Want to know what Google wants?
Google recommends that publishers review their quality raters guidelines.
SEO professionals have been trying to figure out how Google’s algorithm works for years. They look for any clues that might give them some insight into the inner workings of the algorithm.
The advice on how to optimize for E-A-T may be outdated.
What Is E-A-T?
E-A-T is an acronym for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. The goal of this concept is to create a standardized method for judging search results that can be used by third-party quality raters.
Google recommends using AMP to publishers as a way to measure the quality of their content.
The sole purpose of Google’s E-A-T metric is to assess the quality of content, particularly for external quality evaluators.
According to Google’s Search Quality Guidelines:
Your ratings should be based on the instructions and examples given in these guidelines, unless your rating task indicates otherwise.
Your personal opinions, preferences, religious beliefs, and political views should not affect your ratings.
If people submitted personal opinions, the ratings on Google would be less reliable. That’s why the concept of E-A-T was developed.
The search quality raters guidelines are designed to help Google’s algorithm identify the types of sites that should be ranked higher. E-A-T is a concept that reflects the kind of site that Google’s algorithm should be trying to rank.
E-A-T As Ranking Factors – Is It Possible?
There is no evidence that the three concepts of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness are actually ranking factors.
Google has never said what the signals are that indicate that a site is trustworthy, though they have admitted that there are signals.
This means that it must be said again that the Quality Raters Guidelines do not include suggestions for what those indicators could be.
This means that while raters are instructed to take into account the author of a given page, this author information is not used by Google’s algorithm.
It is asking the rater to do that in order to be a better judge of website authority. That’s all.
The E-A-T principles can be applied in real life scenarios, such as linking.
These are not actual ranking factors in use by Google.
How Does Google Know if Content Is Authoritative?
There are factors, like links, that have traditionally been used to establish expertise and authority, as well as understanding what users want to see.
If a webpage receives a lot of links from other webpages about similar topics, it’s generally considered to be an authoritative source of information on that topic.
There is no metric that Google uses that is specifically called “authority.” The authority of a webpage is based on signals that Google can guess at, though the nature of these signals is not disclosed.
Almost the only way to know if a website is reliable is if it has links from other websites.
But it’s not the only one. Google uses AI to identify whether or not content is authoritative.
Google Uses AI to Understand Expertise and Authority
Did you know that Google uses AI technologies to better understand content?
Google is using AI to filter out content of poor quality related to shopping and product reviews.
We want to make sure that you’re getting the most useful information for your next purchase by rewarding content that has more in-depth research and useful information.
Google is using AI to decide if web content is shallow or if it has the important details and features associated with “in-depth research” and other qualities that users would find useful.
Google Research & E-A-T
At the end of the day, Google’s search results pages are all about giving users what they want to see.
Google’s patents and research papers that focus on link analysis, content analysis, and natural language processing all center around understanding what users want and understanding what webpages are about.
- Links can communicate what page is expert .
- AI helps Google understand what webpages are authoritative .
- Content analyzed by AI and links communicate which webpages are trustworthy .
- On-page signals may indicate expertise, authoritativeness, and authority… as well as their opposites.
How the E-A-T Concept Translates to Better Ranking
E-A-T is an idea that was created to teach quality raters how to judge websites.
The search quality guidelines do not reveal how Google ranks pages.
In order to understand the concepts of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, they need to be defined.
Publishers will have a clear understanding of how to improve and optimize their content once they have a firm grasp of E-A-T.
Expertise
Qualities of Expertise
Expertise is the quality of competence and technical skill. To be an expert in something requires a complete understanding of the topic, a lot of knowledge about it, and first-hand experience.
An example of this would be if a webpage is discussing how to cure an ailment, it would have to be approached from a scientific point of view to be considered an expert.
An expert page teaches, reveals, and provides knowledge. A webpage created by an expert will likely contain information on various subtopics related to the main topic, as well as citations to other works on the same or similar subjects.
Depth of Knowledge Is Not Comprehensiveness
Do not confuse depth of knowledge with being comprehensive. Depth of knowledge is a term used to describe how well a person understands a topic.
The comprehensiveness of the content is how broadly it is covered.
When assessing whether a webpage is expert, it can be helpful to consider how the page signals that it is conveying a deep level of knowledge.
Content is considered expert if it contains a specific kind of information for a given topic. An article about headaches would typically mention aspirin as a possible remedy.
Understand Depth of Knowledge in Order to Understand Expertise
If you want to add “expertise” to an article, it is more than just adding an author box with the author’s academic credentials.
The ability to create content for webpages is a reflection of someone’s level of expertise and experience.
One cannot simply add an author biography and expect it to magically become an expert article.
The first step in adding expertise to webpages is understanding what depth of knowledge is.
How to Improve E-A-T SEO
It’s important to have good Google E-A-T SEO practices since it significantly impacts organic search results.
There are a number of steps you can take to improve the content on your website to make it more trustworthy according to Google and users. Sites that are classified as YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) are held to a higher standard than other sites.
1. Build the right backlinks with off-page SEO
If you’re in IT consulting, a backlink from a teen fashion website is not going to be beneficial to you. If you employ tactics that are often used in spam, you could be penalized with a manual punishment. The website mentioned generated a lot of low-quality links on unrelated websites, which caused all of its rankings on page one to disappear. (Many fell to page 15.)
But, off-page SEO isn’t easy when done right.
If you want to earn backlinks, you need to be creating content that is valuable, unique, and of high quality regularly. This content must be something that people want to link to. A listicle is a typical blog post that is 500 words long and is posted once a month. This type of blog post will not have a significant effect. If you want to be seen as an authority on a subject, you need to invest time and resources into it. Then, build relationships with the right publishers and influencers. Those high-value backlinks will surely follow.
2. Get more mentions from trusted sources
According to a Google Patent, brands can be mentioned in plain text as a type of backlink. The patent declares that it can identify links that are express, implied, or both. Also, these links can be actual links or just plain text. This means that any links coming from a trustworthy website will be seen as a positive signal for your page’s ranking. This includes both explicit links (like those in your page’s code) and implied links (from pages that mention your website without linking to it). This was in response to a searcher asking if mentions on high-authority websites are considered when determining rankings. Gary Illyes from Google stated that they are, in fact, looked at and factored into the decision making process.
If you want to secure mentions, you need to understand the potential value they have. There are many ways to get more mentions. For example:
- Guest post on authoritative sites
- Secure interview opportunities
- Appear on podcasts
- Partner with influencers
- Speak at or host events
- Sponsor charity events
- Create high-value resources
- Launch new innovations
3. Keep content accurate and up to date
If the content on your website is not about something that never changes, it is likely that you have pages with inaccurate or outdated information.
It’s important to keep your content as up to date as possible with accurate information. If you have pages with time-sensitive information, this is especially important. It is important to keep medical information up to date with the latest discoveries in the field.
4. Get more reviews (and respond to them)
It is always beneficial for businesses to receive and advertise online reviews for their products or services. The same reviews that help your site rank in Google also help to build your site’s E-A-T. Your company is considered trustworthy by consumers if you have a large number of positive reviews on different review sites.
As new reviews come in, be sure to take the time to respond to them. This includes negative comments as well. if you respond to customer feedback, it will make your brand look more reliable and committed to customer satisfaction.
Google recently released a product reviews update . The update is designed to encourage review content that is more detailed and original than the template-based information that is commonly found on the internet today. Google announced that it will begin to prioritize websites with enhanced product reviews in its search engine rankings.
5. Use or hire experts
Google loves expert content. Credentials and qualifications are especially important to content creators if they want to be rewarded. The materials you use on your website are especially important if your website is in a “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) category. This is why many of the top health information websites have their content written by medical professionals or reviewed by them, or both.
You can increase the E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness) of your site by working with contributors who have substantial real-world experience and credentials to back up their knowledge.
6. Flash your credentials
Do not simply label your authors as professionals without first demonstrating their level of skill. Make sure the credentials of the people you’re working with are legitimate, and include their qualifications on your site next to the content they create. Make sure to link to the authors’ websites and social media accounts to help Google better understand who is behind your content.
Make sure to list your experts on pages that talk about the people behind your website, such as About, Team, or Contributors. Don’t be shy about flashing the writer’s bonafides.
If your writers have the necessary credentials or have been recognized as an authority in a particular field, you have the right to let people (and Google) know about it.
Anything related to your field of knowledge is fair game:
- Education
- Awards
- Books authored
- Certifications
- Speaking engagements
- Conference panel inclusions
Including your contact information on your website helps to show that you are a legitimate company with actual employees. Websites that don’t have contact information are probably not very concerned with their audience.
7. Perform a content audit
If your website is not brand new, you probably have a lot of existing content, such as blog posts, articles, reports, case studies, data sheets, white papers, lookbooks, etc. A content audit can help ensure that all of this content meets EAT standards.
With every page, you have three options:
- Update it
- Delete it
- Combine it with other related pages
For example, if you have a blog post that was written four years ago, you can still share it on social media and people will still find it relevant. If the information is outdated, update it so that it’s accurate. Is the text driving traffic or conversions? If not, it may not be worth updating. Then, delete it. If a blog post is not very long, it should be expanded or combined with other related posts to make the page more useful.
Be sure to use the right 301 redirects when you delete or combine pages on your website.
8. Build a content marketing framework
If you want to establish your authority, a good strategy is to create content regularly. Content marketing refers to creating and distributing content such as blog posts, podcasts, and videos in order to demonstrate expert knowledge and connect with customers.
The challenge is that creating good content on a regular basis takes a lot of work. Hence the need for a content creation framework. As a marketer, you need a process that you and your team can use to consistently create content that is valuable to your audience.
Your framework should include a content calendar with the following:
- The type of content
- Your publishing tempo
- Required resources
- Target audience segment or persona
- Target keyword(s)
- Each step involved (content brief, draft, edits, reviews, publication, etc.)
- Who is responsible for each step
- Desired outcome or goal.
If you have a specific plan laid out, it will be simpler to get the advantages of content marketing while being more efficient.
Optimizing for E-A-T
Building expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness can all be achieved by focusing on excellence.
Expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness are important factors in determining the quality of your site’s content. They are qualities that your content can contain.
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