Fashion brands have movie stars andsupermodels. Weight loss programs have fitness instructors and nutritionists. Dating services have relationship experts and counselors. Whatever industry you belong to, people look into figures of authority for advice and ultimately influence, these selected few have the biggest clout over the market’s purchasing behavior.
For sure, it has happened to you at least once. You purchased a product over a similar one just because “Mr. X” or “Ms. Y” said it’s the best one on the planet. In reality, a lot of people’s purchases are based on the irrational, emotive and subconscious rather than the logical and functional.
Over the recent years, as the internet morphed into the biggest retail Mecca in the planet, conversion optimization services are slowly seeing the value of authority and trust in turning internet users to high potential leads and ultimately, real paying customers. A typical report of an SEO company would include a number assigned to a site’s authority in the niche, topic, industry or category it falls under.
What Constitutes Authority?
First things first. An expert is not exactly the same as an authority. An expert is basically someone who possesses above-average knowledge on a given topic compared to the others. The level of expertise varies. There’s also no such thing as a self-proclaimed expert. Colleagues, peers or your customers should look up to you as such. That being said, you or your brand can be considered an expert if you keep the knowledge to yourself.
An expert transcends the border to being an authority when there is an established impact on people’s decision making. Suze Orman is an authority in finance. Al Gore is an authority in environmental protection and sustainable living. Tyra Banks is an authority in fashion and beauty. Basically, they say something is good and bad and people believe them almost instantaneously.
You want your business to become an authority in this industry in order to increase the chances of you making a sale online. As such, conversion optimization services should be viewed as a long-term engagement rather than shortcut tactics to bring a seasonal burst of sales and leads to your site.
How to Build Authority?
There are several ways on how you can make your business more authoritative online:
- Pepper your website with good content. If before, you can pass off as an authoritative site because of the number of links you or your partner SEO company got through cheap tactics, the situation is now different.
- It’s time to revisit your blog and have a real content strategy for it. Have in-depth articles which can even be referenced to as an industry material which can be used as a resource material by your peers.
- Leverage on social media, especially Twitter and LinkedIn. Twitter can help you respond to your followers almost instantaneously. LinkedIn on the other hand is a great channel to build credibility among professionals.
Trust Leads to Conversion
Good conversion optimization services are founded on a strong foundation of customers’ trust in your brand. They have to believe the following:
- That you are here to present a solution and improve their daily lives
- That everything you are saying are correct
Trust can also come with authority and both of these essentials don’t happen in a snap. Invest in brand building and it’s best to tap into the professional services of a trusted SEO company to help you make the right internet marketing decisions for your brand.