This is my small gift to the SEO Chat community from whom i learn a lot. I wrote this article in December of 2009 and hope that it hasn't become outdated since search industry is changing every second. I like teaching (although it should not be confused with preaching) and sharing knowledge. I used to teach C, C++ (programming language) to 1st year engineering students (as a tutor and not in the college) some 6 years back when i myself was a student and since then have got this bug
Consequently i understand different type of loops (for, while and do while loop), functions, parameters, conditional statements and above all program logic. I am sharing this info with you to let you know that it helps me a lot in understanding the code and in dealing with web developers. And i think it will equally help you if you could spend sometime in learning a programing language and its syntax esp. some server side language like PHP. Anyways back to the subject of authority sites.
As a seo we heard of authority sites a lot. Get back links from authority sites to boost rankings. But what are authority sites. How to identify them? Is there a way to find out what is authority and what is not? The answer is yes. There is a way to find out (although not a guaranteed way). Authority sites are those websites which have got back links from large number of different domains and majority of these domains are based on same/similar topic as the linked to domain. For e.g. a website on ‘Car Insurance’ can be considered as an authority on ‘Car insurance’ if it has got backlinks from large number of different domains and majority of these domains are based on car insurance or other insurance topics. Now the question that comes up is, how to identify authority sites. Do they scream i am authority, got a label of authority or is there some other identification mark.
Following are some ways to perceive the authority of a website
1. Authority sites have generally very high ranking on Google for your industry or primary keywords.
2. Websites which authority sites frequently link out to, can also be considered authoritative.
3. Websites which are talked about a lot in your industry are generally authoritative. You can find such sites through industry blogs, industry magazines and industry news publishing sites.
4. Websites with heavy user engagement (like lot of comments, reviews, ratings, page views, heavy users’ activity or large membership base) in your industry can also be considered to be authoritative.
5. Authority sites generally have very high Page Rank (PR >=6).
6. Authority sites generally have very strong back link profile which you can determine through tools like linkdiagnosis.com
7. Authority sites generally have high domain moz rank (>=6) which you can determine through tools like linkscape.
8. Authority sites have back links from large number of root domains which can again be determined through tools like linkscape
Following sites are generally perceived to be authoritative: Elementay & Seconday Schools Sites , Community Colleges sites, Technical & Vocational Schools, educational institutions which provide higher education, government department sites, research councils sites, public library sites, chamber of commerce sites, non-profit organizations sites etc.
How to find Elementary/secondary Schools in US:
Site:.k12.<state-code>.us
For e.g.
To find elementary schools in New York:
site:.k12.ny.us
And if you are looking for a linking page:
<your-keyword> site:.k12.ny.us
To find elementary schools in California:
site:.k12.ca.us
And if you are looking for a linking page:
<your-keyword> site:.k12.ca.us
How to find Private elementary/secondary Schools in US
Site:.pvt.k12.<state-code>.us
For e.g.
To find Private elementary schools in New York:
site:.pvt.k12.ny.us
And if you are looking for a linking page:
<your-keyword> site:.pvt.k12.ny.us
How to find Community Colleges in US
Site:.cc.<state-code>.us
For e.g.
To find Community Colleges in New York:
site:.cc.ny.us
And if you are looking for a linking page:
<your-keyword> site:.cc.ny.us
Following are other search queries to determine linking pages from authority sites:
<your-keyword> Site:.tec.<state-code>.us (to find technical and vocational schools in US)
<your-keyword> Site:.lib.<state-code>.us (to find public libraries in US)
Library Site: .<state-code>.us (to find libraries in US)
Research Council site: .<state-code>.us (to find research councils in US)
chamber of commerce site:.<state-code>.us (to find chambers of commerce in US)
<your-keyword> Site:.kids.us (to find sites which are suitable for children under 13)
<your-keyword> Site:.ac.uk (to find educational institutions which provide higher education in UK)
<your-keyword> Site:.sch.uk (to find primary and secondary educational institutions in UK)
<your-keyword> Site:.org.uk (to find non-profit organizations in UK)
<your-keyword> Site:.gov.uk (to find government institutions in UK)
Library Site:.uk (to find libraries in UK)
Research Council site: .uk (to find research councils in UK)
<your-keyword> Site:.ac.in (to find educational institutions which provide higher education in India)
<your-keyword> Site:.edu.in (to find educational institutions in India)
Library Site:.in (to find libraries in India)
Research Council site: .in (to find research councils in India)
chamber of commerce site:.in (to find chambers of commerce in India)
<your-keyword> Site:.res.in (to find research institutions in India)
<your-keyword> Site:.gov.in (to find government institutions in India)
<your-keyword> Site:.nic.in (to find government institutions in India)
<your-keyword> Site:.edu.au (to find educational institutions in Australia)
<your-keyword> Site:.gov.au (to find government institutions in Australia)
<your-keyword> Site:.org.au (to find non-profit organizations in Australia)
<your-keyword> Site:.asn.au (to find associations in Australia)
Library Site:.au (to find libraries in Australia)
Research Council site: .au (to find research councils in Australia)
3 Golden Rules to get back links from authority sites
1.
Establish yourself as an authority- Do it before you ask for a link. Do you really deserve a link from an authority site? If deep down inside you know, the answer is ‘NO’, then most probably you won’t be getting it either. Speak at major industry conferences and write in major industry journals to establish your authority and become known/popular among your potential linking partners.
2.
Socialize & Build Personal Relationship- Do it with key persons of the target authority sites for long term link building benefits. Organize/participate in Industry conferences, seminars, exhibitions, workshops and meetups to socialize offline. Remember SEO is just another form of marketing. The more you will market yourself, the better. Social media sites (like blogs, forums, community groups, social networking sites ) are excellent way of socializing online. While socializing online, don’t ignore the viral connectors (like top diggers, top stumblers or people with large fan/subscriptions/members base). These guys can instantly make your contents viral.
3.
Determine content needs- Determine content needs of your potential linking sites, develop killer contents and tools to satisfy those needs and then make your potential linking partners aware of them.
Biggest SEO mistake in link acquisition from authority sites
It is to ask for a back link without following the aforesaid link acquisition rules. If you don’t trust me, then just go ahead and try to get a back link from authority site. Your link request will either get deleted or ignored.
How do you get links from authority sites? Pls share.
-SEO Himanshu
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one thankful reader
All I can say now is thank very much... 
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