When you decide to embark on building an authority site, the most important consideration is the topic. What will your niche be? What will your authority site be about? There are so many choices and you can make a decision based on many factors. However, the ones that matter most when choosing a topic for your authority site are as follows.

Choose a Broad Topic

Choose a broad topic, but ensure that it is still a specific niche topic. You don’t want it to be too broad such as “All about Cooking” or too specific like, “Cooking with Broccoli”. You might instead choose something in the middle like “Cooking with Veggies” or “Vegan Cooking.” This is a broad topic that can have many sub-niche topics which will provide loads of content ideas over the years.

The Topic Should be Helpful to Others

What problem does your topic try to solve, or what subject does it seek to teach? If you’re solving problems for a group of people or target audience, then you likely have a good niche in which to focus your authority site-building efforts. If you can answer the question of “How to _________” on a variety of subtopics within your main topic, then you probably have a winning authority site topic.

You Are Knowledgeable about the Topic

Don’t worry. You don’t have to be an expert on the topic. However, you do need to have some knowledge about it. It helps to also be passionate enough about the topic to be willing to learn more, eventually becoming an expert as you build the authority site up. You’ll want to start with the very basics anyway from day one, building up the site with further expert information as time goes on.

You’ve Considered the Competition

Some experts say that you should choose a highly searched topic with low competition. However, more often than not the competition doesn’t matter as much as you might think. If you can provide better information in a new way, then still consider the topic. Do look at your competition before proceeding, though, to be sure that your angle is going to be different enough to make an impact.

The Topic Is Timeless

If the information changes a lot within the topic you’ve chosen, it might not work as well for an authority site. The reason is that one of the things that make a site an authority site is its longevity. If each piece of content you write cannot stand the test of time, or is in fact time sensitive, then it might not make a good authority site topic. For instance, an authority site on movies might not work as well as an authority site on a specific genre of movies already created in the past.

You Have Monetization Ideas

If you cannot conceive of how to make money from the topic, it won’t be a very good authority site to choose if your objective is to earn money. If you have another objective, consider whether or not that objective is enough to keep you working on this site for years to come. Should your objective be to flip it, you need to be able to figure out how to make money from it first. If you can’t identify money-making ideas it will be hard to flip.

You can List 100 Content Ideas

Sit down and see how many different titles to content you can come up with. If you cannot come up with at least 100 titles in about two hours, then it’s possible that this is not the niche for you. You’re going to need to generate at least 50 pages on the site quickly to get it up and running as an authority site, and then you’ll need to have enough ideas to generate at least two to three new pieces of content each week. Don’t skip this all-important step, because no matter what the topic, content is still king.

By considering all of these tips for choosing a topic for your authority site, you’ll be on the fast track to getting your authority site up and running and generating income in no time.