What is E-A-T and SEO For Google? Do I Have It?
At this point, a website is crucial for any business. But not just any website – it needs to be of high quality in order to see any results. In today’s digital marketing standards, a quality website is based on E-A-T SEO, or Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness.
E-A-T SEO is the framework used by Google to determine which websites possess superior page quality. It is used to evaluate the relevance and value of websites in order to determine which pages will rank higher.
This framework stems from the criteria mentioned regularly throughout Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines. A majority of the time Google uses advanced algorithms to rank websites and determine relevant search result listings. But in order to continually correct and improve these algorithms, humans are hired to fact-check and rate websites. The rating guidelines are used by humans to rate the quality of top results.
Evaluating Expertise
If there is one thing the Internet has taught us, its that not everything on the Internet is true. Evaluating expertise is one way to determine which content is true and which is false.
Your brand should possess experience, education, and qualifications in relation to the content you are producing. Depending on the topic, personal life experience can be substituted for formal expertise.
Expertise can easily be established through the company’s website. When crediting an author, the content should include the author’s credentials, biography, relevant links, history, or any other information that suggests expertise.
An About Page can be helpful in relaying organizational history, skills, and knowledge of the industry.
Evaluating Authority
Authority means having the right to control or influence the actions and thoughts of others. Convincing content does not equal authoritative content.
Authority comes from the expertise and recognition of the content’s creator, meaning the author should be recognized by the audience and other experts within the field.
Users should be able to search for the author or organization to find awards, reviews, expert opinions, mentions, or other notable honors. These signals show Google raters’ that the content is a reliable source of information and can be taken at face value.
Evaluating Trustworthiness
The final concept of E-A-T refers to the accuracy, transparency, and reputation of both the information and organization.
To evaluate trustworthiness, the guidelines suggest searching the website for terms and conditions, policies, customer service, contact information, and other facets that speak to the website’s reliability.
Trustworthy websites should provide recent and relevant information that is free of personal opinions and bias. If a webpage offers information or data without supporting details, the trustworthiness score will be low.
Transparency builds trust – websites that withhold information or purposely misguide their users should not be trusted. this is important because trust is the building block of the relationship between businesses and consumers. If a user does not trust the organization, content, or author, they will not do business with the brand.
If you would like more information about E-A-T, need help evaluating your website, or other digital marketing services, contact Pink Dog Digital at (410) 696-3305, email us at info@pinkdogdigital.com, or visit us on the web at www.pinkdogdigital.com.