Using E-A-T In Your SEO Strategy

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You’ve probably heard of Google E-A-T. No? Although the notion has been around since 2014, it has progressively become one of the most significant aspects of SEO.

Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most perplexing – even for professionals in the field.

To live, you must eat. And so it goes with the content of your website. Of course, this is a different kind of “eat,” but in this case, to live is to rank higher on Google.

What is E-A-T in SEO?

E-A-T is an SEO abbreviation that stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. It initially appeared in Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines, a document distributed to people who evaluate the quality of Google’s search results on their behalf.

• • Expertise: focuses on the content provider or author and their level of skill/knowledge.
  • Authoritativeness: reflects on the creator or author, the material, and the site in general.
  • Trust – focuses on the creator or author, the material, and the site as a whole.

E-A-T is mentioned more than 180 times in the Quality Rater Guidelines, which makes it important.

How to Improve your E-A-T in SEO

Now that it is clearly acknowledged that E-A-T will become an increasingly key element of Google’s algorithm, it is critical to understand what this means for your site and how you can effectively future-proof it. Some major ways to improve your E-A-T include:

Making sure your content can be linked to an expert

It should come as no surprise that if the material you’re creating for your website is authored or evaluated by an expert in the category, industry, or specialty, Google will consider it to be of higher quality.

Including a detailed bio on every page that the expert writes or reviews

By having a bio on the page rather than just an About Us page, Google can more clearly identify that expert’s skills and credentials.

Building out that expert’s SEO presence

Because Google will go outside of your site to determine how credible an expert is, it is critical to develop additional external signals that Google can detect. This might include the expert guest posting on various websites or perhaps creating their website where they can talk about themselves and aggregate their credentials.

Creating and providing unique, original research

Google favors content that contributes to the conversation. Simply rewriting what is already ranking will rarely get you to the first page. You may provide Google a cause to boost your page above the sites that are already ranking by conducting new and original research.

Securing high-quality mentions and links from reputable, related sources and sites

The frequency with which other respected sites reference, mention, and/or link to your site is one component of authoritativeness. You may help establish the external authority of your site and your experts by interacting with sites in your category, industry, or specialty and providing them with a compelling reason to link to your site.

Gaining positive reviews across any and all trustworthy review sites

Reviews with positive sentiments across major review platforms can often signal to Google that an entity is both authoritative and trustworthy. Cite your sources. In an age when misinformation is prevalent, Google’s algorithm is continually looking for the most accurate information. You will provide Google with clean trustworthiness signals if you provide trustworthy information that is either cited or well-researched.

Trying to avoid overly promotional content

While this is not always achievable, content that is first and foremost instructive will show Google that you are attempting to provide helpful content that will satisfy the user. This is at the heart of their most recent Helpful Content Update, therefore, it should be a priority to offer users the information they need before engaging in promotional methods.

Keeping content fresh and up to date

Because things are constantly changing, assessing earlier content and updating it with new facts, statistics, and information will assist in illustrating all three E-A-T concepts.

Auditing your existing content

Because algorithms are always changing, previous content that may have performed well in the past may be perceived as having lesser E-A-T signals over time. With the Useful Information Update, it is critical to ensure that all content on the site is helpful, as having some less valuable content might influence the entire site.

Linking to high-quality sources

You can demonstrate to Google that the information you’re providing is reliable, correct, and beneficial by including both internal and external links in your material, particularly links to high-quality external sites.

Wrapping Up

As a result, the value of your website is only as great as what you put into it. Because E-A-T is on both the page and site levels, you must ensure that every aspect of your website is attempting to match Google’s requirements.

You’ll want to create material that is compelling, informative, and accurate. And you must use E-A-T to suit the needs of both quality raters and actual users. If you do that, you are meeting Google’s requirements.

Keep this page bookmarked if it helps! Feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss SEO support for your organization.