E-A-T in SEO stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. This concept is discussed in great detail in Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines. Demonstrating good E-A-T both on and off your website can potentially help improve Google rankings and increase your website’s SEO.
The three principles are:
Expertise
For Google, high-quality content should come from an expert on the topic. Google wants to give users peace of mind knowing that the information they are getting is backed by research, written by credible experts and referenced by scholarly sources. This is especially important for websites in the medical, finance, legal, and nutrition field. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that the author should have formal education on the subject. It could mean that the author has direct experience or knowledge about the topic. Providing credentials backing up their expertise can help and should be on display.
Authoritativeness
Being an expert is only the beginning. An author can have all the knowledge on the subject and still not be an authority. The author should be a distinguished person on the matter or in their field. It could mean that they have won awards, their content widely shared or when their name or brand has become synonymous with the relevant subject. This shows that the author is not just an expert – they’re the authority.
Trustworthiness
Quality Raters examine how trustworthy the website is by checking the overall site quality like site security, having a straightforward way to contact the website owner, or even as simple as having an accessible privacy policy. This means that the website’s content and company information should be honest, accurate, and accessible. Trustworthiness is measured by how helpful the content is to searchers and everything about the site should make users feel safe.
How to Improve Your Website’s E-A-T In 4 Steps
1. Add Sources
Including sources in your content, especially for sections that are being quoted or written by another author, is a great way to boost the perceived authenticity and credibility of your content. It’s also a very natural way to create a relationship with high authority domains or personalities in the eyes of Google.
2. Add Author Information
It’s important to make it clear who is responsible for the content of your site. Search engines want to see that it is obvious who is responsible for the site’s content. While it can be acceptable for a site’s content to remain anonymous, this is not recommended.
3. Write Good Content and Back it Up
Share and promote your expertise by writing great, relevant content. The more content you have that demonstrates your expertise and the further back it dates the better. Additionally, be sure to provide sources for your information when you can. If you’re stating stats or figures, have the research or analysis to back it up.
4. Encourage Customer Reviews and Comments
Customer interaction can be a great way to boost your EAT score. Ask happy customers to leave reviews on your website as well as on relevant review sites. You can also encourage comments on posts and reviews on products or services. Be careful though as this can come back to bite you if you open comments to anyone. The good news is Google is usually able to tell the difference between actual content on a website and comments.
These are just a few suggestions to optimize your website for E-A-T. Improving a website’s E-A-T doesn’t happen overnight; it is an ongoing process and about building strategies. Keep in mind having a high “E-A-T” score does not mean a page 1 ranking. E-A-T is Google’s way of making sure that searchers get content that is relevant, high-quality, accurate and helpful. In short, the E-A-T algorithm is all about increasing website quality.
Are you looking for a digital marketing partner that will provide you with a complete guide on how to optimize your entire web presence including content marketing? Perfect Web Creations can help you create relevant strategies and seize online opportunities for your business. Start with a free site audit today!
