E-A-T is an important guideline that marketers should be aware of and focus on.
Discover what E-A-T is and why it matters.
Definition:
- E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authorization, and Trustworthiness.
- E-A-T is built into Google’s algorithm and the Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines.
- E-A-T is considered “extremely important” by Google.
If you work in SEO, you’ve probably heard a lot about E-A-T in the last several years.
But exactly, what is E-A-T? Is it a significant update, a minor change, or something in between? Is it essential to change your SEO strategy? Or can you simply ignore it like that half-eaten taco from last weekend?
However, it’s important to remember that these signals are highly subjective. You can be an expert in one area but have very low trust in another area. For example, you may be an authoritative dissertation writing help service, but you have no experience or authority writing about sensitive topics — even marketing topics.
Finally, each sort of information requires a different level of E-A-T. But the most crucial indicator is trust, and that applies to any content, whether it’s an online store, a medical website, Gpa calculator or even a recipe blog.
In this guide, discuss what E-A-T is, go into Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, why it matters, and how you can help your site rank higher by feeding it E-A-T style material.
Here’s a summary of what to expect from this series:
Is E-A-T a Ranking Factor?
No, E-A-T is not a ranking factor, although it can impact the rank of your content.
E-A-T is a guideline used by Google to identify which information is high-quality and should be ranked higher, and it is part of various components of their algorithm. While it is not a direct ranking criterion, it could have an indirect impact on your overall search rank.
While it is significant, it may not be as important as some SEO professionals believe.
So Why Is E-A-T Important for SEO?
Have you ever heard the phrase “content is king?” Or “simply produce content of a good caliber?”
Don’t respond to it. Of course, you have. On repeat, SEO professionals have been hammering for more material.
While those terms are well-intended, they make my eyes roll because they don’t tell us anything about what makes high-quality content.
More images? More in-depth content? Alt tags galore? Better meta-data? The rest of the world may never know.
Google is now providing you with some insight into what they consider high-quality content, which might have huge consequences for marketing professionals and SEO professionals (Almukhtar ET.AL, 2021).
E-A-T guidelines specify what type of content Google considers high-quality to real human reviewers who evaluate hundreds of websites.
Great content, according to their guidelines, should:
- Help users.
- Be created by an expert.
- Be posted on an authoritative site.
- Be trustworthy.
- Be updated regularly.
If possible, high-level expertise should be used to develop the content, but “everyday expertise” from people with real-world experience is acceptable when appropriate.
Pages that spread hatred, hurt, misinform, or deceive users may obtain a lower E-A-T grade from search evaluators.
Here’s Your E-A-T Checklist with 6 Ways to Improve Your Website’s E-A-T
You now understand that E-A-T is not related to your mother’s lasagna, but rather to Google’s algorithm. You understand why it matters – and why SEO professionals are all abuzz about it.
But what does this mean for your website? It suggests you need to improve your content.
Here’s a six-step guide to making your website more authoritative and trustworthy.
Tell Visitors Who You Are
Google wants to know who provides material and whether that person(s)/website is a valid source of that knowledge, according to all three prongs of the E-A-T standards.
If you don’t already have an About Us or a Team page that describes your team – and who your content creators are – now is the time to create one.
Author pages are a simple method to demonstrate your team’s experience, authority, and trustworthiness.
Work With Experts to Create Content
Google wants content from people who know what they’re talking about, not just nice material.
Rather than engaging ghostwriters to create half-baked material on high-click key phrases, engage with subject matter experts to build content that Google will trust.
This could entail interviewing a scientist, hiring a guest blogger, or collaborating with another company to publish high-quality research.
Make the Purpose of Your Content Clear
What is the purpose of your content?
Do you aim to educate, explain, persuade, or describe?
Use titles and headings that clearly state the aim of your content and use simple language.
Don’t write long, meandering articles. Get to the point quickly and cover the subject as plainly (and comprehensively) as feasible.
Link to High-Quality Sources
If you want to be perceived as an expert, you must rely on solid data.
Use authoritative references, studies, and research papers to back up your claims and demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about.
Use reliable sources such as NCBI and JSTOR to discover studies to back up claims.
You can also provide links to tweets, papers, or reports written by industry experts.
Consider Multiple Viewpoints
To be trustworthy, content should examine challenges from different perspectives and consider how each perspective contributes to the larger debate.
For instance, if your content is about the best types of ice cream to eat, there’s a considerable probability that one type of ice cream isn’t ideal for everyone.
The options are limitless. However, the idea is to explain the various points of view on an issue in order to build trust with your audience and appear to be an expert.
Pay Attention to Your Online Reputation
Your online reputation might have an impact on the credibility of your site and its content.
Keep an eye out for negative publicity and reply quickly to poor reviews to protect your brand’s reputation.
Claim all of your social profiles for your business name (so that no one else can take them!) and encourage customers to submit positive reviews about your company.
You don’t have to go wild trying to establish a large brand if it doesn’t make sense for your company, but make sure your good name isn’t damaged.
Key Point Take away!
The future is likely to bring a broader, deeper, and more sophisticated application of E-E-A-T to identify speakers, writers, websites, and brands.
The good news is that Google has consistently stated that E-A-T will not have a significant impact on search rankings.
The Search algorithm will continue to evolve over time as a result of broad core updates and micro-adjustments. Google’s purpose, though, remains the same. To that aim, the Google algorithm is always improving at determining what people are searching for and providing them with the most relevant results.
This mission is perfectly linked with Google’s E-A-T.
Your SEO efforts will be more likely to succeed if you understand what your audience wants and can give it to them in an informed, authoritative, and trustworthy manner.
If E-A-T is one of your key frameworks for SEO, you’ll always be in a good position to succeed.
Reference
Almukhtar, F., Mahmoodd, N. and Kareem, S., 2021. Search engine optimization: a review. Applied Computer Science, 17(1).
Pes, 2020. 10 Seo Tips For Content Optimization You Should Definitely Try. Online available at https://www.professionalessayservice.co.uk/10-seo-tips-for-content-optimization-you-should-definitely-try/ [Accessed Date: 1-jan-20]
