Officially started in 2018 as E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) algorithm, Google’s EEAT in SEO (the first E stands for experience) is now playing a big role in ranking web pages and a website’s success.
Google has been focusing on EEAT a lot since 2022. So, as a website owner, SEO expert, or SEO content writer, you have to know what EEAT exactly means and how you can align your content with it to enhance your online presence and search results rankings.
In this article, we’ll break down the latest EEAT Google SEO guidelines in simple terms and provide some techniques and tips to help you optimize your content based on Google’s new updates in March 2024.
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What does Google expect from your website content? The answer to this question has changed over time, and I can assure you it will change in the future as well. That’s why people in digital marketing and SEO business always have to look out for new updates.
If you have been in this business for more than a decade, you can remember a simpler time when ranking your web page high in search results pages was mostly based on keyword optimization, backlink building, and on-page SEO optimization.
So, learning some technical tricks and using them properly for your website content was basically enough to get a good grade from Google and other search engines.
But around 2014 Google decided that content should be evaluated from the perspective of users. It should be able to answer users’ questions and provide credible information. This is especially necessary for content that has to do with users’ financial well-being, safety, and health according to YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) concept.
So, E-A-T was introduced several years ago as part of Google’s helpful content. It suggested that not only content creators should be experts in that field and provide trustworthy information but also the credibility and authority of the website must be proved in that subject.
To sum up, the focus of search quality evaluator guidelines used to be mostly on SEO technical matters and then shifted to credibility, content quality, and accuracy of information. But what about now?
Well, another E was added to the E-A-T search quality rater in December 2022 which stands for experience. Plus, AI-generated content became a big deal in 2023 and some other updates have happened since then. So, let’s make sure you’re updated.
Below, we’ll break down EEAT and explain experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. We’ll also give you some tips and techniques for each factor to improve your content EEAT score (and your page ranking) in 2024.
The experience requirement emphasizes on real-life experience of the content creator and the website owner. This means that the information, advice, and comments are from a person who has real experience on the topic.
In addition, EEAT requires the author to be an expert in that field by having the necessary skills, knowledge, and understanding of the subject. This expertise can come from having related education and certificates or having been in that specific industry or market long enough.
These two factors make sure of the overall quality of the content and that it is helpful, reliable, and accurate.
The content creators and the website should be reputable in their line of business and get recognition to prove their authority. This means that the author and website are verified as a reliable source of information.
This is assessed through backlinks, user reviews, and recommendations by other sources. An authoritative website is considered valuable by search engines and, therefore, ranks higher.
The trustworthiness has to do with gaining the trust of the users by providing accurate, transparent, and reliable content for them. You can make your audience see the credibility of the content by having secure HTTPS, proper citations, and clear sources.
So, minimizing misinformation, protecting the user’s privacy, and ensuring data security will help to build trust.
Overall, to put EEAT search quality rater in a nutshell, the focus is on providing high-quality accurate people-first content by experienced experts and credible websites that can gain the trust of their audience. But how?
As you can get from the definition of each factor, both technical SEO and the information included in the content need to be reformed to align with Google’s EEAT guidelines. Here are some practical tips.
Each article should have a clear author biography to show his/her expertise and experience on the subject.
For sure, you prefer to follow an expert’s advice with related skills, knowledge, and degree rather than an unknown person or AI.
This is particularly true for businesses and topics that fall under the YMYL category. So, adding author and editor biographies is also important in establishing trust and indicating the website’s authority.
Make sure the author bio includes the following and that it is built in your site’s CMS’s backend.
Of course, not all SEO writers are experts in the subject matter of the website. In that case, you should add the editor or reviewer schema. This is an actual expert with real-life experience. This shows that the content is still trustworthy and credible because it has been reviewed by an expert.
For example, one of our clients is an immigration lawyer in the US. Although our professional SEO writers produce the legal content, the lawyer reviews each one and adds suggestions and edits, if necessary, before the article is published.
So, having an expert in your editorial team is a must and it seems that it has become even more important for Google after the new updates rolled out in March 2024. A quick look at websites that lost traffic and those that gained more traffic after these updates shows that most winners have actual experts (with bios) writing their content.
EEAT in SEO, and generally Google’s helpful content, could be too much for those who aren’t SEO professionals. Even for us, it can get confusing with lots of new algorithm updates Google has been introducing in the last couple of years (compared to the past, there have been many more of them!).
So, it’s not surprising to have a lot of questions about them. Let’s answer the most common ones.
Yes. Actually, it seems that due to the rise in using AI-generated content since last year, which is basically a copy of already existing content, Google is trying to give more value to real-life experiences, unique content, and user-generated content and perspectives. So, there’s even more emphasis on EEAT in 2024.
If you just copy-paste what you get from AI, as there’s no new and unique content in it, your article doesn’t satisfy EEAT requirements. Also, as the author is unknown, you can’t gain your users’ trust. Plus, Google doesn’t recognize your website as authoritative.
Of course, it is relevant. You still need to optimize your website speed, design, user experience, etc. These basic aspects of SEO will probably never become irrelevant because they’re somehow the nuts and bolts of digital marketing.
Well, as we have seen, Google is still focusing on its helpful content strategy, and by extension, EEAT guidelines. So, we should prioritize
We should also keep up with Google’s new updates and try not to fall behind.
Follow the tips on EEAT in SEO as discussed above and make the necessary changes. Hopefully, you’ll start to see a good improvement within the next 2 to 3 months (read more about SEO Trends in 2024 here). Be patient!
And, if you need any professional help with digital marketing, our team of SEO professionals is here to level up your website with a pay-per-lead system. Call (971-248-0953) if you’re a business owner in the United States.
