Posts Tagged ‘authority’

Should You Consider “Author Authority”?

August 6th, 2010 by Richard Zwicky

Search marketers are familiar with signals. One of the truisms is the logic: if no one links to your site, it can’t be considered important, therefore why should it appear in the search results? The more quality links referencing your website or web pages, the better.

A lot of signals or factors behind links can affect the quality, relevance, and value of these citations. Perhaps there’s another signal to consider: Author.

If you’re interested in learning more, earlier today Search Engine Watch published an article I submitted on the topic of Author Authority. The idea came to me while reading a recent patent which was issued and assigned to Google. I’d love to get your thoughts and feedback!

Thanks!

Richard / @rzwicky

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Posted in Commentary, Google, Inbound Marketing, Link Strategies, SEO, SMM, Search Engines, link building, search marketing, social marketing | No Comments »

Whose Writings / Comments assist you the most with your Paid Search Marketing work?

July 23rd, 2010 by Richard Zwicky

Yesterday, I started a series of posts to answer a question I keep getting asked by people who are entering the industry, attending conferences, or even veterans looking for new sources of information: Whose writings I have found useful, by discipline?  Yesterday I posted about SEO writers

It’s easy for everyone to list off a few names, but there’s an incredible span of knowledge out there and experts in many different areas.  Unless you read a good, broad sampling, and not just the few same ones every day, you’re not going to become truly proficient in any one domain.  That’s because there’s always cross-over.  If you think that you can succeed as an SEO without properly understanding the fundamentals of the other disciplines, good luck to you.

Everyday, there is great new content being published, but these lists are about who do you find provides the most useful information for putting skills into practice?  The people whose contributions I find the most valuable may not publish daily or even weekly, but when they do, what they share is practical and either makes you consider something new, or provides you insights as to how to do something ever better!  Some will mostly use Twitter to highlight other people’s articles of interest for their own readers [or polls  ].

The list of people I know whose contributions I value is so large that I found that it was easier to create lists around themes, or concept groups.  Some people are better known than others, but that doesn’t mean their writings are more helpful: The reality is, some people are incredibly knowledgeable, and while they don’t write a lot, or do so with flair, what they write matters.

If there’s someone you think I’ve missed, send me a comment - I’m trying to recognize people by discipline, and it’s possibly I see them more in one concept group than another.  If you’re not on this list, perhaps you’ll be on one for another discipline, or perhaps your knowledge is so broad it’s hard to pin you into any one group! There’s also a few people who fit into two or more categories.

There is one person not on any of the lists on purpose:  Danny Sullivan.  I like him personally, and value and enjoy what he writes.  But, let’s face it, he’s on everyone’s reading list.

Top 5 Results will be published at a later date.

And if you haven’t looked at the list of SEO’s I’ve regularly turned to, please do so.

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Posted in Inbound Marketing, Poll, Search Engines, ppc, search marketing | 9 Comments »

Whose writings / comments assist you the most with your SEO work?

July 22nd, 2010 by Richard Zwicky

I thought it would be interesting to put together lists of people, by discipline, whose writings I have found useful, and ask you: Who are your top 5?

Every time I tell someone what I do, and at every conference I go to, people ask me: what resources should I read to learn more about online marketing?  It’s easy to whip off a few good resources, but what about particular writers?  There’s tons of great content being generated all the time, but who provides the most useful information for putting skills into practice?  Lots of people publish articles, blogs and  tidbits to share knowledge and wisdom with others.  Some will also balance out original contributions by using Twitter to highlight other people’s articles of interest for their readers.  That’s a tougher question.

When I started trying to put together a list recently, I found that it was easier to create lists around themes, not just “search.”  There are some great online marketers whose knowledge spans multiple disciplines, like paid and organic; social marketers v. search marketers; or organic and link-building (yes I consider that separate!). So why not break them down into concept groups accordingly?  Some people are better known than others, but that doesn’t mean their writings are more (or less) helpful. Conversely, some people are incredibly knowledgeable, and while they don’t write a lot, or do so with flair, what they write matters.

If there’s someone you think I’ve missed, send me a comment.  If you’re not on this list, perhaps you’ll be on one for another discipline, or perhaps your knowledge is so broad it’s hard to pin you into any one group!  There are two people I’ve not included on purpose:  Danny Sullivan and Matt Cutts.  I like both of them personally, and enjoy what they write.  But, let’s face it, they’re on everyone’s reading list.  I’ll be running more polls across more of the disciplines in the coming days.

Top 5 Results will be published at a later date.

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Posted in Commentary, Inbound Marketing, Marketing, SEO, SMM, Search Engines, ppc, search marketing, social marketing | 30 Comments »