How To Become An Authority In Your Niche (even when you’re new)

So, you have heard that the way to build a tribe of loyal followers and get ranked on Google is to offer value and position yourself as an expert. However, you are only just getting started and already feeling like a fraud. Fear not! You can learn How To Become An Authority In Your Niche by taking the steps detailed below.

This site includes some affiliate links – if you buy through my link I may get paid a commission but the price remains the same for you. Thank you for your support.

 

First of all, lets look at:

Why become an authority?

When people are searching online, they are usually looking for a way to solve a problem but they won’t necessarily trust everyone they come across on the internet (very wisely!). Trust needs to be earned which you do by providing valuable content.

Also, unless your content is authoritative, in-depth and offers solutions, it may never get found by said people as Google wants to find the very best to show to those who are searching. If you are in a competitive niche, then that makes your challenge extra-hard as there is some really excellent content out there, so where to start?

 

Choose your niche wisely

If you haven’t already chosen your niche, read on (if you have, jump to the next section). You can give yourself a head-start by choosing a niche that you already know something (or a lot) about, but you may want to go on and develop more blogs in profitable niches in the future where you don’t know so much.

In any case, it will be easier to build authority in a narrow niche rather than a broad one. For example, you may have seen blogs that cover, health, food and travel – all in one blog! Some are very successful, but to learn so much and write knowledgeably would be your life’s work and it would take forever to build authority.

However, you could become an expert in, for example, joint pain, or cooking for a gluten-free audience, or how to get fit after surgery. You get the idea – the competition will be much smaller and you will be giving yourself the more realistic task of learning how you can help people who are searching for those topics.

If you are still thinking about what niche to go for, check out The Best Affiliate Programs With High Commissions.

Define your audience

If you don’t do this, your authority could be completely misplaced! Make sure you know who your audience is, what their pain points are, and how your product or service solves their problems. If you are not sure how to go about this, read How To Define An Audience For Affiliate Marketing.

 

Compete every day

Check out the competition

Do a Google search for a typical question that your audience would be searching for and read the posts that appear on page one. Take note of how long they are, what problems they solve, the quality of the images and infographics and so on but also note what is missing or what could be explained in more detail.

When you come to create your own content, you will be able to go above and beyond your competition in terms of length. the depth in which topics are covered, the use of images and infographics. This process was first adopted by the brilliant Brian Dean, founder of Backlinco, and named The Skyscraper Technique.

Again, this is where a less competitive niche is useful. If you are in the online marketing world, many of the posts are exceptionally good, like this epic post by Adam Enfroy. I’m not sure I would go head-to-head with Adam!

However, if you are in a competitive niche like this you can still narrow your niche further to one specific area, e.g. email marketing, how to find a niche, affiliate marketing programs – and become the authority on ONE aspect rather than trying to cover everything.

One critical point is that you should learn and take inspiration from the best posts you find. Never copy. It will hurt (and possibly even shut down) your blog, make enemies, and won’t build authority (quite the reverse). If you do mention someone’s unique idea, that’s fine, just make sure to give them the credit and ideally a link.

You will find that some posts will make you think of other angles inspiring you to research those and come up with some unique ideas. That is what you are aiming for.

 

Contents inside
Contents provide ideas for your own unique post creations

Amazon look inside example
The ‘look inside’ feature lets you check out the contents

Read books

Find the latest top-selling books on Amazon (or anywhere) in your chosen niche and learn from experts. You can get books so cheaply now on the Kindle app. I also highly recommend Audible and use it all the time, so time spent driving or cooking is never wasted.

Another good way of finding topics to write about is going to Amazon, finding a popular book in your niche and clicking on the ‘look inside’ button on the cover (you need to be on a PC or laptop as it doesn’t work on mobile).

There you will see the chapter subjects which will give you inspiration on what to do a deeper dive into for your audience. In the example above, you could take a theme like ‘Think Like a Dog, Not a Human’ and write a really good post around it (if that’s your niche!).

 

Podcast

Listen to podcasts

This has to be the best time in history to be researching any topic. Experts, at the very top of their game, give free advice! By listening to at least two a week in your niche you will be amazed at how your knowledge expands. The Affiliate Guy Daily Podcast is one of my favorites. It’s like a free masterclass.

Start your own podcast

Once you have listened to a few podcasts yourself, you could step right out of your comfort zone and start your own! There are few better ways to become an authority in your niche by hosting a podcast. How do your learn? Pat Flynn has a Complete Podcasting Tutorial if you are curious.

Hosting a podcast enables you to interview knowledgeable people from whom you can learn, develop a relationship with, and pass serious value to your audience. When people associate you with industry experts, you will be seen in the same light.

 

Collaboration

Write ’round up’ posts

This is where you invite a number of experts in your niche to offer their best piece of advice. For example, if you run a blog aimed at dog owners you could ask ‘What is your number one tip for getting a puppy off to the best start in life’. Again, by quoting experts in your blog, by association, you are more likely to be seen as an expert.

Furthermore, by developing relationships with experts in your field, there may be opportunities to guest post at a future date. Top tip – in the early days, focus only on the relationship or they will think you are just out for yourself. In the meantime, link to their posts that add value to yours. Drop them a note and let them know but don’t ask for anything.

 

Quote industry data with infographics

There are two benefits of sharing industry data with infographics. First of all, it genuinely backs up a point that you are making and shows that you have gone to the trouble of finding and linking to an expert source.

Secondly, people like to share what they know. Infographics are a great way to do this. Some get many shares on social media and better still, backlinks when other bloggers want to use it in their posts.

 

Find trending topics

One sure way of coming across as an authority is to have your finger on the pulse of what is trending in your industry. One good way of doing this is visiting Answer The Public. All you have to do it type in the topic you are interested in and it will come up with the questions that have most recently been asked on Google.

Another good way is to find what blog posts are getting great social shares. You can do this by going to Ubersuggest and entering a keyword (it could be one of the questions you found on Answer The Public). It will bring up the top 10 results along with estimated search volume and social shares on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Answer the Public testimonials

Guest posting

This is a great way of not only expanding your reach but also of gaining new backlinks. Having access to a new audience, especially if it’s linked to a blog with a much higher domain authority than yours, will certainly kick your authority up the order a few notches over time. You will find an explanation of backlinking and how to get backlinks here.

As a brand new blogger, you don’t want to aim for Forbes or Entrepreneur, but you can certainly aim for blogs of 30+ DA when you are starting out. Just be sure to follow the guest posting rules for each site. For some seriously good guest posting tips, check out these ideas from Search Engine Journal.

Video example – how to build a website in under 30 seconds

Use video

Using video in your blog post is great for engagement and also increases the length of time people spend on your website. The longer people spend on your website, the more Google realizes that you are offering value and the more traffic they send.

Don’t worry if you don’t want to be on camera – you can use someone else’s video to reinforce a point you are making – just pick a really good one. Although if you are aiming to be at the very top of your game, make it something that you learn to do.

Be available to respond to journalists requests

Help A Reporter Out (H.A.R.O.) is a website that allows journalists to request help from bloggers when they are researching features. You just sign up and receive emails (3 per day!) of what the current requests are. The niches are:

  • Biotech and Healthcare
  • Business and Finance
  • Education
  • Energy and Green Tech
  • Entertainment and Media
  • Hightech
  • Lifestyle and Fitness
  • Sports
  • Travel
  • General (everything else)

You have to be quick off the mark as journalists typically work to tight guidelines but it could be a very easy way to get exposure. Also, your link could end up on a website that you would never get a link to under your own steam.

Click to tweet example

Use Click to Tweet in your posts

This is something that I had completely missed the value of until recently. Imagine you have included a brilliant quote in your post, a reader Tweets it, followers of the author of the quote see it and check out your post!

Or it could just be a super-helpful tip, but if you can make that super-helpful tip a quote from someone with a huge following (rather than just you!) so much the better. Then imagine repeating this in lots more posts! What a brilliant strategy. Lots of people Tweeting from your blog definitely conveys that you have authority.

I am definitely going to give this a go. Check out the details of how to do this at blogtyrant.com.

Conclusion

Being new does not have to be a barrier. You are simply sharing what you have learned (isn’t that was experts do after all?), or quoting information from a trusted source. The fact that you have taken the trouble to learn will put you ahead of most people who will land on your blog.

Have you discovered your inner expert? How did you do it? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.

How To Become An Authority In Your Niche
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How To Become An Authority In Your Niche
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So, you are only just getting started and already feeling like a fraud. Fear not! Learn How To Become An Authority In Your Niche by taking the following steps.
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6 thoughts on “How To Become An Authority In Your Niche (even when you’re new)”

  1. Hello Jean, great post on using niche to make a successful post. You gave some great advice. As I become more knowledgeable on my niche I’ve discovered when I do my research and check out my competitor blogs, I find that people put a lot of bad and inaccurate information on the internet. This absolutely terrifies me since my niche is in health and wellness. This drives me to always do my due diligence, focus on my research, and truly be a reputable source in my niche. I need to figure out how to post effective videos. I look forward to more articles from you. You are truly a valuable source as I build my business.
    Thanks for another great post.
    Jamie L.

    Reply
    • Hey Jamie

      Thanks so much for the positive feedback. How interesting that you are finding inaccurate information out there! As you say, in health and wellness, accuracy is essential so hopefully this will elevate your blog and you will be a trusted source.

      Video is great, though I must admit I hate to see myself on camera. I will find some work arounds in any case as they do bring a lot of value.

      Kind reards,

      Jean

      Reply
  2. Hi,

    It is very hard trying to think of a niche that you enjoy for one, then a niche you can comment on regularly, then as a bonus try making money from that niche!

    It’s the Willy Wonka golden ticket, but it’s achievable if you persist and don’t put too much pressure on yourself.

    Try to think of it all as a hobby, one thing I have learned to do is use my time as a way of focusing on, as opposed to thinking about all this COVID-19 stuff were still dealing with even today.

    The biggest thing is the word enjoy, if you don’t enjoy it then it might be worth considering a change in niche or other possibilities out there.

    Great post as usual Jean, thanks for a great read.

    Reply
    • Hi Lee

      I agree, choosing something you are genuinely interested in is important – otherwise it would be hard to do the necessary research and writing without going crazy! Also, your excitement for something can really come across in your writing and inspire your audience. You can then take the action you need to make it work as a business.

      Thanks (again) for taking the time to comment.

      Best,

      Jean

      Reply
  3. Thanks for this post, I think finding something you’re passionate about is very important.

    Reply
    • Hi Laura

      It definitely helps if you are excited about your niche as you will want to learn even more about it and can continue to share what you learn with your audience. It would be had to keep going otherwise.

      Kind regards,

      Jean

      Reply

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