Getting Started With E-E-A-T

When creating and optimising content for your website, you will be aware of the importance of ensuring the majority of your pages follow best practices such as keyword targeting and headers for example. But there is another side to content optimisation that not many people consider when they begin optimising their site.

While E-A-T is not an SEO ranking factor, it is a principle that Google’ search raters use to determine the quality and effectiveness of search results. The Search Quality Rater Guidelines were first introduced in 2014 and are updated roughly once a year. The purpose of these guidelines is to help inform its quality raters on the grounds of what makes a good or bad website. Feedback from these raters doesn’t directly impact your website’s rankings, but it does help Google make algorithm improvements over time. 

The three elements of E-A-T principles that content writers and web designers alike should be creating copy around. Join us as we help you get to grips with E-A-T and how it continues to change. 

What does Google’s E-A-T principle stand for?

Broken down into three core principles, E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness. Previously it was a synonym for page quality whereas now it is one factor in a host of qualifying factors that help determine the helpfulness of your website. 

If you already know what E-A-T stands for but don’t know how to implement it, get in touch with the experts. The team here at Peaky Digital knows what it takes to optimise your site. 

Expertise

In order to determine the expertise of your website, search quality raters will review the Main Content (MC) of a page. What they are looking for here is whether the author (business or writer) has expertise on the topic they are writing about. If you can demonstrate your expertise through qualifications and credentials it will go a long way in not only convincing the reader but also the quality raters.

However industry-relevant qualifications are not a barrier to entry for websites looking to optimise their site to show their expertise. Quality raters also look for “everyday expertise” which means someone is well-versed in a topic without necessarily having expert credentials. For example, you could be a food blogger who writes up thorough and useful reviews of restaurants. This demonstrates “everyday expertise”.

Authority

The Authority aspect of E-A-T refers to your overall business reputation in your specific industry. This is especially important among the experts and influencers in your industry. In an ideal world, the way you would demonstrate your authority would be with other authorities in your industry linking to your content because it provides value to them and their readers. 

Creating high-quality content that is thoroughly researched will stand you in the best stead for being linked to by other authoritative businesses in your sector. Domain Authority is also another factor that won’t directly impact your ranking, but it will help you build your credibility and showcase your authority. 

Trustworthiness

Finally, Trustworthiness is the final aspect of Google’s E-A-T principles. This aspect is slightly different to the first two as the quality raters also assess the creator of the website, along with the website. There are a few things you need to ensure In order to demonstrate your trustworthiness. These include being clear with who wrote your content by creating author pages and bios, editing previous work for factual accuracy as the information becomes available as well as citing trustworthy sources. 

Trustworthiness covers more than just the content of your website, it also includes aspects such as shopping checkout pages. Section 6.1 of the Quality Rater Guidelines outlines that “a shopping checkout page that has an insecure connection” is untrustworthy. 

Experience, the newest addition to (E) E-A-T

First-hand experience is the newest addition to the E-A-T acronym and it comes as Google continues to alter their algorithm in line with its helpful content update. The Quality Rater Guidelines now ask the raters to assess the extent of first-hand or life experience the content creator may have on the topic they are discussing. This highlights the importance of thoroughly researching topics if you don’t have first-hand experience. 

How to optimise your content for E-A-T

Since the release of Google’s Helpful Content update, we have seen the importance of creating high-quality content move up a gear. Ensure that when writing your content it focuses on being original, helpful and written for people with specific interests or needs.

Another way to optimise your site with E-E-A-T is by providing author information as mentioned earlier on in this blog. What Google, more specifically the quality raters, want to know is that the person writing the content is a legitimate source of information. A way to demonstrate this is by creating an “About Us” page where you can introduce your team. From this point, why not go a step further and create specific author pages where your writers can showcase their credentials in a small biography section? 

Our final tip is to build your credibility where possible. For example, this could be through securing backlinks from credible sources such as “.org” websites or from businesses with high DA. Another easy way to build credibility is by linking to credible sources yourself when creating content for your website. 

Looking to optimise your website for E-E-A-T? Get in touch today

If you need help optimising your website for not only E-E-A-T but also general SEO best practices, why not get in touch with the team here at Peaky Digital? With our years of industry experience, we know how to push your site up the SERPs and generate those conversions you’re after. 

Looking for more advice on how to get the most out of your marketing? Why not check out the Peaky Digital Blog? Here you can find all the latest industry updates and digital guides to help your business grow. 

We don’t just do SEO. We offer services such as PPC, Email Marketing and Social Media Advertising among many others to small and large businesses up and down the UK.