Speaker 1: 0:54

Hello and welcome to. Seo is not that hard. I'm your host, ed Dawson, the founder of the SEO intelligence platform, keywordfupoleasercom, where we help you discover the questions people ask online and learn how to optimize your content for traffic and authority. I've been in SEO and online marketing for over 20 years and I'm here to share the wealth of knowledge, hints and tips I've amassed over that time. Hello and welcome back to SEO is not that hard. It's me here, ed Dawson, hosting as usual, and today I'm going to be talking about a really simple way, one that's often overlooked way to boost your website's authority by using simple authority signals, such as as seen on logos or covered by or featured in. You know, it's as simple putting logos of sites that have covered to you, linked to you or quoted you onto your website. It's a small tweak, but it can have a big impact on how both users and even search engines perceive your site.

Speaker 1: 1:49

So, first of all, what are authority signals and why do they matter? Well, let's talk about what these authority signals are In SEO. Authority signals are in seo. Authority signals are indicators that show search engines and probably as much or importantly, your users, that your website is reputable and trustworthy, and these signals can come in many forms, ranging from the quality backlinks and social proof that you get to awards and certificates. So today we're focusing on a straightforward and effective method, and that's showcasing logos of well-known sites that have mentioned you. And by displaying these logos on your website, you're not only offering a quick visual cue to your visitors that you're credible, but also reinforcing your reputation in the eyes of the search engine. So when potential customers see that big name publications or influential sites have covered you, they're more likely to trust your content, and so are the search engines.

Speaker 1: 2:37

So the Well. You'll have seen it on other sites. You're bound to have seen this. But let's look at it. It's one way. Imagine you've been featured on reputable outlets like, say, forbes, techcrunch, or news publications like BBC, guardian in the UK, washington Post, new York Times, that kind of thing. And instead of keeping that information hidden away in press releases, what you want to do is just create a dedicated section on your homepage or on your about page but ideally I'd say your homepage to showcase their logos. So, for example, you might have a banner or a section that reads as seen on or featured in, with a row of logos, and these logos serve like instant social proof. They tell your visitors hey, big names trust us. That trust extends to search engines too.

Speaker 1: 3:29

When Google sees your site is associated with these authoritative sources, it can help boost your overall authority. Um, it's something that is mentioned in the google rate guidelines, the kind of thing that when a rater is looking to see how trustworthy a site is, that these are the kind of signals they're looking for. Um, obviously, don't fake it, okay. Faking it is bad because you can will obviously get caught out. If you've been linked to, google will know you've been linked to okay, in it's part of its link graph. But on this kind of like on-page evaluation, having this kind of signal is is not a bad thing to do because basically, it doesn't just signal credibility, but it also reinforces the idea your content has been vetted and valued by respected sources. So in turn, that can lead to improved click-through rates, low bounce rates, all of which you know like that kind of on-page interaction is important seo factors nowadays.

Speaker 1: 4:16

So how do you collect and display these logos? Well, you know, first of all, you need to make a list of all the websites that have linked to you, quoted you or provided coverage. So you want to look through your press releases, email mentions, mentions and even your backlink profile and once you've got a list, you're simple to visit those sites and download their logos. Be sure to make your using the most up-to-date and high-quality versions and here's a few best practices. Placement you want to place your as-seen on section prominently. You'll often see plenty of sites will put these at the top of the homepage. You want visitors to see these logos as soon as possible. It's a common trick used by many affiliate sites. The big, well-known affiliate sites have often got this kind of thing straight away because they want to reinforce that trust factor with people straight away that they're going to be honest and open with people.

Speaker 1: 5:04

You need to have a consistency in design. Okay, so you want to keep the uniforms um style in a uniform style or arrange them in a neat grid. You know, if necessary, it can sometimes work to use a monochrome version or adjust the size um of different ones so they look cohesive, because if you just take them as they are, you'll find different sites use use different sizes. So you might need to do a bit of work to get that design consistency. Linking back is a good thing to do you might want to consider linking back each logo back to the original article or source, because then this not only gives proper credit to the site that quoted you, but it also can provide an additional benefit by linking your link graph closely with those people that are linking to you. With them all. Make sure you use alt text and markup. It's good not just for accessibility people accessing your site who have visual or other impairments but it's also good for the search engines to understand what the image is, what it's representing. Again, it's small, but it's's an important signal.

Speaker 1: 6:08

Um, and keep it fresh. You know if you can update it regularly so you get new coverage. Put in new places, put in new things. Don't just let it go stale. Adding it, keeping it current and relevant, can be a good thing to do. And while we're here, you know, let's just cover some additional authority signals that we might want to point as well, because these logos are a great start and they're a very simple signal and they let people know straight away, very quickly, your authority.

Speaker 1: 6:33

But there are some other things we can do that can add to it as well. Testimonials and reviews is a big one. Okay, display testimonials from industry experts or satisfied clients. You know, when users see quotes from sources they trust, it adds another layer of like credibility. If you've got any awards or certifications, if you've received any of these, showcase these badges as well. They work just like logos and can be placed in a dedicated section or even integrated into your home page. I've talked about using awards and certifications as a way of link building, as in you award all the places these, but if you've ever received them, then do put those on because, again, it's just another trust signal.

Speaker 1: 7:09

If you are the kind of site where it's important to have that you are selling to clients and the big clients give you credibility. We do this on Keywords People Use. If you go, you'll see we've got client logos on the homepage of companies, big companies that use our services. You know, if you have these well-known brands or companies, add their logos to your site. It's similar to as Seen On, but it just shows that you know industry leaders trust your services. If you've got a service that's being trusted by big, well-known companies, that's as good as using press logos, um and other media mentions. You know if, even if a full article isn't available, you can mention you've been featured in top publications like simple, featured in note, with a few select logos, can be very effective. All of these elements together, these are things that will reinforce your reputation and it sends positive signals to the search engines and to your visitors. And even if you don't have a large number of backlinks yet, these authority signals can act as a shortcut to building trust with people.

Speaker 1: 8:05

So how do we? How do we do it? We've got some quick tips for sort of finding who to link to, what to link to. So, first of all, you want to audit your coverage. So you want to audit your website for any media mentions, press releases or backlink reports. So places like google search console are good for backlinks as a hrefs free, banklet check, backlink checker or hate or sem rush all these places where you can find external links.

Speaker 1: 8:27

Look in your analytics for places that are driving traffic to you. You'll find. You'll find companies linking to you and press linking to you. Design a dedicated section, you know. Create a clean, visually appealing section on your home page that features these logos. It's like a, almost like a digital trust bar. Think of it and, as I said, monitor and update it regularly, maybe once a quarter, something like that. You know, look to update the logos with new coverage. If you've got, you might have to find better places that you can put on there and as you grow you will find that the places that link into you become better and more important, more impressive.

Speaker 1: 8:58

And remember to sort of use that social proof. If you find somewhere that's talking about you but not linking to you, get in touch with them, ask them to link to you, if you can. You know, because it's quite often we've. I found that we've had sites, especially back in there's a broadband at kuk people would mention us, big websites would mention us, but not link to us. We quite often contact those people and said oh, it's nice of you to mention us or mention some data that we've shared, something like that. Why don't you just link back to us as a proper attribution? Obviously, don't put pressure on them. You want it to be editorial still, but it's worth doing that.

Speaker 1: 9:31

So, putting it all together, what I'm really saying today is authority signals are a really key part of your SEO strategy and you don't need to be a big corporation to leverage them. Okay, simple tactics, like you know, adding these as seen on logos or publicizing who your clients are, these, these things that can really boost both your credibility and your SEO performance. So, remember, it's not just about backlinks or technical SEO. It's also about building trust with your audience. So when users see that established sites trust you enough to mention you, then they're more likely to trust you too, and that trust can translate into better engagement, which leads to higher conversion rates and improved rankings. So it's a real key, simple thing to do. So I hope you found this tip helpful.

Speaker 1: 10:12

If you have enjoyed today's podcast, do all those things that help the algorithm, help us get around to other people. We've got a simple link for you to go to. If you go to ratethispodcastcom slash seocom, slash seo, there's links there where you can easily add a review on your platform of choice, where you find us, and it really, really helps us find new people, and you know that's what it's all about, isn't it? Sharing and sharing and showing that, and if you can just help us anyway, that would be fantastic. So, anyway, that's it for today. So until next time, keep optimizing, stay curious and remember seo is not that hard when you understand the basics. Thanks for listening. It means a lot to me.

Speaker 1: 10:57

This is where I get to remind you, where you can connect with me and my seo tools and services. You can find links to all the links I mentioned here in the show notes. Just remember, with all these places where I use my name, that ed is spelled with two d's. You can find me on linkedin and blue sky just search for ed dawson. On both you can record a voice question to get answered on the podcast. The link is in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 11:17

You can try our seo intelligence platform, keywords at keywordspeopleusecom, where we can help you discover the questions and keywords people are asking online. Post those questions and keywords into related groups so you know what content you need to build topical authority and, finally, connect your Google Search Console account for your sites so we can crawl and understand your actual content, find what keywords you rank for and then help you optimize and continually refine your content and targeted personalized advice. Personalized advice keep your traffic growing. If you're interested in learning more about me personally or looking for dedicated consulting advice, then visit wwweddawsoncom. Bye for now and see you in the next episode of seo is not that hard.