If you work in online marketing, you've probably heard of E-E-A-T. After all, the term has been circulating for some time. However, there is a lot of uncertainty about:
- What exactly E-E-A-T is and how it is measured
- Whether E-E-A-T is a ranking factor
- If E-E-A-T is relevant for your SEO?
- How to improve E-E-A-T
What is E-E-A-T?
E-E-A-T stands for "Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness." In short, Google uses these criteria to evaluate the quality of a page's content and its relevance to the specific topic. But what exactly do the terms experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness mean? All these terms relate to the author of an article, both as an individual and as a company.
Experience concerns whether the author has direct experience with the topic, such as product or service use, visiting places, or years of practical experience. Experience was added as a factor in December 2022; earlier sources refer to E-A-T rather than E-E-A-T.
Expertise refers to the author's knowledge on a specific subject. It's crucial that they have extensive knowledge and can convey it.
Authoritativeness describes the reputation of an author or a website regarding the topic. High authority signals that a page is viewed as a trustworthy source.
Finally, Trustworthiness refers to whether the entire website appears credible or not.
It's obvious why E-E-A-T is so important for your SEO - it's about quality! And that's exactly what Google wants to provide: high-quality information for its users.
Can E-E-A-T be measured?
Are you looking for a tool where you can read your E-E-A-T score and compare it with the competition? Unfortunately, you'll search in vain as there's no such score like the Core Web Vitals. Are we completely in the dark, then?
Not quite. The scoring signals Google values are well known.
The signals can be divided into two aspects:
- Independent of the search term: PageRank, Core Web Vitals, language
- Dependent on the search term: Keyword matches, proximity, synonyms, search terms in H1 or title
So, it's all about how relevant a document is and how good a page's quality is. Relevance refers to whether a helpful answer is available for the particular user's question, while quality concerns the goodness of the Google result and its delivery speed.
To assess the quality of its algorithms, Google uses metrics from live experiments, such as A/B testing with real users, and through Quality Raters (QR), also real human testers. These evaluate web pages according to defined criteria as per the SQEG, "Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines."
Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?
In a strict sense, E-E-A-T is not a ranking factor since it cannot be precisely measured, analyzed, and influenced. Nevertheless, it is a way to better understand the Google algorithms and thereby sustainably improve your own rankings for the search terms relevant to you. Even though an E-E-A-T score doesn't exist and thus there's no direct causality between E-E-A-T and rankings, those who engage constructively with E-E-A-T are rewarded with better rankings in the middle or long run.
Is E-E-A-T relevant for your SEO?
Google emphasizes the importance of high quality, especially for "YMYL Pages" (Your Money Your Life) in its QRG. These pages, e.g., on health or finances, require particularly high-quality standards as poor information can have a higher negative impact than other pages. Nevertheless, it's crucial for all brands to embody authority, trustworthiness, and expertise in their field. Although Google employs human testers as raters, Google does not conduct a technical review of the article content. The raters look for indicators of high-quality articles. Therefore, E-E-A-T factors should be part of any brand strategy.
Google's Core Updates assess the general understanding of user intent, the relevance of content, the quality of the page, and the E-A-T concept. These changes occur regularly and can significantly influence the visibility of a website, see our article here for more information.
How to improve your E-E-A-T
Naturally, you can strengthen the authority and trust in your website through targeted E-E-A-T optimization. Here is an adapted and mixed selection of tips:
- Be unique: Stand out from the competition by creating content that clearly demonstrates your expertise. Use current research findings, provide valuable how-to guides, and create thorough glossaries or pillar pages.
- Strengthen your brand: Authentic and thoughtful presence on the net is crucial to being perceived as a brand. Define your core messages and ensure consistency in your brand communication while continuously working on your expertise.
- Avoid mistakes: Check your content for factual correctness and rely on tools for language checks. Also, consider technical aspects and keep an eye on error pages not to jeopardize the trust of your users.
- Integrate Schema.org: With structured data, you show Google that your content is reliable. Use schemas like Organisation, Article, and FAQ to improve the findability and presentation of your content.
- Optimize your 'About Us' page: Use this page to create transparency. Show who is behind the website and convey your story, milestones, and values to foster trust.
- Expand the author box: Highlight your expertise with a meaningful author box. Integrate portraits, relevant biographies, and links to professional profiles like LinkedIn to strengthen E-E-A-T.
- Answer and Inform: Cover the core questions of your target group with your content. Use Google Suggest and SEO tools to find out what moves your users, and then conduct further research.
- Keyword Research: Lay the foundation with detailed keyword research. This gives you access to the needs of your target group and allows you to target content with great precision.
- Quality over Quantity: Produce content with added value and don't fall into the trap of superficial content. Titles should never be misleading, and the main content must fulfil its purpose.
- Measure Performance: Track how well your content is received and derive optimization steps from it. Google Analytics 4 or other analytics tools can help you analyze the quality and quantity of your authors and their content.
These approaches help you continuously improve the quality of your website in terms of E-E-A-T and establish yourself as a trustworthy source and brand on the internet. Remember that each optimization is not only a contribution to visibility in search engines, but also serves to secure the trust of your users in the long term.
Conclusion: Use E-E-A-T to improve your SEO
In conclusion, applying the E-E-A-T principles in search engine optimization is of enormous importance. By emphasizing expertise, authority, and trustworthiness, you not only raise the quality of your content to a higher level but also signal to search algorithms that your website offers genuine added value. This can lead to improved rankings and help you become more visible in the search results.
By establishing E-E-A-T as a central element of your SEO strategy, you foster trust among your users, which in turn can positively influence the conversion rate and user retention. In a digital ecosystem where credibility and authenticity are key currencies, your commitment in these areas can prove to be a competitive advantage. A solid understanding and application of the E-E-A-T principles are therefore essential if you want to be perceived as a relevant and trustworthy offering on the net.
