Ashley Paine
SEO Account Manager at Digital Nomads HQ
What is Google E-E-A-T?
Understanding Google’s ranking factors is crucial for online success. E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, and it plays a significant role in determining a website’s credibility.
To optimise your website for Google’s E-E-A-T algorithm, it’s important to understand what it entails and how you can demonstrate first-hand experience. By implementing the right strategies, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more organic traffic. In this article, we will delve into the concept of E-E-A-T and provide practical tips on how to showcase your expertise and build trust with your audience.
Experience
First-hand experience on the topic or subject matter allows you to provide content with experience, examples of this would be;
- Tried-and-tested examples or advice
- Authentic insights
- Unique, individual experience
So, it’s often crucial in creating quality content to ensure extensive research, interviews or thought leaders in your segment are included.
This allows your content to be more insightful and unique for your industry.
Expertise
Expertise refers to your knowledge, skills, and credentials.
For example, if you are a medical professional – referencing your certifications & degrees is a great way to demonstrate expertise.
The goal of expertise is to deliver content that is deemed to create trust – and demonstrating expertise on a subject matter is a great way to do this.
Authoritativeness
Authoritativeness is your brand’s reputation as a reliable source.
Google gauges authoritativeness by accessing your backlink profile (these are links from other sites linking back to you).
High-quality backlinks from reputable sources, your quantity of links and link relevancy all contribute to the authoritativeness of your brand/business.
Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness is influenced by experience, expertise, and authoritativeness, but it also entails safeguarding visitors from potential risks and instilling confidence in your website and content. Therefore, you should ensure that:
- Your website is secure
- Your content is accurate, honest, and current
- Users can easily access assistance when needed
- You possess relevant certifications, credentials, and qualifications.
How Google Has Evolved
Google’s search engine has evolved a lot over the years and in 2024 its no different. With recent algorithm updates and overhauls, the biggest change has been to the way Google assesses whether your content is helpful, relevant and up-to-date – With multiple updates within the Google algorithm surrounding “helpful content” and “high-quality content” the E-E-A-T framework allows your to ensure that you align to the requirements Google is looking for.
This is why Google introduced “Experience”, to help add trustworthiness to articles and the content we consume. With the recent emergence of artificial intelligence and Machine learning, this has become even more crucial, it ensures that users are able to find the information they need in a timely and efficient manner, whilst protecting users from misinformation and harmful content.
"The best way to demonstrate trustworthiness is to become a recognised source of reliable information in your niche."
Source: https://www.google.com/
EAT
EEAT
(Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) was first introduced in December 2022. It is an updated version of EAT that places more emphasis on the experience of the content creator. This is especially important for topics where first-hand experience is critical, such as medical advice or financial planning.
Examples of EAT & EEAT
EAT
EEAT
A medical website written by a patient who has experienced a particular medical condition is likely to have high EEAT. The website would demonstrate experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
Both EAT and EEAT are important factors for SEO. However, EEAT places more emphasis on the experience of the content creator.
EEAT is especially important for topics where first-hand experience is critical. By clearly indicating who created the content, you’re signalling to Google that you’re committed to providing high-quality information.
“Interactive experiences go beyond traditional marketing by actively involving the audience in the content. ”
Ashley Paine, SEO Account Manager at Digital Nomads HQ
How was the content produced?
The “How” of content creation is also important. Google wants to see that content is created responsibly and ethically.
This means using credible sources, avoiding plagiarism, and being transparent about your research process – Creating unique and high quality content that is engaging for users is a must!
By considering the “Who, How, and Why” of your content, you can ensure that it’s aligned with Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines and on a path to success.
Why was the content produced?
Here are 5 top tips for creating E-E-A-T friendly content:
- Write about topics that you’re knowledgeable and passionate about.
- Back up your claims with credible sources.
- Be transparent about your research process.
- Write clear, concise, and informative content.
- Avoid making misleading or unsubstantiated claims.
You can also look at the following factors to assess the EEAT of a website:
- Reputation: Does the website have a good reputation? Is it known for providing accurate and reliable information?
- Transparency: Is the website transparent about its ownership and operations? Does it have a clear contact page and privacy policy?
- Security: Is the website secure? Does it use HTTPS encryption to protect user data?
How Google’s E-E-A-T is important with the upcoming release of SGE
Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) or recently updated to “AI overviews” is a new feature that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate responses to search queries at the top of the SERPS. AI Overviews is still under development but is expanding its reach again this week, it has the potential to revolutionise the way we interact with the web.
What AI Overviews means for you
This new service offering from Google is related to their introduction of the first E in EEAT, as it demonstrates Google’s commitment to delivering accurate search results.
The E-E-A-T principles help AI Overviews to identify and prioritise the most authoritative and trustworthy sources of information that demonstrate a level of personal experience, like what you see with product reviews and product blog posts.
This helps to ensure that the responses generated by AI Overviews are accurate, informative, and trustworthy. These principles are important for AI Overviews because they help to ensure that the AI model is generating responses that are based on high-quality information. AI Overviews uses a variety of sources to generate its responses, including websites, books, and academic journals.
However, not all sources are created equal. Some sources are more authoritative and trustworthy than others. By applying E-E-A-T principles to the sources used by AI Overviews, Google can ensure that only high-quality and relevant information is presented as part of its search responses. This helps to create a better user experience and improves the accuracy of the results.
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