Google E-E-A-T: SEO Benefits & How To Get Started
Did your site take a hit when Google released its Helpful Content Update? Has it recovered?
If not, it’s probably time to start learning about Google’s EEAT guidelines.
In this post, we cover what EEAT is, why it’s so important for search engine optimization (SEO) and how you can demonstrate it on your website.
What is Google’s E-E-A-T?
EEAT is a set of criteria search quality raters check for when they’re evaluating search results.
It stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
Search quality raters are external human workers who check to see if search results align with Google’s Search Quality Guidelines.
“Raters assess how well website content fulfills a search request, and evaluate the quality of results based on the expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness of the content. These ratings do not directly impact ranking, but they do help us benchmark the quality of our results and make sure these meet a high bar all around the world.”
EEAT has become a large portion of what search quality raters are meant to check for when they analyze search results, specifically:
- Experience – Does the content creator have first-hand experience with the topic?
- Expertise – Is the content creator specifically skilled in the topic they’re writing about? Are they a professional in their field?
- Authoritativeness – Is the website a go-to source of information in the website’s niche?
- Trust – Is the content accurate, honest and safe?
These guidelines used to only include expertise, authoritativeness and trust, but Google added the extra “E” for experience in December of 2022.
What is the difference between E-A-T and E-E-A-T?
At face value, EAT and EEAT may seem identical, but the addition of that extra “E” for experience is crucial in understanding what kind of content Google is looking for and why it’s deranking so many websites.
E-A-T first became a concept in Google’s quality rater guidelines in 2014, and it has only evolved ever since.
Google’s primary goal is to deliver exactly what the user is looking for when they enter a search query into the search engine. Things users are not looking for are to be scammed and misinformed when they click on top results on search engine results pages (SERPs).
They also aren’t looking for products in most cases, and yet, informational pages are filled with affiliate links everywhere on the web.
And so, Google created EAT to ensure pages they recommend are written by authoritative voices with expertise in their fields.
Unfortunately, this update and several additional updates to the Google search algorithm has filled the web with a plethora of content that’s well written but not written by someone who has first-hand experience with what they’re writing about and is only meant to manipulate search engine rankings to earn the creator ad revenue, sales and affiliate earnings.
AI-generated content has only made this issue worse.
That extra “E” is crucial in understanding why Google has been making so many traffic-crushing updates to its algorithm since 2022.
At the nucleus of the EEAT atom is trust. Google even explains this in their Search Quality Guidelines for raters.
Websites need to demonstrate trust, and searchers are instructed to check for trust signals when they analyze search results.
Specifically, the guidelines say online stores need to have a secure payment gateway and reliable customer service.
Product reviews should be honest and “written to help others make informed purchasing decisions (rather than solely to sell the product).”
This means the author should have actually tried or used the product they’re reviewing, and they should mention negative aspects about the product. Many affiliate marketers make the mistake of not including cons in their reviews to encourage clicks on affiliate links.
Informational pages on Your-Money-Your-Life topics like finance and health should be accurate to “prevent harm to people and society.”
In short, Google wants its search results filled with content from websites consumers trust.
Is its algorithm able to check for “trust?”
No. In fact, many trust signals, including SSL, the presence of secure payment gateways, contact information and original images, aren’t even ranking factors.
However, because EEAT accurately defines what searchers are looking for when they use search engines, it’s worth demonstrating to ensure your site actually matches what they’re looking for: answers and solutions from an authoritative and trustworthy source.
In other words, create your website for humans first and search engines second.
An example of a website that demonstrates E-E-A-T
Thurrott (thurrott.com) is a website that appeared in the Top Stories section of Google for the keyword “iphone 16 review.”
It’s also in the first position on the first SERP for this keyword above reviews from major publications like Wired, ZDNET and CNET.
These are attributes on the page the site’s iPhone 16 review was published to that demonstrate EEAT:
- Byline – The post has an author. Even better, the author is the site’s creator.
- Clickable Author Name – You can click on the author’s name to view a dedicated author page for them.
- Author Box – The post has an author box with a clickable author name that leads to an author page, links to the author’s social media accounts and a short blurb that explains the author’s expertise.
- Original Images – The author took images of the iPhone 16 themselves, which helps demonstrate that they actually tried the product they’re reviewing and are delivering a first-hand experience.
- Authoritative Content – Content is well written, accurately describes the product being reviewed and demonstrates the author’s expertise.
- First-Hand Experience – Content is written in a first-person point of view and includes the author’s own experiences with the product, such as connectivity issues the writer had due to the connectivity quality in their own neighborhood, which is an experience with the iPhone 16 that’s unique to them.
- Negative Experiences – Along with positive experiences the writer had with the product being reviewed, they’re honest and upfront about negative experiences they had.
- Comment Section – Readers are able to challenge the writer’s claims or provide context the writer is ignoring.
However, EEAT isn’t only demonstrated on singular webpages.
According to Ahrefs, the site has a domain authority (DA) of 74 and over 614,000 backlinks, 93% of which are dofollow.
According to Similarweb, 35.75% of thurrott.com’s traffic is direct, which is a telltale sign that the website is a go-to source for consumers in the tech industry.
Most of the website’s content is also written by the blog’s owner, who is an “award-winning technology journalist and blogger with 30 years of industry experience and the author of 30 books.”
There are even dedicated sections where the blog’s owner provides even more first-hand experiences and expert answers and solutions, such as an “Ask Paul” column.
The site also has an easily accessible Contact page with a contact form that’s easy to fill out as well as suggestions for additional ways visitors can get in touch with the site’s owner.
Finally, the site has forums, which readers can use to ask questions, share news and provide their own reviews.
Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?
No, E-E-A-T is not a ranking factor. It’s a set of criteria search quality raters are advised to look for when they analyze the quality of search results on Google’s behalf.
Search quality raters use these criteria to let Google know if a website that appears in search results is trustworthy, but raters don’t have the capability to derank a website.
If a website search quality raters deem as untrustworthy appears in search results, it simply tells Google that their algorithm is not doing a good enough job of weeding out spam and untrustworthy sources.
This means several things:
- Google does not and is not able to use the criteria in E-E-A-T to rank your website.
- There are no tools that are able to grade your site on how well it meets the criteria in E-E-A-T.
- We can make assumptions, but we don’t truly know what Google’s algorithm deems as a “trustworthy source.” So far, high-traffic websites, Reddit and Quora have benefited the most from recent algorithm updates whereas medium and small-sized sites that have thrived for years have taken quite a hit.
- You cannot implement E-E-A-T on your site. You can only demonstrate it and hope it strengthens your site’s authority over time.
How to demonstrate EEAT on your website
The SEO community is on the fence about EEAT, but like we said, because EEAT is all about creating content and building your website in a way that earns consumer trust, it’s worth taking the time to demonstrate it.
We know every niche is different and not all websites are blogs, so we’ll try to cover a variety of different site types in each section.
Demonstrating experience on your site
This is one of the biggest changes Google wants to make to its search engine. It wants searchers to be able to access trusted sources who have actually tried and tested the products they recommend.
Examine your product reviews and product roundups.
These are pages Google and consumers alike are most critical of. Consumers, in particular, are tired of search results filled with blogs that recommend affiliate links for products they’ve never even used.
So, take a look at every product review and product roundup you’ve published, and determine if the following criteria have been met:
- Does the content contain a first-hand experience of every product recommendation?
- Does the content use original images, or did you simply use the manufacturer or retail store’s images?
- Do you list cons for every product, even products you have affiliate links for?
Let’s say you’re not exactly an “expert” in your niche, or you’re a corporate brand whose experts are too busy to write content or simply don’t want to.
You can write an authoritative post and include quotes from real experts. If you are that corporate brand, ask your experts to fact check each article.
Use first-person points of view in your articles when describing unique experiences. For example, use “When I tested the product, I noticed” instead of “When we tested the product, we noticed”.
You’ll make a much bigger impact with your readers and potential customers if you can convince your experts to produce content, but make do with what you have.
And if your writers are inexperienced, don’t be afraid to let them share the learning experience in your content.
General ways to demonstrate experience
You can also demonstrate first-hand experiences in tutorials and guides.
As a general rule, use a byline for every article you publish, and make sure those bylines link to author pages.
Your blog posts should also have author boxes that contain short blurbs about your authors. This mostly demonstrates expertise, but you can also briefly describe an event or action you took part in within your niche here.
You can go in depth about these events and actions on your About page.
These tips are especially useful if you’re a novice in your niche and not necessarily what most people would consider an expert.
Demonstrating expertise on your site
You can have experts write your content and even list their credentials on your site, but Google’s algorithm may not be able to pick up on that expertise.
It’d be much better to acquire high-quality backlinks instead. If those backlinks come from press releases, link to them on your homepage or your About page.
Press releases can come from any media site, such as those specific to your niche. They don’t just have to be from major media publications.
This may be something you need to build over time.
If you turn your site into an information and news site for your niche, your direct traffic will increase over time. Again, this is a clear indicator that your site is a go-to source of information in your niche.
Demonstrating authority on your site
Authoritativeness is something that takes a lot of time to build, and unfortunately, it’s not something you can demonstrate on your site.
Your site’s authority is dependent on the number of high-quality backlinks you have as well as how much traffic you generate.
Google’s algorithm may not care how many social media followers you have, but if you can acquire a lot of views and likes on social media, you can probably use those accounts to generate more traffic for your website.
You can also use your own original images and publish data related to your niche.
For example, if you do a bit of research and publish a case study for your niche, a lot of websites will likely use your data in their content and cite you as the original source.
Note: As part of the settlement of a lawsuit involving Chrome private browsing data, we learned that Google is using Chrome traffic data in its algorithm. Whilst Google is no longer using private browsing data, it stands to reason that they will still be using the rest of the data collected from its Chrome browser.
Demonstrating trust on your site
Trust signals may be Google ranking factors. They include things like website age, high-quality backlinks and content quality.
Google uses these metrics to determine how trustworthy your content and entire brand are.
High-quality backlinks especially demonstrate trust if you can acquire them from sites with high domain authorities.
You should also have pages for your privacy policy and terms and conditions, especially if you’re a business or ecommerce brand.
When you use statistics and other data, cite original sources. Google may not be able to tell, but users will.
Consumers also like to see original images, especially if you’re reviewing a product or sharing advice. It demonstrates that you’ve actually used the product you’re reviewing or have experienced whatever you’re sharing advice for.
Additional E-E-A-T tips
No matter what, you must always create high-quality content. This will always be important to consumers and Google alike.
However, something your content must always do is provide unique value that your competitors aren’t offering.
This could be as simple as bringing up points they didn’t mention or offering advice they didn’t offer or as complex as conducting studies and sharing your findings with readers.
You should also work to build your brand awareness and a positive reputation.
You can do this by creating content for social media, performing actions that get noticed by the bigwigs in your niche, collaborating with influencers and getting interviewed by the press.
You should also work on acquiring reviews if you’re a service or product-based business, and don’t forget to reply to reviews.
Offering quality customer service is important as well.
When you update content created a while ago, make sure to actually make changes to the post instead of simply updating the publication date.
If you have user-generated content on your site, such as comments and forum posts, make sure you moderate it regularly to remove spam, slurs and other content Google and consumers wouldn’t like.
Finally, while it’s certainly best to create your own content, if you do create AI-generated content, make sure you have humans review and fact check it.
The hardest thing to fake with AI-generated content is a first-hand experience. It’s also hard to provide unique value if your content is simply rehashed and reworded from other web pages.
Elements that demonstrate weak E-E-A-T signals
- Low-quality content that doesn’t provide unique value.
- Fake authors.
- Missing author boxes and author pages.
- Thin About page.
- Use of stock images.
- Use of other blogs’ images. Even readers are able to use Google Lens to see which web pages the original images came from, so Google itself is able to find that information as well.
- Not mentioning cons in reviews.
- No social media presence.
- No high-quality backlinks.
- No contact information.
- Minimal customer service information is hard to find.
- Providing data without citing original sources.
- Outdated content.
- Negative brand reputation.
- No reviews.
- Not having a secure payment gateway.
- No SSL certificate.
- No privacy policy page.
Final thoughts
There are a lot of SEOs pushing the idea that improving E-E-A-T will help you rank higher.
But the truth is that it isn’t a ranking factor. It’s just a wish list of how they want their algorithm to work.
They give these guidelines to human quality raters and feed the data back into their algorithm.
However, most of this stuff makes sense to do anyway because it will help to ensure people view your brand in a more positive light.
So, don’t do this for Google. Do it because it’s the right thing to do for your brand.
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