Understanding how to get to the top of Google’s search results is a full-time job. The search engine giant is constantly revamping its algorithm and uses hundreds upon thousands of different variables to determine how your website ranks in search results. When it really comes down to it, though, the authority of your website is arguably the most influential quality that determines rankings.

What is the nature of authority?
Online authority refers to how trustworthy and valuable a page (page authority) or entire website (domain authority) is.

In the past, Google used PageRank to determine authority; however, since PageRank values are no longer updated by Google, this metric is essentially irrelevant now.

Instead, Google is now using domain authority as a key way to rank websites. The concept of domain authority was designed by Moz, a Seattle-based search engine optimization software company. This proprietary measurement predicts how well a website will rank in search engines in comparison to its competition.

A website’s domain authority is scored by taking into account the number and quality of inbound links to a given domain or page. The higher the score, the more authoritative the domain is. Domain authority is far from perfect, but it’s more insightful than PageRank as it’s measured using a scale of 0 to 100.

How can you increase the authority of your website?
Here are several best practices for improving the authority of your website:

1. Make your website user-friendly.
User-friendly websites that have been optimized for mobile users generally have higher authority. Responsive website design allows for a premium user experience regardless if the website is accessed using a desktop computer or mobile device. The load speed of a website is also taken into consideration as pages that load quickly enhance the user-experience.

2. Earn more quality inbound links to your website.
Maintaining a business blog that offers high-quality information that is useful to your audience will help you to earn more inbound links. Other tactics include guest blogging for industry influencers and including your business in relevant online directories.

3. Create relevant content that meets your audience’s needs.
In the past, you could create content surrounding a targeted keyword to improve search engine optimization. However, with algorithm updates such as Hummingbird, Google is able to better detect the types of results that searchers are looking for. Instead, a better search engine optimization tactic is to create relevant content that adds value and addresses your audience’s needs.

If you want to rank better in search results, you need to focus on building the authority of your website. The three search engine optimization tactics outlined above will help you to build authority for your website that natural way, thus generating more traffic and boosting your search ranking.