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Which sites are "Authority" sites?

PremiumMember
jimcoe
Posts: 396
Joined: 13 Feb 12
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18 Jul 12 4:34 pm

Which sites are "Authority" sites?

Is there a way to find out which websites Google considers "authority" sites.

I know that .edu and .gov sites are generally considered authority sites by Google, but what about Wikipedia?
And what if I want to inspect other popular sites for their "authority" status?

Thanks All!
_jim coe
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seogorilla
Posts: 27
Joined: 18 Jun 12
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20 Jul 12 3:02 pm

 Generally speaking they are high ranking sites. I would consider PR5 and above that's related to your topic.
Here's an example:

1888PressRelease.com – paid and free service offering a variety of options.
PRWeb – paid service that charges per article.
The Open Press – a quality free press release portal.
PR Newswire – global leader in news and information distribution services for professional communicators.
SBWire – affordable media services for small to medium-sized businesses.
Media Syndicate – free press release and newswire posting website that enables small and medium sized businesses to get information out to the general public quickly.
i-Newswire – free and paid service that will allow you to submit press releases to a global audience.


These are all Press Release sites that are considered authority sites. Authority sites cover a wide array including social media sites like Digg or Squidoo; .gov; .edu; blogs; forums; PR sites and classified ads like Craigslist.

Instead of going with Wiki I would look at the sites Wiki references to at the bottom of their page and use them.

Hope this helps, good luck!

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PremiumMember
jimcoe
Posts: 396
Joined: 13 Feb 12
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20 Jul 12 5:50 pm

 Thanks Seogorilla - that's helpful info for sure.

Anyone else?

_jim coe
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Site Admin
cecille.l
Posts: 3959
Joined: 25 Feb 11
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23 Jul 12 10:16 am

 I think "authority site" is a site other websites in the same niche refer to. It does not necessarily have high PR. The high PR is coincidental in that because you have all these sites linking back to you, it helps boost your rank. The site also gets plenty traffic which helps with rank too.

I'm with seogorilla on this one. You need to look at the sites Wikipedia references to at the bottom of their articles. I think news sites like CNN are regarded by Google as authority sites since other sites reference them.

My two cents. :) Have a good day!
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Cecille


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PremiumMember
jimcoe
Posts: 396
Joined: 13 Feb 12
Trust:
23 Jul 12 4:22 pm

 Oh no Cecille - much more than two cents worth, lol.

So, it seems that authority sites may have a sort of automatic high PR, in a circular way. Because they are seen as authorities they get high Page Rank because people like us want to cite them, so they get lots of inbound links. Then if their "visitor experience" also coincides with Google's idea of quality and such, they are apt to get high PR. Then they may be seen as even more of an "authority" - one of those positive feedback loops that can be so useful in marketing.

This would also seem to mean that our own sites can become authority sites, with the right content, design and links.

I wonder if, on an info product marketing site, rather than an affiliate sales site, one could appeal to Google by having an "academic" look and feel rather than a "sales" look and feel? Perhaps an interesting experiment.

Wonder exactly what constitutes a legit .edu domain registration? Hmmmm...

BTW, nice to see the staff so busy doing their stuff on a Monday morning. :o)

_jim coe
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