authority, but also for becoming an authority that others want a backlink from. Remember Walter White? It’s quite an intricate web and can fry the brain if you think about it too hard, but let’s take a look anyway.
Google’s domain authority is based on the ‘E-A-T’ metric, it is also based on the number of backlinks that are pointing to the domain, which is what increases its authority in Google’s eyes. Domain authority is measurable out of 100 using the ‘Moz’ algorithm, which includes the number of backlinks directed at the URL, and the authority of those links, as well as overall links within the domain to name just a few of over 40 measurements. ‘Moz’ is not a part of Google, however it gives insights based on a set of metrics. 100 DA is the best a website can be, and is generally reserved for mainstream media sites or Government pages that are supposed to be a reliable source of information.
There are a lot of metrics that go into the ‘MOZ’ DA measurement, and it might be disheartening to look at your website and discover, after months on end of uploading great content to it and building links, it is only a DA 20. It can make you obsessed with trying to figure out why ‘Moz’ isn’t rating you higher, so it’s best to focus on Google’s ‘E-A-T’ metrics before anything else. Page authority uses the same ‘E-A-T’ and ‘Moz’ metrics as DA to measure its authority, however there is a larger focus on SEO metrics like keyword use and well written copy for those individual pages.
Gaining topical authority is a very powerful thing, it means Google recognises you as the ‘go to’ for search, and makes it easier for new pages to reach rank number 1 in ‘SERP’. To become a topical authority, you need to focus on putting out a lot of relevant and quality content based on your niche and focused keywords, then start link building. It starts to get repetitive, but the metrics really do remain the same!
Yes. You should assume your competition is working just as hard as you are to build authority. If their content is great, they will certainly be link building, and if they have more numerous and ‘richer’ links going to their site than you do, well… then you ain’t got a chance. Remember, all links hold some value, but you should be aiming to get backlinks from domains with high ‘Moz’ DA, rather than untrustworthy sources that might be considered as spam.
While the ‘Moz’ rating will give you a good idea of how likely your website will rate in SERP, it’s not really a metric worth worrying about for your own site. Sure, it’s nice to know what DA you are, and it’s better to get backlinks from high DA URLS, but if you’re trying to build a solid website, focus on Google’s ‘E-A-T’ metrics first, get as many links as you can, (as long as they’re not trash), and focus on getting good quality content online. As you grow, the link juice will follow. Naughty.
