There are some interesting and unfair things about Google’s ranking algorithms…

These algorithms, backed by machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), show favoritism to particular websites on the web.

For example, if you search for anything on Google, you’ll likely see a Wikipedia entry first.

This is what happens when you search for the term, Christopher Columbus.

Wikipedia always ranks first for historical features, and they even have a helpful snippet on the right side of the page.

Do you want to know why Wikipedia does this well online?

It’s because the online encyclopedia has a domain authority of 100.

Do you want to know what domain authority is and how you can start ranking your website accordingly?

If so, this guide will tell you everything you need to know.
 

What is Domain Authority?

Domain authority is a numerical value that determines the prominence of a website.

It’s measured from 0-100.

This simply means that the higher your website ranks on this scale, the better it will do on search engine result pages (SERPs).

Now, do you see why Wikipedia ranks so high for a lot of search terms?

Their domain authority is 100!

This means they are well-trusted by Google and other search engines because they provide resourceful content.

It takes a while and a lot of elbow grease to improve your domain authority.

Here are six main ways you can get the job done.
 

1. Create Long-Form Content

The best way to improve your domain authority is to create resourceful content.

Resourceful content covers a multitude of different information and is useful by a lot of readers.

For example, if you really wanted to learn how to install a ceiling fan, which online article would you choose.

A. 300-word article covering the basic steps of installation.
B. 1000-word in-depth guide on necessary tools, installation, and do’s and don'ts.

The obvious answer would be Choice B.

Choice B is an example of long-form content.

Long-form content traditionally exceeds 1500 words and features a lot of information that provides value to the reader.

Google loves long-form content.

In fact, long-form content receives more average social media shares than other content types.

Long-form content also ranks higher than shorter content.

There isn’t any debate here.

It may take a lot of effort to churn out longer articles, but the payoff is worth it.

The more social shares and backlinks you receive from your articles will indicate to major search engines that they are worth ranking.
 

2. Write Resource Articles

It’s not enough to write long-form articles.

They also have to be purposeful.

With backlinks being the top driver of online rankings for Google and other search engines, you have to think about creating content others will link to.
Remember we mentioned Wikipedia’s 100 domain authority rating?

Well, the reason why it’s so high is that they specialize in developing resource articles.

Resource articles are often educational.

Google shows tremendous favor to resource articles.

That’s because resource articles gain a lot of backlinks.

For example, even as we’re writing this article, we need to cite statistics and facts from resource articles.

This is what we found from the keyword, “backlinks drive SEO”.

Moz’s resource article on Backlinks ranks at the top for this keyword and even has a featured snippet.

This is a clear indicator of Google’s favoritism toward resource articles.

Let’s move on.
 

3. Try the Skyscraper Method

Brian Dean’s simple but effective Skyscraper Method caught a lot of attention and has helped content marketers gain tons of backlinks over the years.

It entails finding the top articles for a topic you want to write about, writing better content, and asking other publications to link to your better blog instead.

It was and still is a genius marketing concept!

Like we said, backlinks drive SEO.

The more links you acquire, the better your website will rank.

Once this pattern continues, your domain authority will steadily increase.

For relevant topics in your industry, try the skyscraper method.

Here is a checklist to make sure you are following every step correctly.


 

4. Gain Links Through Trusted News Publications

Every link isn’t created equal.

Links from websites with high domain authorities carry enormous weight.

Trusted news publications are some of these websites since Google posts news in the “Top Stories” section.

The most effective way to get featured by trusted news publications is to reach out to the right people.

You can view their website to contact specific journalists based on the type of story you want to pitch.

The major takeaway here is to pitch topics that relate to world affairs in your industry.

For example, if you’re in the marketing industry like us, you could pitch a story detailing the direction of the marketing sector by interviewing agency executives.

This type of article will help establish your business as an authority in your niche and improve your domain authority.
 

5. Make Your Website Faster

Now, we’re going to move on to technical SEO tips to improve your domain authority.

Website speed is a critical component of your website’s ranking ability.

If your website is very slow, people will leave your website and increase your bounce rate.

That’s never a good thing.

Great websites tend to load faster than two seconds.

Keep this in mind if you want to make your website more authoritative.
 

6. Make Your Blog Beautiful

Great user experience makes people enjoy your website.

When they enjoy your site, they’ll stay longer.

This long dwell time can improve your SEO.

To keep web visitors on your website longer, revamp the design of your blog.

Check out how clean Backlinko’s blog looks:

The color scheme of the page also changes depending on the chapter you visit.

This type of creativity keeps web visitors glued to your website, which is a great thing for your domain authority.
 

Improve Your Domain Authority Today!

A great website is the key to building your domain authority.

At Optuno, we specialize in creating affordable websites for all kinds of businesses.

To speak to a member of our dedicated sales team, give us a call today at 1-888-678-8662 or click here to schedule a free consultation.