(Website Authority): Ranking on Google Doesn’t Require Authority

The key to ranking well in Google’s search results is not necessarily establishing yourself as an authority. (Website Authority)

According to Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller, not all websites need to be considered as authority in order to rank well in search results.

This was stated during the December 10 Google Search Central SEO office-hours hangout.

Brian Harnish joined the webcast to ask Mueller a follow-up question about a Reddit comment about website authority that he made.

After posting 30 articles on a topic, Mueller says it’s difficult to call a site authoritative.

Given this, Harnish inquires as to how Google evaluates single-page websites.

As a result, Mueller adds further meaning to his Reddit statement, stating that every website does not need to position itself as an authority.

In the section below, you can read Mueller’s whole response.

Google’s John Mueller Discusses Website Authority

Mueller claims that good single-page websites are possible to create.

His remark about needing more than 30 pages to be considered an authority was in reference to high-level, vital topics.

For example, a website cannot be seen as having the same authority as a doctor just by publishing 30 articles regarding a medical problem.

According to Mueller,

“I think you can make good one-page sites. So from that point of view I’m not too worried about that.
I think the Reddit post, as far as I remember, was something along the lines: ‘I created 30 blog posts, and they’re really good, and therefore my website should be authoritative.’
And from my point of view, you going off and creating 30 blog posts does not automatically make your website authoritative.
And especially for the higher or the more critical topics, it’s something where you can’t just create 30 blog posts on a medical topic and then say: ‘I am a doctor I’ve written 30 articles.’ So that was the direction I was headed there.”

Most websites don’t need to worry about being authoritative. They can still publish content and have it show up in search results.

Mueller uses a small business selling a product or service as an example. Customers will find the company’s items even if it isn’t the top authority in its sector.

“And for a lot of websites, it’s not that you need to be seen as an authority. You essentially put your content out there. If you’re a small business you’re selling something. You don’t need to be an authority.
And especially things where like one page websites they’re often very focused on this one thing and you don’t need to be an authority to do that one thing.
To sell, I don’t know, an ebook, or to give information about opening hours for a business. It’s like, it’s just information.
So from that point of view, having a one page website, I think it’s perfectly fine.”

A one-page website, according to Mueller, is a decent beginning point, but it can always develop from there.

Consider how more pages can be added to the site in the future to avoid a situation where new content is always being added to the single page.

“With regards to starting out with a one-page website, I think that’s fine, but I would think about where do you want to go from there at some point.
Maybe you do want to create more pages and try to find a way that you don’t paint yourself into a corner by saying, well, I have to put everything on one page all the time. But rather expand when you see that it fits.”

Hear Mueller’s full response in the video below: