Today I woke up and checked a few of our sites and found that two of them have become Google "authority" sites. To me this is a much greater and significant reward than a PR boost, it means we have two trusted "authority" sites within the respective niche areas and this is worth something.
What do you mean by authority sites? Google have never officially used this as a term, it's used as a slang term but has no exact meaning. If you mean you've got sitelinks, well, I hate to piss on your chips, but google have been giving these to lots of sites lately, it seems to be a new policy/algorithm tweak.
Your right that is exactly what I meant, and I'm sure Google does give it to a lot of trusted sites but the point is they don't give it to just "any" site. It helps a lot with branding a site and stamping "authority" on a niche. I understand it's an indication of trust.
Yep, perfect example, much the same as when you type in "digital point" - Maybe it's no big deal but I'll take it thanks, it puts the spotlight on our site and pushes the competition down.
First congrats on making to the site links thingy on Google, second... can anyone please share some tips as to how can we get one of those?
I was using slightly different strategies on the two different sites and they both delivered a similar result. When I have a bit more time I will provide a few more details.
The sitelinks doesn't mean that the site is an authority. Rather the site is the most relevant result for that search term and Google beleives that the sitelinks will benefit the user.
Ok then it is a signal of trust over and above your average site at the very least. It's something a site has to "earn" and is a real positive from what I have been able to find out.
First of all congratulations on your achievement. I also believe - attaining sitelinks - is an indication of trust Google has on a site. And trust means authority-value. Many people don't believe it. But who cares. Important thing is - you are better than any other site for that "search term". Some sites also show sitelinks if you put the whole domain -check if you have it.
Kidder... I also agree with jhnrang! Authority or no authority... the fact is that your site is better valued than Google values other sites. Congrats again
Don't get me wrong the sitelinks are a good thing. However, it's not authority but relevance for the search that gives you the sitelinks. Here's a good example. Search on Google for the famous blogger John Chow and the number #1 result is the blog of dp member John Cow http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=John+Chow&btnG=Search Now search on johnchow.com and you will see the sitelinks because Google has determined that result to be the most relevant. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=johnchow.com&btnG=Search
congrats, it would be really interesting to know what sort of things google looks for in a site before it creates their sitelinks
One domain dates back to 02 the other is about 04. I think a good footprint is very much what Google is looking at, links coming into a lot of different pages on the site from other "established" sites. One thing I did not do was go crazy with links, I got a few good links into the sites and spent my time on content.