If 30 Pages of Content Isn’t Enough, Then How the ---- Do You Make Your Website Authoritative?

Late last year, content and SEO posts across LinkedIn reverberated with a single, very clickbait-worthy quote: 30 articles won't make your website authoritative.

The statement came via Reddit, when a user shared they were struggling to get their website to rank, even after publishing 30+ articles to their site and manually indexing posts; they queried whether there was a bug in Google's indexing system.

But alas! for the Original Poster (and the rest of us) there was no bug. Instead, Google's very own Webmaster Trends Analyst, John Mueller chimed in, saying:

"It's really hard to call a website authoritative after 30 articles."

For content strategists, writers, SEO pros or anyone with a website, it was a headline on a plate. Enough to lengthen to-do lists everywhere with a hot flush of concern, and add "draft blog articles" to staff objectives company-wide.

Now if you use, have ever used, or even simply heard of Google, you probably trust Mueller's insights are correct. But it begs a number of questions: is there really a numerical benchmark for authority? is manual indexing even that beneficial? and how the ---- do we get around this?

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Authority figure(s)

When it comes to search engines, anything from Yahoo down probably isn't on your radar. And even then, if Bing is The Beach Boys then Google is The Beatles - undefeated in canonical authority, regardless of how you feel about the engine's profile, brand or efficacy.

The detail and minutiae of building authority aren't worth pouring over here - though they are worth you pouring over in general. The truth is, there are a whole host of things Google looks at to determine if/where your website sits in the hierarchy of the World Wide Web.

One key factor? Trustworthy, authoritative content. Just like in in-person conversations, there are a number of things that contribute to authority. Keywords, UX, visuals, internal interaction (linking content/pages across your site) and backlinking to external sites - the list is a lengthy one.

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But most notably, consistency. Consistency is key.

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Which brings us back to the lamentation of the poor Reddit OP…

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Bountiful content vs. beautiful content

This one's that age-old quantity vs. quality argument. The thought of mindlessly typing away at a blog post for the sake of fulfilling a quota is enough to make even the most complacent of content writers cringe. But working at the level and consistency Mueller is inferring here requires legwork. Significant legwork.

The two aren't mutually exclusive, of course, but it is a careful balance to create content that works with your brand, to your objectives, in your tone of voice, on the subjects that matter, with your keyword targets in mind - all while doing so 2-3 times a week.

So not mutually exclusive, but pretty damn difficult.

The challenge with consistency is that the proof is in the pudding - in the negative and positive sense of the phrase. If you're posting a blog twice a month and getting good traction through social then slipping off the radar for six months, it’s going to show and Google will be picky when your content does show its face again.

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But then, if you're only publishing content once every 6-8 weeks is it really that much better?

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Nailing the basics:

‍1. Strategy and direction will pay in dividends.

Equipped with KWR and targets, content stream and suggested titles, ideal objectives and intended outcomes, getting your 6- to 12-month strategy in place ASAP will bring you and your team some much needed smooth sailing. Particularly when there's an inspiration drought.

2. Hire a writer (and don't load them with other work).

This one should speak for itself, but getting a competent writer on-board will ensure you have at least one mind dedicated to your content. And whatever 'ad-hoc tasks' you might be tempted to throw their way, don’t. Writing content is a full-time job; writing content that performs even more so.

3. Fortnightly > weekly.

Less about the timings and more about the realism: if you want your brand to be a leader in its field then make sure you're setting achievable goals with your blog content. A weekly insight blog is great, but one every (every) two weeks without fail is better. Reduce the pressure.

4. Do you *actually* need to be authoritative?

Not to say your site doesn't need to perform, but if you're a brand with a handful of products and a healthy customer base, you might benefit from delving deeper into priorities. That is, if you want to increase revenue or outreach, there could be a better, more organic way than shoehorning content.

Ultimately, the solution here is multi-fold, combined, and not solely reliant on written or visual content but your blogs are a good starting point and a good finish line. Aspire to create excellent, well-informed and regular content and you're halfway there.