Improve Your Website’s Domain Authority

by Susan U. Neal RN, MBA, MHS @SusanNealYoga

Domain authority is a scoring system to determine how high your website ranks on search engines like Google. The higher the domain authority, the more likely you can obtain paid sponsors for your website. These paid sponsors could be in the form of ads or keywords added to blog posts.

To determine your website’s domain authority go to https://moz.com/domain-analysis - index. Enter your website’s domain name and click analyze. Three months ago, my website, SusanUNeal.com, ranked 17. Today it ranks 50, a high domain authority.

How to Improve Your Domain Authority

One of the first things you can do is improve your website’s speed. I moved my website from a less-expensive, shared hosting plan to a dedicated plan on the hosting site WP Engine. On shared hosting plans, you could be on the same web server as inappropriate websites that you would never want to be associated with.

Next, ensure your website is an https site. To find this go to your website and check the web browser. Does your URL start with http or https? The https provides a security feature to your site, and Google ranks you higher for it. I had my website upgraded from an http site to a https site.

Next, identify keywords for your website. I used Publisher Rocket to identify high ranking keywords. You could also use Google Ad Words. On a spreadsheet I included the keyword, Google searches/month, and competitive score to determine the best keywords. You should identify primary as well as secondary keywords.

Primary keywords include the top three to five words that best suits your website regardless of the word’s competitive score or Google searches/month. These include words that you want to dominate on the web in the long-term. Secondary keywords include another five to ten words that you can use when writing blog articles. These words help support long-term keywords. For example, two of my website’s primary keywords are low-sugar diet and low-carb diet. Two secondary keywords are healthy diet and healthy eating. The secondary keywords may be easier to include in blog articles.

Next, you want to write guest blog posts with a dofollow link back to your website. By default, all links are dofollow links unless they are changed. Dofollow links rank higher in Google. In addition to linking to your website through its domain name, you also want to link back to it using your keywords. For example, linking the word healthy living back to my website would help my website’s ranking. Finally, Google also likes you to have a mixture of link types, including naked links that include the http or https code (https://susanuneal.com/), to your website in guest blog posts and articles. Ultimately, these keywords drive traffic to your website.

I worked with a search engine optimization (SEO) friend who improved my website’s domain authority in two months. You can check out his services at Magnum Marketing. He orchestrated many of my website’s keywords being placed on different blogs with high domain authority.

In summary, follow these steps to increase your website’s ranking on Google:

1. Improve your website’s speed

2. Ensure your website is an HTTPS site

3. Identify your website’s primary and secondary keywords

4. Publish guest blog posts and articles with do follow links to your website

Obtain Paid Sponsors

Once your domain authority is higher, you can monetize your website through ads and blogging. Ensure that your contact form on your website works and goes to your inbox and not the Junk folder. Now that my domain authority is high, I’ve received unsolicited emails regarding ad placements. 

My SEO freelancer recommended the advertising sites listed in this article, https://www.adpushup.com/blog/the-best-ad-networks-for-publishers/. Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith recommended SheMedia.com because their ads are always clean. She uses nonobtrusive end of the website page banner ads. You can check out these ads on her website at https://ichoosemybestlife.com/. Saundra also recommended GetBlogged.net to find sponsors who will pay you to insert their keywords in a blog you write or that they give to you to post. 

Ultimately, writing is a business, not just a ministry. We need to earn money to continue to spread the Word of God through our writing. Check out my previous article, Author Income Diversification, where I discuss other monetizing options. 

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Susan U. Neal, RN, MBA, MHS

Susan’s mission is to improve the health of the body of Christ. She has her RN and MBA degrees, as well as a master’s in health science. She is a CERTIFIED HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACH with the American Association of Christian Counselors. She published five books, the Selah award winner 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, CHRISTIAN STUDY GUIDE FOR 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, HEALTHY LIVING JOURNAL, SCRIPTURE YOGA a #1 Amazon best-selling yoga book, and YOGA FOR BEGINNERS which ranked #3. She published two sets of Christian Yoga Card Decks and two Christian Yoga DVDs that are available at CHRISTINAYOGA.COM. Her digital product HOW TO PREVENT, IMPROVE, AND REVERSE ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIA is a great resource. To learn more about Susan visit her website SUSANUNEAL.COM You can also connect with Susan on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and INSTAGRAM.