In an earlier post I said that your article will probably serve one of five purposes:
1. Establish you as an expert.
2. Build your list.
3. Sell products directly.
4. Building backlinks.
5. Draw in traffic from the search engines.
Today we’ll look at point number one: Establishing yourself as an expert.
Let’s say you’re learning all you can on a particular topic. It could be anything, from classic car restoration to dog training to crafting to a medical problem. So you head to Google and start searching for different phrases related to this topic. For example:
• Reupholster classic car.
• How to paint a classic car dashboard.
• How to convert 6v to 12v electrical system.
• How to restore classic car.
And then you notice something. Seems like whatever phrase you’re typing into Google, you keep running into the same author. You find his articles on blogs. You find his articles on Facebook. Your search turns up articles on well-known authority sites. You even find his articles in article directories.
The thing is, these articles are good. They’re packed full of solid information and good tips. The more you read, the more you trust the author. Pretty soon, you’re specifically searching for this author so that you can read everything he’s written. And now you view the author as an expert.
Perhaps you really have had this type of experience. I certainly have. And so have countless others. When you see a name popping up repeatedly in a niche, you start viewing that person as an expert.
Your prospects are the same way. If they see your name enough times, they’ll start trusting you. This is particularly true if you’re creating quality articles and posting them in reputable places, like on authority sites and blogs belonging to other experts.
So the point is, if you want to quickly and easily establish yourself as an expert in the niche, you need to start blanketing the niche with high-quality content. While you can certainly use this content for other purposes – such as building your list, selling products or getting traffic from the search engines – you want to be sure the quality remains high.
Sometimes people get so focused on optimizing content that their article starts getting a little clunky. It’s hard to read. And so while it may certainly draw in traffic from the search engine, it won’t impress this traffic unless the article solves a problem, educates or entertains the reader.
So a focus on quality is key. Always remember that.