Ever wonder why your Online Store, Etsy shop, Blog, YouTube channel, etc. don't come up in a Google search?
It’s not because you're ugly, or don’t post enough, or that your website is new, or your creations aren’t interesting or unique.
It has nothing to do with your pretty face, your class or social status.
It’s definitely not because there’s too much big box competition and no one can make it as an entrepreneur in today’s economic climate, or any other silly shenanigans we might like to believe.
"It boils down to one thing... Google Doesn’t Trust You."
Better stated, Google doesn’t trust your brand. No trust = low ranking. Low ranking = low web traffic. Low web traffic = low sales.
Simply stated, your site must rank high on Google Search Results to get more traffic. If Google doesn’t trust your brand, that’s not going to happen.
Your Brand’s Online Trust & Authority
Put your imagination cap on and envision yourself meeting with your most trusted advisers: Susan Google, Mike Yahoo, and Bill Bing.
You desperately need advice on how to turn your passion into a paycheck, so you sit down with your dream-team and ask the big question...
“How do I become a professional artist?”
Susan Google quickly responds saying, “So glad you asked, I know so much about this. I literally know millions of professional artists who can help.”
You are so psyched you almost quit your day-job.
You’re sitting there all ears, pen-to-pad, Ms. Google politely says...
“Do you want info from the most successful, trusted, and reliable artist I know, or perhaps a tidbit from Tom the Art Guy, whom I met on Facebook yesterday?”
“Oh Susan” you say, “Please send me the little bit of garbage data you have on Facebook Tom and all his low-ranking glory!”
Um, no. You are not an idiot, so you ask for the info from the most proven and reliable source.
This is What Happens When Your Customers Search Online
They’re asking their most trusted sources (Google, Yahoo and Bing) to make recommendations to them. This is why it’s so important for you to Rank High on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). People are more likely to click on links closer to the top because those links are viewed as most trusted and relevant.
Understanding Search Engine Results Pages
Search engines are tools that allow people to search for information on the internet (Yonnetti, 2010). The largest search engines are Google, Yahoo and Bing.
A Search Engine Results Page or SERP is the first page of results displayed after a person enters a search term (Cleanup Interactive, n.d).
"75K Searches are Submitted to Google Every Second"
-Omaha Media Group
Providing the fastest, most trusted and relevant data helps build a search engine’s credibility as a source of valuable information.
Each search provides unique results based on factors such as:
Authority
Trust
Keywords
Page-load speed
Location of the Person Searching
Previous Browsing History
SERPs are Organized into Five Sections:
1. Knowledge Graph
Data in the knowledge graph is sourced from authoritative sources and reorganized for quick viewing and comprehension.
These types of results always display first because the Search Engine can organize disparate data to provide quick answers.
Public domain information sourced from the Search Engine’s database.
Purpose is to provide immediate answers to a search.
Google refers to this update as their “things not strings” because the intent was a first step in building a model that gave business entities more importance than a string of keywords (Barysevich, 2018).
2. Local search Results
Technically part of the Knowledge Graph, they share pertinent information about your business within a specified radius of the searcher's location or by the location included in a search term.
This makes it vital for you to setup a Google business page.
This gives you the opportunity to be ranked higher in search results because a search engine is less concerned with how you rank organically and more concerned with your location data (Fendley, n.d.).
3. Organic Search Results
Thought of as the most trustworthy result pages because they are based on page views related to the keyword search.
Organic search uses a website’s title, web address, meta data and site-links to determine what position the site ranks (Fendley, n.d.).
4. Paid Search Ads
Available in a variety of styles and implementations.
They may include text or images.
Ads are displayed according to bid price, quality of the advertisement and relevancy to the search.
5. Related Searches
Often easy to overlook because of their location.
You’ll generally find them somewhere at the bottom of a results page.
Information and links related to what the user is searching for are populated in this area.
It’s essentially the search engine’s best guess at what an end user might be searching for (Fendley, n.d.)
The New Value of Online Trust
Experts say trust is the new marketing currency as it’s the foundation of every kind of relationship. Attempting to push products and services on your customer is no longer a working model.
Research shows that 97% of People Surveyed, Believe Online Marketers Are Untrustworthy (Jasin, 2017).
Only 1% of Millennial's Claim a Compelling Ad Influences Them (Jasin, 2017). They assume your ads are exaggerated versions of reality and ignore them.
How to Build Online Trust
One of the best ways to earn your customer’s trust is to create and share content that is incredibly compelling.
Compelling content demonstrates authority and expertise of the author and adds value to the reader.
Creating compelling content starts with long form posts.
Gaining social shares are crucial to gaining trust.
When large amounts of people share content you created, it helps establish your business as an organization that can be trusted.
The experts at Buzzfeed say that longer posts get more shares (Jasin, 2017).
Google and search engines also favor longer posts when it comes to your websites’ rankings.
The best content for a search engine is well over seven thousand words and has superb references. This is why SERPs often favor sites like Wikipedia (Jasin, 2017).
If you want your content to inspire trust, include strong audience and niche definitions, high quality content curation that adds massive value to the reader.
Your Brand's Authority Ranking
When your brand is an authority on a subject or in an industry, readers innately trust and recommend it.
Once a brand has established authority, they stand out above the competition.
Authority can be created by cultivating your brand, content marketing, event, speaking and marketing strategies (Witty, 2017).
Your online content should assume authority as a leader in your area of expertise by creating long form, informative, valuable blog posts that link to other authoritative sources.
Increasing Your Brand's Authority Ranking
Experts say one of the most important metrics you should monitor is your site’s Domain Authority ranking because it quantifies a website's total relevance (DiSilvestro, 2019).
It gives insight in the SEO strength of a site and its likelihood of ranking for relevant keywords.
Search engines determine Domain Authority using the following factors:
Number of Quality Links
Number of Websites that Link Back to Your Site
SEO Friendliness & Optimization
Content Quality
Social Media Signals
The best way to raise your Domain Authority score is to work on your Technical SEO.
For example, if there are no meta descriptions or keywords on your root domain (your home page), search engines rank your page lower.
Metadata is the primary information most search engines look for when assessing the information on a website.
Most website builders have built-in SEO optimization wizards, but its up to you to fill out the information and go the extra mile.
Another easy way to increase domain authority is to create more linkable content that’s relevant to your niche or area of expertise.
Your pages should also link to other pages within your website, interlinking helps search engines determine how authoritative a website is (DiSilvestro, 2019).
Share all content on social media and add social media share buttons to all content to make it easy for people to share your content.
Conclusion
Trust and Authority can increase your digital presence because they make your website more trustworthy to customers and simultaneously more optimized for search engines.
Trust and authority are based on a combination of Technical SEO and Content Marketing.
Survey your shop or site make to ensure it is optimized for search engines and customers by concentrating on maintaining good technical SEO and creating engaging, quality content that’s easy to share (DiSilvestro, 2019).
References (Sources)
Barysevich, A. (2018, September 6). Semantic Search: What It Is & Why It Matters for SEO Today. Retrieved December 2, 2019, from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/semantic-search-seo/264037/#close
Cleanup Interactive (n.d.). What is a SERP? - Definition & Information. Retrieved December 2, 2019, from https://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/serp/.
DiSilvestro, A. (2019, October 21). How can you determine your website's authority, and what can you do to improve it? Retrieved December 24, 2019, from https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2018/02/20/how-can-you-determine-your-websites-authority-and-what-can-you-do-to-improve-it/
Fendley, S. (n.d.). The Anatomy of a SERP. Retrieved December 2, 2019, from https://www.clearpivot.com/blog/the-anatomy-of-a-serp
Jasin, A. (2017, February 23). Why Trust Is the New Marketing Currency. Retrieved December 24, 2019, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/289622
Javeri, T. (2019, November 14). How did the 2018 SERP changes impact organic search? Retrieved December 2, 2019, from https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2019/01/21/2018-serp-changes-impact/
Jones, K. B. Search Engine Optimization: Your Visual Blueprint for Effective Internet Marketing. [University of Phoenix]. Retrieved from https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781118884256/
Omaha Media Group LLC. (n.d.). Updated: What Is SERP and Why Is It an Important Part of Your Ove... - Blog. Retrieved December 2, 2019, from https://www.omahamediagroup.com/blog/article/what-is-serp-and-why-is-it-an-important-part-of-your-overall-seo-strategy
Witty, A. (2017, March 3). What is 'Authority Marketing' and How Do You Achieve It? Retrieved December 24, 2019, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/289963
Yonnetti, F. (2010, November 8). What is a search engine? Retrieved December 2, 2019, from https://designhammer.com/services/seo-guide/search-engines
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