Drawing Inspiration From The Eiffel Tower: A Lesson on Authority

On my way home from my recent trip to Africa, I got to spend an extra long layover in Paris with some of my extended family. It was my nieces’ first time visiting Paris, and they arrived with one goal: to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Now, I’ve spent enough time in Paris to know that the second level on the tower is actually a better vantage point, plus there are plenty of other spots where the tower is actually a part of the scenery – that’s what everyone really wants to see, right? But I completely understood my nieces’ fascination. I wanted to go to the top too! And let me tell you, it was awesome.

This experience got me thinking about how authority is everything. When you go to Paris, there’s no doubt in your mind that you should see the Eiffel Tower and go to the top of it. The job of a good SEO is to create that same sense of certainty in the minds of potential customers.

The Supremacy of Authority

There has been endless discussion over the last year about the importance of authorship and gaining an online reputation. But for SEOs, it’s not just about authorship. When a potential customer visits your site, they’re not thinking about who wrote this blog or who published that article. What they’re looking for is high quality content that will convince them that your brand is better than all others.

Brand authority can be tricky, but it almost always comes down to great content. If your content is positive, informative, and valuable, those potential clients are not going to see any reason to go elsewhere for further information. Especially with the threat of Panda penalties, content has become more important than ever.

The Other Kind of “One Thing”

I’ve been talking about making your brand into the kind of “one thing” where they’re sure that your product is the one thing that they want, but there’s a different kind of “one thing” that could be hurting your company. It could be that the tone of your content is discordant with the goals of your company, or it could be that a competitor’s page is ranking higher and has higher quality content.

Regardless, there are plenty of ways for you to begin establishing your brand’s authority. Promote yourself with engaging guest posts, publish thought-provoking posts on social media, and develop helpful evergreen content. Whatever tactics you use, the point is that you must contribute value to the conversations going on within your industry.

What is your strategy for establishing your authority within your industry?

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