netmeg - 1:29 pm on Jan 3, 2013 (gmt 0)

Are you talking about site's authority or own authority. From what I read, you mean both but more emphasis on building your own name brand (Which is kind of becoming a celebrity.) In both cases, I think you have to earn/win it rather than working outside to get it.

For something like what the OP described, it would be one and the same. Authority is authority, whether it's your own name on the masthead or some other name, you have to represent.

Earn/win vs working outside - you need both. You *have* to distinguish yourself from everyone else, and in 2013 you have to go out and GET your traffic. Very rarely is it just going to appear.