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The 4-Step Guide to Building Your Authority

Posted By Guest Blogger 18th of November 2012 Miscellaneous Blog Tips 0 Comments

This guest post is by Derek of Fear No Goal.

If you want people to visit your blog—and stay there—you have to be an authority figure.

This is definitely true if you are trying to solve a common problem. You have to know and understand what you are talking about.

When people know you’re an expert on a topic, it gives them comfort. They know that they can trust you. They are going to put their faith into you over and over again. That means you cannot fail your readers. They have to be your main focus. They deserve an expert, they deserve great advice, and they’re expecting it from you.

You have to deliver.

How do you become that expert? How do you become that person that they go to for advice and guidance? Here are four steps you can take to help build your authority.

1. Write about something you already know or are willing to learn

This one tip can make the process very easy. You must focus on something you know or are willing to learn.

If you are interested in your topic, writing for your blog will be much easier. If you are already an expert, you shouldn’t run out of things to write about.

If you are an expert, your advice will be sound and your readers will be able to achieve success with the information you provide them. Good advice builds credibility. Your audience will return to you more often if you’ve proven that you are an expert.

You may not be an expert in the topic you choose to write about, but being passionate about it can go a long way. You’ll be learning as you go. You will be able to supply information to your readers about was or was not successful for you. It may take longer to build that credibility, but it is definitely possible this way.

Another benefit of building yourself up to expert status from scratch is that you can relate to your readers. Very recently, you were in their shoes. You are searching for information, just like your audience. You will be able to form a connection that few other bloggers can establish.

Take a look at Darren here at Problogger. He has become the expert on blogs and monetizing blogs. Darren knows his stuff; he has been through it all. He gives out quality posts consistently.

If you take a look at his posts, you will see he speaks with authority. Darren is the authority to anything related to blogging, and people trust him—expert and novice bloggers alike.

2. Speak with authority

This is a huge aspect in the development of your blog. It will definitely keep first-time readers on your blog while keeping long-time readers coming back for more.

If you speak with confidence in the information you are supplying, it will spark your readers’ interest. They will definitely be more willing to try out the advice you’re giving.

How do you speak with authority and confidence? Good question. The biggest point is to watch the words you use. If you use words like might, could, and may, then you are not putting confidence into the information you’re supplying.

If you are giving your readers good information, and they follow the information you give them, then there should be no question that they will be successful. Not only should you be confident, but you should instill confidence into your readers too.

Have you ever visited The Simple Dollar blog? Trent Hamm has emerged as the expert in saving money and creating a stable financial future. Bring up one of his posts on simple money saving tips. As you read, you’ll notice quickly that he knows what he is suggesting works. There is no question in his mind.

He gives you specific examples. He tells you that if you do X then you will save Y. No maybes, no mights, no coulds: only results. That’s what people want—results. They want to know that if they do what you say, they will have success. Trent does a great job of this.

3. Speak from experience

If you are giving your readers advice, then you’d better have tried it out yourself first. The easiest advice to give is advice on what has or hasn’t worked for you. You have to give your readers information that you know works.

If you speak from experience, not only will your information be more detailed, it will also be more reliable. This is a great way to establish credibility.

Readers love to hear about your experiences, too. This adds a personal level to your writing. And so your credibility builds, because your readers know that you tried each piece of advice you are sharing with them. Besides, how can you be confident in something you’ve never tried?

The first time I visited Life Without Pants, I was hooked. Matt Cheuvront shares his life experiences on overcoming challenges and working towards goals. Not only does Matt do a great job of describing his experiences, he’s great at making the lessons he learned relevant to his audience. This is powerful, because he is doing two things.

First, he’s sharing his experiences, which most audiences love. We all love a good story. He also gives the reader something to walk away with and incorporate into their lives. Whether it is a philosophy or a specific action, Matt is giving his audience usable information from his own experiences. That’s pretty powerful!

4. Be honest

If your give information that’s supposed to help your readers, but it doesn’t, think about how bad you’ll look. Those who give out bad information do not tend to last in blogging. People can tell very quickly whether or not you are lying.

Real experts will also know when you are lying. If you have a comments section, they will point out how wrong you are very quickly. You can’t just post something telling people it will help them of you really don’t know if it will. This is a big credibility- and authority-killer.

Don’t take an article written by someone else and market it as your own. This is another huge issue that will kill your authority. Come up with your own unique material. People want new and useful information. If you steal other people’s work, you will lose all respect from the blogging community.

Blogging is all about building relationships with readers and other bloggers. Taking others’ content will make others never want to work with you. It will forever tarnish you and your brand and. Keep it honest and your authority will soar.

Neil Patel at Quicksprout is well-respected around the blogging community. If you have never heard of him, just visit Quicksprout and see how popular his blog is. Neil has had his share of successes and failures. He makes that very public. He is also very open about things that do and do not work.

He has established himself as an authority figure as a result of this. His posts are honest and genuine, and include loads of valuable information. Model yourself after Neil and be honest and helpful when you write. You’ll have a following similar to his, active and hungry for knowledge!

Are you an expert?

Well there you have it. These are four ways of increasing your authority and expertise. If you practice these tips regularly, people will learn that they can trust you and the information you provide. They will come to you more often for the information they need.

Become an authority figure and success will find you!

Derek is the author of the blog Fear No Goal. He has a Computer Science degree and currently works as a programmer for a major retail company. His writing is meant to inspire, motivate and help people to reach their goals, no matter what they are.

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Comments
  1. Nice post, Derek..

    The truth is, we never really get to KNOW everything….and the terms “Authority figure or Expert” though relevant for many sites, is often misinterpreted.

    The saying goes “when we think we know all of the answers, someone comes along and changes all of the questions”!

    I do believe a person can gain the proficiency and understanding to be looked upon as an expert or Authority “the go to” person, though, they are likely to be making many of the same mistakes as others..from time to time….only they reverse the trend at a faster rate( one step backwards, two steps forward)…..

    Authority is often more about a “Perception”…that catches the eye of many…

    Neil Patel, is doing a stellar job over on Quick Sprouts, and is without a doubt someone I would consider an Authority within that niche…

    On the other hand, I visit so many sites that are only ” Smoke and mirrors” yet, they manage to “wing it” successfully, and many people who leave comments are totally in awe of their prowess( Expertise)…

    By this I mean that, their talk is shallow(does not match up) and hints at not having ” done the hard yards” !

    Probably from the “Fake it until you make it’ School….

    • Thank you for the comment Daniel.

      Authority doesn’t happen overnight. You have to work at it day in and day out. I agree with what you’ve said about not knowing everything. We always have more to learn, even those with authority.

      Authority can’t be established with one article, but it can definitely be diminished by one!

      Thanks again!

      • Derek, I love your closing point!

        The “one article” (done poorly) can throw the Authority status out the window……

        I think all of us have been caught out at one time or another, when we THOUGHT, we knew enough about a topic to talk from an Authority POV….

        Then someone comes along and “blows us out of the water” as they know the topic inside out, and we become a distant second in the race(topic discussion)…….

        In our early days of Blogging we tend to be fully pumped up and wanting to share what we know with everyone, only we have not “traveled down the road far enough to tell the full story how it is meant to be told….

        Sometimes looking at our first posts, reminds us how far we have come along since then…..

  2. Well, Google Authority is the new initiative by google to reward true content writers and bloggers. Well after reading your post is doesn’t seem to be a difficult task to attain Google Authority.
    Simply sticking to the basics and following few guidelines would be enough to get Google Authority.

    • Google Authority is important, but you really have to build that authority within the community. Although Google Authority may be easily achieved, authority in the eyes of your readers definitely isn’t.

      Thanks for the comment!

  3. Thanks for these great tips, Derek

    This is something that I’m working on now. I need to get people to hang out on my blog and I’ve noticed that when I’m confidence and share my own experience, people react. I’m glad that I’m on the right path.

    Thanks again.

    Kimberly

    • Thanks for reading!

      Keep up the awesome work. It sounds like you are working very hard. Keep pushing to establish that authority and I have no doubt that you’ll get to where you want to go!

      Good luck!

  4. Nice blogging 101 post. These are definitely 4 things anyone who is starting a blog should consider before they even buy their domain. All to often I have friends say they want start a blog and they ask me what I think they should be writing about or what’s hot right now. A post like this is exactly what they need to read.

    • Thank you for the comment Chris.

      For those who have been blogging for longer periods of time, these things may be obvious. To those who are new to blogging, it may not be so obvious. I’m glad that you think it can really help people out!

      Thanks again!

  5. Becoming an authority on any blogging subject will not only help you in getting a strong reader base, but it will also push you to always create great content for your readers.

    • Absolutely! That’s the main goal, to establish readership and to generate great content. I do believe that what I have said above can really help people do that!

      Thanks for reading Wade!

  6. Links are broken and there is a typo, first line in “be honest”. Otherwise a good article.

  7. Hi Derek,

    Writing with authority is beyond critical. So few really write with supreme confidence. This skill usually develops over time, as you write, and write again, slowly developing your writing style.

    Tell people to act and they act. Be direct and honest. Be you, and speak your mind, and then WRITE like you speak. Your message will resonate with like-minded folks and heck, if anybody doesn’t agree, you are simply not a match…and you can still start a nice debate if you’d like.

    One problem with many bloggers: they fear criticism. They fear being authoritative, because this energy attracts many people who are critics, people who fear expressing their authority, yes, confused admirers.

    Forget about them, they just want to be you. Speak your mind. Convey your message. Prosper.

    Thanks for sharing Derek!

    Ryan

    • Hey Ryan!

      Thanks for reading and I’m glad that you enjoyed the article! All your points about being yourself, speaking your mind and being direct and honest are great and essential points.

      Criticism is not only a part of how we grow, but it helps us learn a little more about ourselves. How do we react to it? Do we get defensive and allow it to hurt us or do we use it as a chance to help us grow?

      Thanks for reading and commenting Ryan!

  8. Darren,

    Nice post. All those things are true, but it goes deeper than that. Your writing must be engaging, too. Beyond that, getting noticed and promoted by the right people in your niche is essential if you want to move from obsucrity languisher into the A, or at least B list.

    Steve

  9. Hello
    YES, I agree with these methods and use them when visitors visit my website, it is very helpful attitude towards each other, and if you can help someone in need, it is of great benefit to you and avtoritena visitors.

    • Kolev,

      I’m glad you enjoyed the article and use these methods on your own site. I agree, helping people is the best thing you can do. If you’re not helping people, then what are you doing?

      Thanks for reading!

    • Kolev,

      I’m glad you enjoyed the article and use these methods on your own site. I agree, helping people is the best thing you can do. If you’re not helping people, then what are you doing?

  10. Grear post and usefull information about making your blog more perfect we should be honest and write own content whether it contain less information but it should be our own and if steal someone else content then we will lost ur readers trust and difenitely when we ll lose our visitors then it become more difficult to make ur trust again So be carefull

    • Ali zia,

      I definitely agree, stealing content isn’t worth it! Is your credibility worth throwing away over one article? A small spike in the short run and a loss of readers and traffic in the long run, definitely not a good trade off!

      Thanks for reading!

  11. Nice tips, writing about something you yourself are passionate about will inevitably build your blog popularity and authority.

    • George,

      Couldn’t agree more! Passion definitely shine through your work. It is very easy to tell when someone is or is not passionate about their work.

      Thanks for reading!

  12. I do believe a person can gain the proficiency and understanding to be looked upon as an expert . thanks for sharing your wide range advantage.

  13. Nice tips, Derek writing about something you yourself are passionate about will inevitably build your blog popularity and authority.

    • Absolutely narendra!

      It is very easy for others to tell whether or not you are passionate about your topic. The quality of writing is significantly increased when you are passionate about your topic!

      Thanks for reading!

  14. Hi Derek, A lot of thanks for all of the hard work on this website.
    A formidable share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little bit analysis on this. And he in actual fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading extra on this topic.

    • Great to hear Clark!

      I’m glad you and your colleague enjoyed this article and you received a nice little breakfast out of it!

      Thanks for reading!

  15. Hello Derek
    Excellent post. Develop clear messages about the impact the store will have to help you get across your concerns to the press and public. Write some 20 word sound-bites stating exactly what you want.

    Thanks

  16. this is actually something very true. I love reading blogs who speak with authority. It only shows that they know what they are talking about. Blogs with useful information attracts.

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