It's no secret that content still reign supreme when it comes to the digital world. The internet itself was established so we could engage, share and absorb content. Content marketing functions as a way to directly influence conversions, build brand awareness and establish your brand as a leading thinker in your field. In fact, content marketing provides conversions rates six times higher than any other digital marketing method.

 

In the digital marketing sphere, so much emphasis and investment is afforded to search engine mechanisms and with good reason. An SEO expert ensures that your brand is visible and accessible to potential customers. It intercepts users at a point of action, that being when they are actively searching for a product or service.

 

However away from the spotlight of keywords, SERPS and rankings it seems the key to a successful SEO strategy increasingly lies in the production of authoritative content.

Search Engine algorithms are leading the shift towards authoritative content. They tend to favour content that is well-researched, original and relevant. Content purely driven by SEO is no longer the effective route when it comes to attracting traffic. The significance of authoritative content is synonymous with the emergence of Google Panda. Google Panda is a ranking algorithm that seeks to reward high-quality content and eradicate the presence of low-quality content. Since its rollout in 2011, Google Panda has upped the ante when it comes to producing authoritative content continuing to stamp out content farms and content that is misleading.

 

Aside from the SEO advantages that come from producing content that adheres to Panda's rigorous guidelines, authoritative content is a fantastic branding tool that develops trust and rapport between businesses and users. Here are our top tips for curating authoritative content that separates you from the crowd:

 

Report on News & Trends

 

Engaging your audience through commentary on trends and news not only places your business at the forefront of current events but is a great way to convey a sense of relevancy. Leveraging news and trends will garner more traffic as people are actively engaging and interested in these topics. Being able to further relate the topic back to your business works to foster engagement with your brand. Furthermore, analysing news and trends makes your business the authority of knowledge on that particular topic. People may refer back to your website for other information or it may directly inform their purchase decisions.

 

Take a Stance

 

When it comes to content, play to your strengths. If your business has a strong stance or a deep curiosity surrounding a topic, explore it. Detailed analysis and informed opinion backed up by evidence and experience will reap a much higher engagement rate than content that is non-committal, vague and inconclusive. Creating content that an audience can emotionally and intellectually engage in is crucial in conveying authority. For example, a solar panel company writing a blog post about global warming. Sure, it may be somewhat provocative, but it's topical and completely pertinent to the companies purpose.

 

Explore Long-Form Content

 

As its name suggests, long-form content is long(er) articles, usually classified as those over 1,200 words that explore a topic on an in-depth level. While long-form content is a more time-consuming form of content marketing as it requires more research and time, studies show audiences are more likely to engage with blogs that are over 1,600 words. As audiences are more likely to take stock from articles with a clear stance, long-form gives you the opportunity to really achieve this. Quality long-form content is rewarded by search engines and may generate a higher ranking than short, more succinct content. Long-form articles and blogs also give you the opportunity to further develop and elaborate on topics, giving you the opportunity to present strong arguments and evidence. While not every blog post needs to be long-form, experimenting with this format will get your creative juices flowing.

 

Case Studies

 

Case studies are arguably the most authoritative form of content as they rely on statistics and numbers to position yourself as an industry expert. Case studies function as a showcasing mechanism that drives direct action. They also work as concrete evidence of proven success and can be used as a reference.

 

Share, Share, Share

 

Creating shareable content is something most writers and businesses set out to do. What is often neglected however is positioning your content in shareable environments. Being recognised on social platforms is crucial in building a brand’s authority other than via backlinks or brand mentionings. More critically however is making the content available to target communities. Establishing yourself on LinkedIn and building communities on the platform will also help to foster share-ability.

 

Use Video

 

Video is rapidly becoming the new norm for content. Not only does video content garner significantly more views than written content, but it also has a higher resonance with audiences. Video content lends itself really well to statistics, facts and analysis making it a superior form of authoritative content. Video gives you the ability to connect with your audience in a more personalised way and conveys confidence.