{"id":2049,"date":"2021-12-13T09:23:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T09:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seopolarity.com\/blog\/?p=2049"},"modified":"2021-12-13T19:31:54","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T19:31:54","slug":"google-you-dont-need-to-be-an-authority-to-rank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seopolarity.com\/blog\/google-you-dont-need-to-be-an-authority-to-rank\/2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Google: You Don\u2019t Need To Be An Authority To Rank"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

According to Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller, not all websites must be perceived as authorities in order to rank well in search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was stated during the December 10 Google Search Central SEO office-hours hangout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian Harnish joined the Livestream to ask Mueller a follow-up question about a Reddit comment about website authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mueller believes it is difficult to call a website authoritative after publishing 30 articles on a single topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that in mind, Harnish wonders how Google views single-page websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, Mueller provides more context to his Reddit statement, stating that it is not necessary for every website to position itself as an authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read 7 Local SEO Updates for 2021 That Will Impact Your Strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the section below, you can read Mueller’s full response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Mueller of Google Discusses Website Authority<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mueller claims that it is possible to create good single-page websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His remark about needing more than 30 pages to be considered an authority was in reference to critical, high-level subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a website cannot be viewed as having the same authority as a doctor simply by publishing 30 articles about a medical condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mueller states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think you can make good one-page sites. So from that point of view I\u2019m not too worried about that.<\/p>

I think the Reddit post, as far as I remember, was something along the lines: \u2018I created 30 blog posts, and they\u2019re really good, and therefore my website should be authoritative.\u2019<\/p>

And from my point of view, you going off and creating 30 blog posts does not automatically make your website authoritative.<\/p>

And especially for the higher or the more critical topics, it\u2019s something where you can\u2019t just create 30 blog posts on a medical topic and then say: \u2018I am a doctor I\u2019ve written 30 articles.\u2019 So that was the direction I was headed there.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Most websites do not need to worry about being an authority. They can still publish content and have it appear in search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mueller uses a small business selling a product or service as an example. Customers will find the company’s products even if it is not the foremost authority in its field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd for a lot of websites, it\u2019s not that you need to be seen as an authority. You essentially put your content out there. If you\u2019re a small business you\u2019re selling something. You don\u2019t need to be an authority.<\/p>

And especially things where like one page websites they\u2019re often very focused on this one thing and you don\u2019t need to be an authority to do that one thing.<\/p>

To sell, I don\u2019t know, an ebook, or to give information about opening hours for a business. It\u2019s like, it\u2019s just information.<\/p>

So from that point of view, having a one page website, I think it\u2019s perfectly fine.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Mueller goes on to say that while a one-page website is a good place to start, it can always grow from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider how more pages can be added to the site in the future to avoid getting stuck in a situation where new content is constantly being added to the single page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith regards to starting out with a one-page website, I think that\u2019s fine, but I would think about where do you want to go from there at some point.<\/p>

Maybe you do want to create more pages and try to find a way that you don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hear Mueller\u2019s full response in the video below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n