Are you new to SEO or already a seasoned digital marketing expert? Although the term E-A-T is not new for SEO analysts, it became a hot-button topic after Google announced the addition of an extra E in E-A-T in late 2022.
Read this article to understand the whole concept of Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), and why businesses need to optimise E-E-A-T to improve their credibility and website ranking in SERPs.
Let’s dig a little deeper to understand E-E-A-T!
What is E-E-A-T?
E-E-A-T is an acronym for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
It’s a crucial component of Google’s SQRG (Search Quality Rater Guidelines) that human quality raters use to judge the credibility of a website, web pages, and authors behind the published content. The feedback helps Google to evaluate the effectiveness of its algorithm updates.
Simply put, the better the E-E-A-T, the better your ranking in SERPs.
Have you noticed the recent algorithm updates? What is Google up to? Well, the answer is quite definite; it’s the user experience.
Google only wants to present web pages that provide outstanding content or the right information to users as per the search intent. E-E-A-T is a framework that Google uses to ensure users are satisfied with the search results.
Though it is not the direct ranking factor, Google does consider robust E-E-A-T when delivering results. From an SEO perspective, High E-E-A-T helps build user trust leading to higher conversions.
Key Takeaways:
Google’s QEG guidelines are updated once every year. Here’s the list of the most significant E-E-A-T updates made in recent years.
- In March 2013, Google introduced the SQRG (Search Quality Rating Guidelines)
- In March 2014, Google announced the addition of E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to the SQRG guidelines
- In August 2018, Google rolled out Medic Update which impacted domains centred on health, safety and wellness.
- In October 2019, a BERT update was announced in context with E-A-T to better understand search enquiries.
- In December 2022, Google added extra E-experience in E-A-T for better quality evaluation.
For better understanding let’s break down each factor of E-E-A-T:
Experience
Well, it’s the newest and first factor in E-E-A-T which was added to SQRG guidelines in 2022. The objective is to determine whether or not the content creator has first-hand experience in the subject.
Keep in mind that experience and expertise are entirely different terms. How?
Let’s say, a website has posted a product review with personal experience, while others have just shared the review based on expertise without using the product. So whom would you trust? It is easy to trust and connect with a platform that shares real-life experiences.
Expertise
Google wants websites to show their expertise in their specific niche by creating quality, and relevant content. To determine the level of expertise, quality raters typically check if the content creator has
- Desired qualification
- Industry knowledge, and
- credentials to share the information.
Whether a user is searching for valuable advice or real-life examples, content must serve both purposes to promote your domain’s E-E-A-T.
Google’s Algorithm loves expert-level content based on the user’s search intent.
The objective is to make your website a go-to-platform. Audiences must consider you as a trustworthy and reliable source of information when seeking a particular product or service.
Authoritativeness
No matter how experienced and expert you are in a specific niche, SEO success is impossible without authority. As the name implies, the term refers to the brand’s image or reputation in the market. Here are the criteria that Google quality raters use to analyse a domain’s authoritativeness.
- To check if the content is polished and relevant to the title tags and headlines.
- Does the author have niche experience & expertise?
- Does the user trust your website’s work?
- Number of acquired backlinks.
- Mentions on the reputed websites of the same niche.
- Promotion on social media platforms, and news
For example, Medscape is among the few authoritative medical websites people accept and look up to for medical advice. Why?
- Medscape is a renowned Medical informational site.
- The authors, moderators, and Editors are health experts.
- Before publishing, website content is thoroughly reviewed by a doctor
Overall, Authority is directly linked to your content. So, to build authority, ensure to provide content that people value, and understand. Increased authority brings Google’s E-E-A-T into action.
Trustworthiness
It’s an honor to earn the trust of your audience. But if your content lacks quality or credibility, Google won’t be able to rank you higher. Though it’s not only about content marketing, certain other factors are involved. Trustworthiness refers to a website’s transparency, legitimacy, and content relevancy. Here are some tips to become a trustworthy site.
- Ensure the MC (main content) is up to date, and authentic, and follows Google’s guidelines from title to conclusion.
- The Domain must provide quick load times and smooth navigation.
- Include web pages like Contact US and About US to inform users and Google about your workforce and workstation.
- A trustworthy website must provide a ‘Terms & Conditions.
- Google values domains with HTTPS to ensure the safety of users’ data.
- Don’t forget to include links to reputed websites.
If a website can’t meet the trust criteria of Google’s E-E-A-T family, it fails to rank higher in SERPs.
What is E-A-T?
Before Google released its update in 2022, E-E-A-T was only E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). The E-A-T concept was added to Google’s SQRG guidelines in 2014 to evaluate the website’s credibility and content relevance.
However, the objective of adding extra E i.e. experience was to include first-hand experience and help quality raters to provide better judgements.
Please note: The addition of E-E-A-T in Google’s SQRG guidelines doesn’t mean it has replaced the old E-A-T. It has just made it better.
Here’s the statement about E-A-T that Google made for content creators and SEO teams:
Some facts you need to know About EEAT:
In 2018, the Google Algorithm update known as the medic update hammered many sites with a low evaluation of E-A-T. Here’s a list of the top 30 sites that were dinged badly by Medic update.
Image source: medic update hit
Overall, Google made it very clear to content writers, SEOs, and website owners to consider E-A-T seriously.
Implementing E-E-A-T principles means that websites meet Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines for creating high-quality content, and developing web pages.
Now, Google considers all the 5 key factors of E-E-A-T to determine the rankings of web pages in SERPs.
6 Most Effective Ways to Improve Your Site’s E-E-A-T
The good news is, sites with strong E-E-A-T, are difficult to knock off Google’s top rankings. To hit the highest E-E-A-T standard, you need not make any changes in your SEO strategy.
Establishing high E-E-A-T means making your brand grow organically with a powerful online presence. Here’s Google’s site-wide strategy to improve E-E-A-T:
1. Create High-Quality Content:
Google Algorithm loves user-friendly, valuable and informative content. To gain Google’s attention, all that matters is to create people-first content i.e. of the people, for the people, and by the people.
Always stay updated with Google’s content updates to audit your website content, and evaluate E-E-A-T score. Check if the content is:
- Well-researched
- Authentic
- Satisfies users
- Human written (not AI)
- Relevant to your Niche
Note: Keep updating your old content (even if it was of value to users) to meet the evolving user demand.
2. Include Business Transparency and Author Information:
To earn Google’s trust, ensure to provide transparency of your content creators and business information.
“According to a survey, 86% of customers look for transparency from their favourite brands.”
To enhance the user experience and safety, Google wants to know the real faces behind the website’s content. the person writing a piece of content is a legitimate source of information.
The more you are transparent about your contacts, team members, and even mistakes, the more the Google, and user love you.
So, how to be more transparent with Google?
- Include the Contact Us with physical location, social media channels, etc.
- Create a ‘Meet our team’ page with individual Bio pages for specific authors to showcase their education, and experience, and paste work.
- About Us Page with a clear mission and vision.
- If possible, include guest posts for authoritative websites within your niche.
Pro Tip: Whether you are a Small, medium or large organization, it’s always recommended to hire talented and niche-specific writers to establish high E-E-A-T.
3. Use Credible Sources:
To establish high E-E-A-T, always ensure to get quality backlinks that can build your website’s credibility and authority. For example, include links from trusted sources like:
- Research papers
- Case studies
- Blog posts or tweets made by your niche-experts
- Academic or Official sources
- News Publications, and so on.
4. Showcase Brand’s Positive Online Reputation:
Online reputation management efforts leave a positive impact on your site’s E-E-A-T. Plus, it fosters trust and strong relationships with customers.
Share positive customer reviews on your website to build trust, and foster ensuring relationships.
Respond to all types of positive and negative comments while maintaining your professional tone.
SEO/PR teams must also engage with user’s feedback on third-party sites.
5. Leverage and Moderate the UGC (User-Generated Content):
UGC can act as a powerful marketing tool if monitored and leveraged carefully. It can improve your SERP rankings, and sales while establishing a positive brand reputation.
UGC can be anything from hashtags, video testimonials, images, product reviews, and comments, to Youtube video that promotes your website.
But make sure to not set it free for all types of users. For example, spam comments or disrespectful hashtags can negatively impact your brand image. To avoid this situation, always use:
- Spam filter for blog posts.
- Block trollers
- Unlink tags with questionable content
- Avoid deleting content with negative comments
There is always a better way to deal with negative feedback. Either reply thoughtfully or simply turn off the comment section.
Pro Tip: As per Google’s SQRG, web content can be categorized as Main Content (MC), Supplementary Content (SC), and Advertisements/Monetization (Ads).
Think wisely, UGC (user-generated content) or MC (main content) is a great source to improve E-E-A-T SEO by creating content that showcases your expertise. You can engage with fans regularly, run influencer marketing campaigns or start giveaway contests to gain users’ attention.
6. Safe User Experience:
Fraudulents may try to publish scam articles sharing false credit details to harm your website’s credibility.
To maintain your website’s reputation, installing an SSL certificate for user safety is highly recommended. Also, verify that no spam can clog the comment section.
Is Google’s E-E-A-T a Ranking Factor?
Google’s E-E-A-T is a framework used by quality raters to measure the content relevance and quality of web pages. It’s not the direct and only ranking factor, but it is one of the important deciding factors.
“Google Algorithm detects hundreds of other signals like reviews, testimonials, authorship history, and backlinks to determine the quality and rank of the website, webpages, and brands in search engine pages.”
But, staying aligned with E-E-A-T guidelines can help you pass many important signals.
However, it is extremely important for businesses to strategically incorporate E-E-A-T principles into their websites to improve their ranking.
Why Is Google’s E-E-A-T Important for SEO?
Gone are the days when keyword stuffing, backlinking, meta tiles, etc. were used to rank a website. Now, Google’s Algorithm focuses more on the user’s intent, experience and requirements. Here are some benefits of following E-E-A-T principles:
- Enhances user experience
- Relevant and updated content
- Positive brand image
- improves the website’s credibility and, hence ranking
- helps build long-lasting customer relationships.
SEO teams must constantly optimise the website’s E-E-A-T for a better user experience. It’s all worth it if a user and quality evaluators are getting the appropriate information. Moreover, if a website is strictly aligned with the E-E-A-T policy, there will be no negative effects after every algorithm update.
Wrapping up!
The E-E-A-T concept is entirely based on the user’s journey on a website. It reflects that Google encourages creating high-quality, and authoritative MC (main content) for users. E-E-A-T framework plays a significant role in rating the quality of web pages, especially in sectors such as finance, education, and healthcare where trust matters the most. If a website fails to satisfy a user’s requirements or the content is irrelevant, it is no longer a credible source for Google. We hope you understand the E-E-A-T concept and its importance in SEO. Till then, Stay proactive for our next update!
