What Is E.E.A.T. In SEO & What Should You Do for It?
What is E.E.A.T.?
The E.E.A.T. stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It is a matrix that helps Google to decide which content is helpful for the users and which ones they should rank for. It is not a ranking factor, but a concept that helps to find helpful content for the users.
Most of the new SEOs don’t consider it when starting an SEO campaign but now it has become one of the most important factors.
Let’s discuss every element of E.E.A.T. one by one and how to optimize your content for that:
1. Experience
The first factor is experience. Before ranking content, Google likes to see if the writer of the content has real-life experiences. If the writer has real-life experiences and is able to prove them in the content, then Google will consider it for a higher ranking. For instance, if the article is about “skydiving experiences,” Google would prefer to rank content from writers who have actually gone skydiving rather than those who have not.
Similarly, if you are writing a product review, you should own the product to provide an informed opinion. Otherwise, how can you review a product?
To prove their experiences, writers can provide real photos showing that they have actual experience on the topic.
2.Expertise
There are certain types of content where being an expert in the field is necessary to provide accurate answers, otherwise it can harm the audience. For instance, if you are discussing solutions to physical or mental health problems, you should be a doctor, otherwise your incorrect answer can be detrimental to your audience’s health. Similarly, if you want to provide solutions related to tax law, you should be a lawyer, otherwise people may not trust your advice.
To establish their expertise, the article should be written by a doctor or a lawyer and should include the author’s bio, which clearly explains the author’s qualifications and background.
3. Authoritativeness
Authoritativeness refers to the degree of authority a domain has on a specific topic or information. For example, if you receive news about the “Football/Soccer World Cup” from three different sources – FIFA, a local newspaper, and a blog site – you are likely to believe the news from the FIFA website as they are an authoritative source on the topic. However, if the news is related to Covid-19, you would prefer to believe news from the World Health Organization instead of FIFA. In this case, the World Health Organization is an authoritative site.
To establish authoritativeness, it’s important to focus on a single topic on your website and cover everything related to that topic. For instance, if you have a website about wedding recipes, you should only write about wedding recipes and cover everything related to it. You should avoid writing about other topics, such as travel experiences, as it may harm your topical authority.
To develop an E.E.A.T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) optimized site, it’s crucial to start thinking about keyword research from the initial stage. If you only focus on low-competition keywords, you may not be able to develop topical authority. You should cover everything related to the topic, regardless of whether it has high or low competition, to establish topical authority.
As a Swedish SEO agency, we can optimize your website for E.E.A.T. If you want to know more about our SEO services, you can contact us at the following number: (+46 54 52 22 22).
4. Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness refers to the extent to which users can trust your website. There are various ways to establish trustworthiness, such as:
- Every website should have an SSL certificate to encrypt users’ personal and card information. This is particularly crucial for eCommerce and service websites.
- Clear contact information, including an email address, phone number, physical location, and embedded Google map location, should be provided. This way, users can contact you in case of any issues and find it easy to reach out to you.
- If your website is an eCommerce or service website, it should include sufficient information about the products and services offered. This includes full product or service information, guidelines, return policies, and what not to do.
- The use of real-life images is necessary to establish credibility and build trust with visitors.
- Your website should only share authentic and valuable information. False or misleading information can lead to a loss of trust.
By following these tips, you can establish a trustworthy website and increase your users’ trust in your business.
What is YMYL (Your Money Your Life)
YMYL” stands for “Your Money Your Life”, and it refers to queries that should only be answered by experts. When there is a Google query about sensitive issues related to money and personal well-being, and the answer could have an impact on your finances or happiness, then it falls under YMYL. Examples of such topics include:
- How to alleviate head pain
- Ways to improve focus
- Whether to take out a home loan
- Deciding whether to get divorced
- Home Loan vs. Mortgage Loan
- Best affordable phone in 2023
Google prioritizes ranking E.E.A.T. (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) websites for YMYL topics since incorrect information can have significant consequences on one’s finances and happiness.
If you’re not an expert on a YMYL topic, it’s best to avoid writing about it or to hire an expert to write the article. Otherwise, your content may not rank well.
How to Optimize Your Content for E.E.A.T.
If you want to optimize your content for E.E.A.T. then you should follow these points.
1. You Should Have Real Life Experiences
If you lack real-life experiences with a particular topic, it is advisable not to write about it as it may not rank well. This is because you may not be able to add value to the article and may end up rehashing what has already been published online.
It is best to write about topics that you have experience with as this will enable you to create authentic content and add value to your article. With real-life experiences, you can provide a unique perspective and insights that can make your content stand out.
3. You Have to Be an Expert in That Field
If it is a sensitive topic (regarding your money and your life) then you also have to be an expert in this field. And to prove your expertise you can add your author bio and explain your expertise there.
But If you are not an expert then you can accept a guest post from a real expert. That will solve the problem. The geist post also should contain the author’s bio and the author’s bio should prove the expertise.
3. Your Website Should Only Discuss a Specific Topic
Your website should focus on a specific topic, such as sports if it is a sports site. Avoid including content about unrelated topics, such as home or kitchen, to establish topical authority.
Discussing multiple topics on a single website may cause Google to view it as a non-authority site, making it difficult to achieve a high ranking.
4. Try to Become a Brand
To establish credibility with both Google and visitors, aim to build a brand around your topic. But how can you achieve this?
The answer lies in comprehensive coverage of all relevant topics, along with some paid marketing efforts. By becoming a topical authority, Google will recognize your website as a credible source and rank it highly for related queries. Over time, people will come to recognize your website as a brand in your topic of focus.
In addition to covering all the relevant topics, consider search engine marketing and social media marketing to increase brand awareness. At our company, we offer search engine marketing and social media marketing services to help clients build their online presence. Visit our contact page to learn more about these services.
5. You Should Give Enough References to Prove Your Point
To support your claims and gain the trust of your readers, be sure to include sufficient references in the form of both inbound and outbound links. Outbound links are not harmful as long as they are included naturally.
Keep your focus on the readers, and provide ample references to support your arguments and establish credibility. By doing so, you can build trust with your readers and ensure that your content is seen as authoritative.
6. It Should Be Easy for Your Reads to Contact You
To ensure that your visitors can easily contact you, provide clear and accessible methods of communication in case they need assistance.
This can include providing an email address, phone number, office location, and an embedded Google map. By offering these options, you can increase your visitors’ trust and make them more likely to purchase your products or services.
7. You Should Give Enough Details to Your Product or Service Pages
To ensure that customers have a positive purchasing experience, be sure to provide comprehensive information on your product and service pages. This information should include:
- How to purchase the product or service
- How to use it effectively
- The process for returning or exchanging the product or service
- What customers can expect from the product or service
- Shipping costs and options
By providing this information, customers will be more likely to trust your business and make a purchase.
8. Acquire Some High Quality-Backlinks
This is the most important factor to achieve E.E.A.T. If you are able to get some high-quality relevant backlinks then you will be able to prove your authority on that topic.
9.Add Author Bio to All the Pages
You should add an author bio to all the pages so that readers can understand the expertise level of the author.
It will develop the expertise and trustworthiness of the article.
10. Create Content for the Humans Not for the Search Engines
You should create content considering real visitors, not the search engine. If you are creating content so that Google gives you enough traffic (without considering human visitors), then you will never rank. Google rank brain will detect you and penalize you for manipulating search engines. In fact, Google launched a helpful content update in 2022 that’s main goal is to promote contents that are made by real humans and made for real human visitors.
11. Attach Real Pictures That Shows Your Experiences
For local businesses, it is especially important to include real pictures (not stock photos) on your website. By providing pictures of your business’s interior and exterior, employees and team, services, and products, you can demonstrate to Google that your business is genuine and trustworthy, potentially leading to higher rankings.
In addition, customers are more likely to convert on websites that feature authentic pictures, as it reinforces the idea that they are interacting with a real business.
Another advantage of including real pictures on your website is that they can also rank on Google Image Search, which can drive additional traffic to your website.
12. Try to Acquire Enough Positive Reviews
If it is a business website then try to get enough positive reviews on your Google Business Profile, Bing Business Places, and Facebook Page so that you can prove your expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness to Google. Google considers reviews when they rank a website for organic search or local 3-pack results.
So you should try to acquire enough positive reviews for your business.
Conclusion
The summary of the article is: if you have real-life experiences and expertise on a particular topic, then you can launch a website on that. On the website, you should focus on your topic and discuss everything about it to gain topical authority. Lastly, you should provide enough contact information and real pictures to build trust with your visitors.
However, if your topic can impact a person’s financial or health condition, then you must prove your expertise to Google by providing an author bio with every post.
If you have any further questions about E.E.A.T. or any other topic, feel free to let us know by commenting below.
