E-E-A-T
Understanding and meeting E-E-A-T requirements is essential for getting your site to rank organically on Google.
What is E-E-A-T, and how does Google use it?
E-E-A-T stands for “Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.” Before I go into detail about this, it’s worth taking a look at how Google ranks web content in general. It does this by the use of algorithms that utilise well over 200 signals to analyse and determine the ranking and appearance of content in SERPS. (Search Engine Results Pages).
Search Quality Evaluators
Google uses search quality evaluators around the world to manually rate search engine results using Search Quality Rater Guidelines. This program is used to provide Google with Page Quality (PQ) rating and Needs Met (NM) information that further helps refine the algorithms used for search results.
In the Search Quality Rater Guidelines, Google says the following: “Pages with High E-E-A-T are trustworthy or very trustworthy”
Experience
From Google’s perspective, content that demonstrates the experience of the author is valuable for almost any topic. Take a look at the example below. The author clearly demonstrates both her experience and expertise. This adds credibility to both the page and the site.
Expertise
Google believes that authoritative, trustworthy and engaging content requires expertise. Think about websites about some of the following topics:
- City food tours
- Fashion
- Food Recipes
- Science Fiction TV shows and movies
In order to meet the page quality and meet needs requirements of the search quality raters, the content authors will need to demonstrate subject matter expertise. To put it another way, if someone has a food tour guide website about Amsterdam but barely knows the city, this lack of knowledge will be reflected in the quality of the content. Google wants to be sure that when people click on a search result, the content meets the needs of the searcher. Therefore, it’s important to demonstrate expertise when creating content.
The example below demonstrates the experience and expertise in the content of an Amsterdam Food Tour website.
Authoritativeness
Google Search Quality Raters have to assess if the site they are reviewing is authoritative on its subject matter. For example, BBC News or the New York Times are authoritative for news and current affairs. Government websites are authoritative about the immigration rules to their respective countries. Is your website the go-to authority on the topics it covers? Do other authoritative websites link to your site, for example?
Trust
Trust is the most important factor for high-quality websites dealing in what Google calls Y-M-Y-L (your money or your life) topics.
Y-M-Y-L is an acronym for sites whose content can have a direct effect on your finances or health. For example:
- Mortgage brokers
- Real estate
- Medical advice
- Yoga and Fitness
Google gives sites whose content can cause financial or physical harm extra scrutiny. Sites in the Y-M-Y-L category need to be secure, have good independent ratings. Social proof, so for example be referenced by other sites and have proof of positive reviews. Sites publishing content in the Y-M-Y-L category should clearly demonstrate their experience and expertise of their topics. Certain topics in the Y-M-Y-L areas should only come from experts. For example, an article advising which type of medication to take for insomnia should really be written by a medical professional.
Focusing on E-E-A-T and Y-M-Y-L when creating content will positively help your organic rankings over time and is something you should also look at when reviewing existing content that’s already live on your site. For more information feel free to contact us at seohelp.amsterdam.