What is E-E-A-T and What do Marketers Need to Do About It?

TL;DR: What is E-E-A-T?

E-E-A-T sometimes referred to as Double E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. These elements collectively define the credibility of a website's content, especially in Google’s eyes. Each component plays a crucial role in how search engines evaluate and rank websites. Let's dissect each factor:

Experience

Experience pertains to having real-world or first-hand knowledge. Google prefers content produced by individuals with relevant experience. For example:

• A guide to visiting Venice should be written by someone who has visited Venice
• An AirPods Max review should be written by someone who uses AirPods Max
• A recipe for sopapillas should come from someone who has made sopapillas

Expertise

Expertise is the depth of knowledge in a particular subject or field. When your content is crafted by experts, it resonates more authentically with the audience. 

For example, content about labor rights will perform better when created with or by lawyers practicing labor law. Many medical information hubs such as Healthline include acknowledgment that a particular content piece was reviewed by a practicing medical doctor. Healthline has gone so far as to create biography pages for each reviewing doctor, increasing their perceived expertise as reviewers.

• Author Credentials: Ensure that every piece of content has an associated author, and prominently display their qualifications, professional experiences, and affiliations. This not only builds trust but also emphasizes the content's authenticity.
• In-depth Content: Go beyond superficial coverage. Delve deep into topics, providing insights, detailed analysis, and actionable advice that demonstrates expertise.
• Continuous Learning: Encourage authors to continue their education, attend workshops, or participate in industry conferences, and highlight these endeavors in their bios.

Authoritativeness

Authoritativeness involves the recognition one has in a specific field or topic. It's about establishing oneself or a website as a reliable source of information on the subject. This can be determined by the quality of inbound links, mentions from reputable sources, and citations.

Opportunities to prove Authoritativeness:

• Cultivate Quality Backlinks: Engage in legitimate link-building practices to earn backlinks from authoritative sites in your niche. Remember, it's about quality, not quantity.
• Feature Expert Interviews: Collaborate with industry leaders or experts for interviews or guest posts. Their insights can elevate the authoritativeness of your content.
• Reference Reputable Sources: When making claims or presenting data, link to reputable sources. This not only lends credibility but also showcases your content's thoroughness.

Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness, as the name suggests, concerns the trust users place in a website. Factors contributing to this include the site's security, transparency about its ownership or affiliation, the accuracy of the content, and having credible backlinks.

Google says that Trustworthiness is the “most important member of the E-E-A-T family…because untrustworthy pages have low E-E-A-T no matter how Experienced, Expert, or Authoritative they may seem.”

• Encourage User Reviews: Solicit feedback and reviews from your audience or customers. Display these reviews prominently, as they serve as social proof of your trustworthiness.
• Secure Your Website: Ensure that your site uses HTTPS, indicating to users that their data is secure. Additionally, showcase any industry-relevant certifications or affiliations that emphasize security and trustworthiness.
• Transparent Policies: Clearly lay out your privacy policies, terms of service, and any disclaimers. Being upfront about your practices establishes trust with the user.

The Evolution from E-A-T to E-E-A-T

Historically, E-A-T has been the foundational concept that SEO professionals refer to. "Experience" was added in the December 2022 Google Search Quality Guidelines update, available here.

With the addition of Experience, Google acknowledges that credible information can come from many sources, and that crowd-sourced or peer-to-peer information is often trusted over information coming through other channels. Word of mouth, even from strangers on social media or in a forum, is often more compelling than other content types.

From Google on the change:

“For example, if you're looking for information on how to correctly fill out your tax returns, that's probably a situation where you want to see content produced by an expert in the field of accounting. But if you're looking for reviews of a tax preparation software, you might be looking for a different kind of information—maybe it's a forum discussion from people who have experience with different services.

E-E-A-T — or "Double-E-A-T," if you prefer, is now part of the updated search rater guidelines we've just released. You'll also see clearer guidance throughout the guidelines underscoring the importance of content created to be original and helpful for people, and explaining that helpful information can come in a variety of different formats and from a range of sources.”

E-E-A-T and SEO

Google’s mission is “to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.” No mention here of websites or pages. SEO focuses on understanding what information is useful and how to create that information in an accessible manner so that Google will rank it.

E-E-A-T is a crucial guide for SEO standards.

Websites with content that exhibit high E-E-A-T values are likely to be trusted by users. By ensuring that the content comes from experts and is authoritative and trustworthy, search engines can be more confident in offering it to users. When users consistently find high-value content, their trust in the search engine grows, leading to more frequent usage.

E-E-A-T also provides a filter for misinformation. Search engines directing users to websites that adhere to E-E-A-T standards reduce the risk of spreading false or misleading content, especially crucial for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics.

Additionally, websites that adhere to E-E-A-T guidelines tend to perform better in search results over time. As search algorithms evolve, they're becoming better at evaluating the depth of expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness, and overall user experience. Investing in these areas can ensure sustained online visibility and growth.

By emphasizing E-E-A-T, search engines indirectly push content creators and webmasters to produce better quality content and improve their sites. This results in an overall elevation of standards across the web, benefitting users and businesses alike.

Best Practices for E-E-A-T SEO

E-E-A-T optimization is more than just following guidelines; it's about embedding credibility and user-centricity into every facet of your online presence. Here are some best practices to ensure your SEO efforts align with E-E-A-T principles:

Providing Clear About Us and Contact Information

• Detail your company's background, mission, values, and team on an 'About Us' page. This not only instills trust but also provides context to users about who they're engaging with.
• Ensure that your contact information is easily accessible, ideally with multiple communication channels (email, phone, chat). This showcases accountability and fosters trust.

Linking to High-Quality Sources and Resources

• Always link to reputable, authoritative sources when citing statistics, claims, or referencing studies. This reinforces the reliability of your content.
• Stay away from questionable link-building practices, such as using link farms. Quality over quantity should be the mantra.

Engaging with Multiple Perspectives

• When discussing contentious or multifaceted topics, ensure you present multiple perspectives. This not only showcases depth but also neutrality and fairness.
• If possible, enable comments or forums, and foster an environment where diverse opinions can be shared.

Monitoring and Managing Online Reputation

• Regularly monitor what's being said about your brand or website online. Address negative reviews or feedback constructively.
• Participate in discussions on forums, social media, or other platforms relevant to your niche. This boosts visibility and can bolster your site's authoritativeness.

Leveraging Social Proof: Testimonials and Case Studies

• Share detailed testimonials or case studies. These provide tangible evidence of your expertise and the real-world impact of your product or service.
• If you've collaborated with reputed brands or experts, showcase this. It acts as an endorsement of your credibility.

By embedding these best practices into your SEO strategy, you not only elevate your E-E-A-T scores but also offer greater value to your users, leading to increased loyalty, higher engagement, and better conversion rates.

E-E-A-T and Future SEO Trends

As SEO practices mature, the importance of E-E-A-T is becoming increasingly evident. Here’s a look at how E-E-A-T could shape the future of SEO and what it means for businesses and content creators.

Shift from Keyword-centric to Topic-centric Content: 

While keywords will always have a role in SEO, the emphasis is shifting toward comprehensive, topic-centric content. Search engines will reward content that offers holistic coverage of a topic, resonating with the principles of expertise and authoritativeness.

Machine Learning and E-E-A-T: 

As search engines employ advanced machine learning techniques, they’ll become more adept at assessing the depth of content and the credibility of sources, further embedding E-E-A-T metrics into ranking algorithms.

Voice Search and E-E-A-T: 

Voice-activated assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant look for authoritative and concise answers to their users’ queries. Websites optimized for E-E-A-T are more likely to be sourced for voice search responses due to their perceived credibility.

The Rise of Trust Signals

Beyond backlinks, search engines might begin to place more weight on "trust signals" like third-party accreditations, endorsements from industry experts, or certifications from recognized bodies.

In essence, the future of SEO is set to be more user-centric. It's no longer just about getting visitors to a page; it's about offering them valuable, trustworthy content in a format they prefer and an environment they find engaging. Brands and webmasters should view E-E-A-T not as a set of guidelines but as a philosophy for online engagement.

Evaluating E-E-A-T for YMYL Sites

YMYL stands for "Your Money or Your Life." These are pages or sites that could potentially impact a person's future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety. Given the significant implications of the content on these sites, search engines, especially Google, evaluate their E-E-A-T more stringently. Let’s explore how E-E-A-T is appraised for YMYL sites:

Healthcare and Medical Information: 

Any advice, data, or information related to health should come from authoritative sources with appropriate credentials. Google expects medical content to be written or reviewed by healthcare professionals. For example, an article on the symptoms and treatments of a medical condition would need to showcase its expertise, perhaps with the credentials of the author, references to scientific studies, or links to authoritative medical institutions.

Financial Advice or Information: 

Websites offering financial advice, discussing investment strategies, or providing banking services need a high degree of trustworthiness. Such sites should clearly show their regulatory compliance, provide disclaimers where appropriate, and highlight the expertise of their content creators or service providers.

Legal Information: 

Similar to medical and financial information, legal advice or content needs to come from authoritative sources. An article discussing legal procedures, rights, or advice should ideally be penned by someone with a legal background or reviewed by a qualified professional.

Major Purchases or Life Decisions: 

Content that could influence significant life decisions, like buying a house, choosing a college, or making career moves, should exhibit a high degree of authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Expert opinions, comprehensive research, and real-life testimonials can bolster E-E-A-T values in such cases.

Safety: 

Websites that offer advice on safety, such as those discussing child-proofing homes, safety protocols in certain situations, or self-defense techniques, must ensure their content is accurate, up-to-date, and not misleading. The implications of false information can be life-threatening.

How to Ensure High E-E-A-T for YMYL Sites:

• Clear Author Credentials: Display the qualifications, experiences, and affiliations of the content creators prominently.

• Regular Content Audits: Given the critical nature of YMYL content, regular audits and updates are essential to ensure the information remains current and accurate.

• High-Quality Backlinks: Aim to get backlinks from reputed, authoritative sites in the same niche. These serve as endorsements of your site's credibility.

• Transparent User Policies: Display clear privacy policies, terms of service, and disclaimers. Transparency can significantly boost a site's trustworthiness.

• User Feedback: Encourage user reviews, testimonials, and feedback. Positive user experiences can reinforce a site’s reliability.

It's crucial to understand that for YMYL sites, the stakes are higher. The potential ramifications of misleading or false information can be serious, so search engines will naturally hold such sites to higher E-E-A-T standards.

Conclusion

E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is a framework for online content and SEO. Embracing these principles is essential for credibility, user trust, and sustained online impact. Whether you're a content creator, website owner, or marketer, prioritizing E-E-A-T guidelines is key to promoting a more reliable internet experience for users worldwide.

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