Since ancient times through philosophical works of scholars like Socrates and Aristotle, the field of academics has been respected and given traditional expectations. To be considered a reputable scholar in the Print Era, your work had to have made enough of an impression to be published in legitimate scientific research journals, but it was still your own thoughts, theories, and outcomes.

Today’s Digital Era has revamped how academic authority as a scholar is obtained. What was once an almost solely qualitative label has been replaced with factors that have quantitative formulas attributed to them. Researchers must understand the elements that comprise their reputation in order to make a significant impact in academic ranking and ensure their work is optimized for maximum effectiveness prior to, during, and after the publication process.

Challenges to Demonstrating Authority as a Researcher

There is a meaningful difference between demonstrating authority as an “authority figure” and earning respected authority because of your knowledge and works. Words alone do not make you an authority on your topic and today’s world where freedom of speech and ease of getting your opinion heard through social media and other electronic forums makes it difficult for the true authorities on a subject to be seen and recognized.

In fact, there are so many factors that must be reached in order for a person to demonstrate authority as a researcher that it frequently becomes almost impossible for a unanimous opinion to be agreed upon.

Since subjective measures are increasingly difficult to attain without biased interference, true research authority must now rest on the quantitative application of things such as impact and validity in a researcher’s work. It may not be a universal measure of scholarly reputation, but in today’s Digital Era, it’s as close to an unbiased picture as an academic can get while weeding through those claiming authority versus those who actually have it.

Part of this formula for academic authority in the push for ranking means that scholars must learn the importance of optimizing their research prior to publishing it through means like SEO.

The Importance of Ranking in SEO on Authority

Whether you agree with the principle or not, Google Analytics has set the stage for how the collective population views a person, group, or business on their authority over a particular subject. “Googling” something has become a household verb around the world. When you need answers or are looking for an expert, the default option is now to look it up on your search engine of choice.

The reason this works so well is that search engine creators like Google, Yahoo, Edge, and Bing have optimized a formula in which only the authorities on a particular subject show up as relevant on their first page of results. The algorithms change regularly, but these corporations have done their job well enough that the overall population trusts the mathematical formula to answer their questions without second-guessing the results.

Many factors are taken into consideration in these algorithms, but one of the consistent elements is always the need for the individual, group, or business to demonstrate authority in their scope. The methods to show this authority exists may vary depending on the algorithmic expectations of the time, but there are some basic rules of thumb that you as a researcher can include in your work to ensure you’re optimizing it to prove your knowledge in your field.

Strategies to Make Your Work Optimized for Better Authority

If you approach the idea of optimizing your work as a science, it’s a methodical way to get the job done. There are some routine steps that, once you understand them, can become an automatic part of your publishing process, such as:

●      Maximizing your reach by creating a title with 55 characters or less so that web crawlers can find the readers the content they’re looking for.

●      Use meta descriptions that summarize your paper in 150 words or less. These descriptions show up on search engines underneath the title of your work and are basically previews of the content readers will see.

●      Use graphics, too but add the “alt text” to describe what the image is for. This optimizes your image and turns it into a keyword.

●      Make use of headers by using the tools in your publication medium. If it’s a different font, it won’t show up as a header in search engines.

These small tweaks to your paper can optimize them and put you in the top rankings for academic authority.

Use Impactio to Optimize Your Paper for Authority

It’s not always easy to know how to best be heard as an authority figure among the many who claim to be. But with Impactio, your final research is put together in professional formatting, using those optimization tricks to help you stand out from the crowd.

When you use Impactio, like experts around the world do, optimization becomes a simple part of your normal process that prepares your work for the maximum impact possible!