SEO and Topical Authority: Basics and Importance

Authority is one of the most important concepts within digital marketing and the SEO world, and there are several different forms of authority that may play a key role in your efforts here. One of the most notable and possibly significant such forms is known as topical authority -- what exactly is this?

At Be Locally, our team of search engine optimization (SEO) experts is happy to explain a variety of different terms or industry concepts to our clients -- and to show you how these themes may factor into your own company's marketing decisions. What do those in our sector mean when they talk about topical authority, why is it important for your business, and what can you do (in coordination with our team of professionals) to improve it? This two-part blog series will discuss everything you need to know.

What is Topical Authority?

As its name somewhat indicates, topical authority refers to how much authority your brand or site has built up within the specific field or topic that it covers. That is to say, this metric showcases how much of an expert or leader your company is considered to be on the products, services, or information that you provide.

When we talk about authority in SEO and digital marketing, it's important not to confuse this with things like domain authority (which measures how well your site will rank as a whole) or page authority (which looks at the strength of individual pages). Instead, topical authority is all about your business's niche, and determining how well you are considered to be an expert on that topic.

Why Topical Authority Matters

There are a couple of different reasons that topical authority may matter for your business, and why you'll want to work on increasing this metric. For one thing, it may have an indirect impact on some of the other authority metrics that we mentioned above.

If your business is seen as a leader and an expert in its field, that will likely lead to improved rankings and authority scores across the board. Furthermore, a strong topical authority can help you to attract new customers and clients, as they will be more likely to trust a company that is considered to be an expert in its field.

Elements That Play Into Topical Authority

There are a few different factors that can contribute to strong topical authority. These include:

• The age of your domain: In general, sites that have been around for longer are going to be seen as more trustworthy and authoritative.
• The number of inbound links: This is a key part of SEO in general, but it's especially important when it comes to demonstrating topical authority. After all, if other high-quality sites are linking back to yours, that's a good indication that you're considered to be an expert in your field.
• The quality of your content: This is another important factor in SEO as a whole, but it's also crucial when trying to demonstrate topical authority. After all, if your content is high-quality and informative, that will help to show that you know what you're talking about.

In part two of our series, we'll go through some tips on increasing your topical authority. Stay tuned! For more on this, or to learn about any of our SEO, PPC or other digital marketing solutions, contact our team at Be Locally today.