Google E-E-A-T Guidelines: What is It and How Does It Help in SEO?

Google E-E-A-T is the primary ranking factor of your content on Google. We all have been practicing on-page and off-page SEO for top ranking. But the latest Google updates feature results are based on the E-E-A-T, not entirely on the SEO efforts. That’s why we will discuss what E-E-A-T is, how it works, and helps in SEO in this guide.

Yes, technical and on-page SEO is still needed and always will be. But it is alongside the E-E-A-T that proves the quality of the content. Google Search Central shared an amazing fact after Google's August 2024 Core Update. From now on, they will feature content useful for the audience. 

Hence, E-E-A-T makes content useful, and you need to apply that. Now, let's get into the guide for more clarification.

E-E-A-T stands for—Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. 

On the internet, E-E-A-T comes from some signals, including the author profile page, the writing tone, the facts described in the content, and vice versa. If the writer has a good track record of publishing posts, his or her writing earns E-E-A-T. 

Moreover, having a social media profile linked to the blog posts automatically verifies the person as a powerful entity as a writer. Google will assume this person will share logical explanations and information regarding everything. If not, the algorithm can analyze and take action and derank the posts.

When was E-E-A-T introduced?

E-E-A-T became effective after Google's August 2018 Core Update. SEO service providers noticed a shift towards content with higher expertise, authority, and trust (E-A-T). Later, in late 2022, "experience" was added, and it completed E-E-A-T. 

How E-E-A-T Impacted the Google Search?

You might have seen that almost all business organizations hire content writers to make fully SEO-optimized content that is perfect for ranking. But still, Google features simple posts, answers, and comments by Quora and Reddit users these days. 

Why will they feature a nonoptimized context over perfectly crafted blog posts? It’s because the E-E-A-T of the user’s posts are way more credible compared to the anonymous blog posts. 

E-E-A-T has been important for SEO in recent times for some reasons. You know that people always try to manipulate search results by using cloaking techniques or AI content. But true readers get annoyed seeing the generic content without any valuable information. As a result, they leave their hope in Google.

Moreover, the content should be from an expert person, describing the pros and cons of any matter or service. Without a credible writer and context, the content is counted as misleading. This is where E-E-A-T comes into play! It keeps the goal of Google— which is to provide users with the most relevant and helpful information. 

E-E-A-T serves as a quality signal, helping Google to determine if a piece of content is—

• Informative: Does it provide valuable insights or answers to user queries?
• Accurate: Is the information presented correct and up-to-date?
• Reliable: Can users trust the source and the content's claims?

Expertise

To boost your website's credibility, highlight your expertise in your chosen field. If you provide HVAC services, emphasize your years of experience and successful projects. Doing this will instantly build trust and establish you as an authority in your field.

Yes, AI can generate content, but it lacks real-world experience. AI uses some basic forms of sentences and repeats them. We saw Google penalizing AI content not because it was made using AI but because it did not show any human nature like an expert. 

“For authentic E-E-A-T-compliant content, human involvement comes before everything.”

Experience

Expertise goes beyond experience. It's about your depth of knowledge on a specific topic. You have to maintain the accuracy and reliability to show your experience. Do not forget that people value suggestions from experts so that they do not make any mistakes. 

Therefore, showcase your expertise in your business by sharing informative content, such as pest prevention tips, SEO tips, lead-finding tips, etc. Google and other search engines have AI Powered language models now. So observing the contents, they can understand you have more expertise compared to others.

Authoritativeness

To establish your website as an authority, you must focus on building trust and credibility. The most important thing is consistent expertise and experience over time. There is a key strategy for that, which is earning backlinks from reputable websites. 

Why? Because backlinks demonstrate your content's value and strengthen your authority. Although, there is a rumor saying that whether backlinks are dead, as Google is not prioritizing technical SEO centric articles anymore. But that is not an open announcement. 

Google itself knows authoritative companies hire experts to make people-friendly content. It is a universal truth that expert people will retain quality and standards. So, a website with backlinks is still ahead of other competitors.

Trustworthiness 

Trustworthiness is the cornerstone of E-E-A-T, as untrustworthy content will perform low regardless of expertise or authority. Trust is rooted in three things—

1. Accuracy
2. Accessibility
3. Validity

For example, a retail business like Costco's Contact Us page contains multiple customer support options. It proves their trustworthiness and accessibility in case any user finds any problems. Now, the question is, how do you build trust?

• To build trust, you need to make multiple adjustments
• Provide accurate contact information and address. 
• Always prioritize website security and consumer protection. 
• Publish factually accurate information linking to reputable sources. 
• Maintain transparent policies like shipping and returns. 

Plus, if you publish reviews, accurately represent them, and disclose advertising relationships. Avoid excessive ads, popups, or elements that hinder user experience. For local businesses, strive for positive reviews that reflect your standards.

Google's quality raters are third party human evaluators who assess the quality of web pages. They use E-E-A-T as a framework to evaluate content. The quality raters consider several factors by analyzing various elements of the web page, such as—

1. Author credentials: The author's qualifications and experience.
2. Content quality: The accuracy, relevance, and depth of the information.
3. Source reliability: The credibility of the sources cited in the content.
4. Website reputation: The overall reputation of the website.
5. User experience: The ease of navigation and readability of the content.

After evaluating E-E-A-T, quality raters help Google identify high-quality content that is informative, accurate, and trustworthy. Later, Google uses that data and applies it to their algorithms to sort out similar content before placing some pages on top rank.

Google Search Community shared how their quality rates are operating across the world in a published notice. They maintain a quality guideline for the assessment process. The key factors considered are mobile-first indexing, page quality (PQ), and needs met (NM).

Mobile-First Indexing

Since March 2018, Google has prioritized mobile-first indexing. This means that they primarily index the mobile version of a website. Quality raters now place greater emphasis on how well a website functions and provides value on mobile devices.

Page Quality

Page quality (PQ) reflects how effectively a page achieves its goals. A page won't be negatively graded after meeting its objectives. Google penalizes sites with deceptive behavior to manipulate users. Several factors contribute to page quality—

• Goal and Purpose: Every website should have a clear goal. The quality of the main content, its relevance to the page's goal, and its alignment with the website type and topic are crucial.
• Content Evaluation: Quality raters focus on the main content (MC), assessing its quality, whether it's text, images, or videos. Supplementary content (SC), like navigation elements and sidebars, contributes to the overall user experience.
• Monetization: The placement of advertisements should not compromise the user experience or content quality.
• Content Creation Skill: The quality of content is influenced by the creator's skill and expertise.

AI-generated content raises E-E-A-T concerns, as experience is missing there. Also, the content comes from other content. That’s why Google advises human review for AI-generated content. Marie Haynes notes Google's focus on original, high-quality content. Recent updates and deindexing highlight the importance of E-E-A-T for AI content. 

Overall, brands should use AI as a tool, not a replacement for content writers, so that content meets E-E-A-T standards. Human review and editing are essential for maintaining quality and originality.

Google AI Content Guidelines for E-E-A-T

Actually, Google has no guidelines for AI content. Earlier, we used to think Google penalizes AI content They just want quality content regardless of where they were created. The key guidelines for AI content are:

• AI-generated content should always be reviewed and edited by humans to ensure accuracy, relevance, and compliance with E-E-A-T.
• The publisher must prioritize original, high-quality content over generic or low-quality AI-generated content.
• It is always advisable to ensure that AI-generated content does not make misleading or unsubstantiated claims.
• There must be proper attributes and cite sources used by the AI to demonstrate expertise and trustworthiness.
• The best practice is disclosing the use of AI in content creation to maintain transparency with users.

E-E-A-T (Expertise, E-A-T, Authority, Trustworthiness) and Y-M-Y-L (Your Money Your Life) are interconnected frameworks used by Google to evaluate the quality and relevance of content.

The connection between E-E-A-T and Y-M-Y-L is that high-quality Y-M-Y-L content must demonstrate strong E-E-A-T qualities. This means that the content should be—

• Created by experts in the field
• Be backed by reliable sources
• Be presented in a trustworthy manner.

Overall, you must follow the E-E-A-T as a necessary component of high-quality Y-M-Y-L content. 

Until now, online business websites used several ways to improve SEO rankings. But, the helpful content update made E-E-A-T the most challenging ranking factor. 

Google’s Helpful Content Update and E-E-A-T are closely linked. The update wants to prioritize content that is helpful, informative, and original. It is directly connected to the E-E-A-T framework, which evaluates content based on expertise, authority, trustworthiness, and evidence of these qualities.

Content that demonstrates strong E-E-A-T is more likely to be considered helpful and informative. Conversely, content that lacks E-E-A-T may be seen as low-quality or spammy and penalized by the update.

You can optimize Google E-E-A-T in the following ways - 

1. Prioritize Human Elements

Introduce your team members through your content. For instance, feature them in author bios, create videos, or show podcasts showing their names. Whenever you are making content, use a conversational tone understandable to everyone. 

In the large content, bucket brigade is one of the ways to increase human engagement. Backlinco described “Bucket Brigade” in their guides on SEO copyrighting. You can read it for further information. Using it will retain the user's attention as well.

2. Highlight Experience and Expertise

Be transparent and clearly communicate your experience in your industry. Most websites share case studies, testimonials, and positive feedback from clients. There could be a section showcasing the achievements,  awards, certifications, or notable projects.

In a blog post, the author’s expertise can be shown at the bottom of the page, describing where he works and how he gained interest in writing this content. Mentioning his achievement with reference links is also a good way to showcase his authority.

3. Keep Your Site Updated

One rule for everyone, create evergreen content that lasts for a longer period. To do that, develop content that remains relevant and trendy over time. Another good initiative is updating the older content. 

For example, people will search for “best laptops in 2024” in 2024 so that they can check on the latest models. So, if you have a guide for 2023 laptops, you can update it. Besides, update any complicated parts of the user interface with the latest design.

4. Focus on User-Centric Content

Create content that genuinely helps users and addresses their needs. Avoid Deceptive or low-quality content. Ensure your content is original, accurate, and trustworthy.

If you want to learn more about the content ranking factor in Google, you can follow the VISER X Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn page. We regularly share videos and conversational podcasts talking about the SEO factors. You can have an ample idea of how we can bring your business revenue scale to the upper side. 

How We Optimize Your Website in 6 Steps?

From research to reporting, our team works hard so that your website secures the top ranking on Google. Here are the 6 steps we follow during an SEO campaign—

• SEO Audit: We identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement for your website in this initial stage. It typically includes technical SEO analysis for keyword and content assessment.
• Issue Fixing: Once the audit is complete, we will address any technical issues that are hindering your website's performance. 
• Keyword Research: This step comprises finding relevant keywords that your target audience is searching for. Keyword research helps you tailor your content and optimize it for search engines.
• Content Writing: Google always advises us to use quality content made for people. So, we use your chosen keywords naturally to make a reader-friendly article and service page.
• On-Page SEO: On-page SEO refers to optimizing the elements of your website that can be directly edited. Our on-page SEO activities include optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, image alt text, and so on.
• Off-Page SEO: Building backlinks to your website is an important part of off-page SEO since it increases the legitimacy and authority of your website. This helps to improve your website's authority and credibility in the eyes of search engines.

Once everything is done, we send reports and track the further progress using premium tools. 

So, E-E-A-T is important for website success and business progress. The page ranking factor has become more simple but hardworking now. Google's requirements are mainly based on YMYL content that is made from E-E-A-T content. Lack of E-E-A-T can lead to low-quality ratings. 

If you need to prioritize expertise, user experience, authority, and trustworthiness, contact an agency like ours who will fix your content within weeks. With our help, you can create engaging and helpful content to meet both quality rater and user needs. 

Is E-E-A-T a Ranking Factor?

Yes, E-E-A-T is a ranking factor. Google uses it to evaluate the quality and relevance of content. Content that demonstrates expertise, authority, and trustworthiness is more likely to rank higher in search engine results pages. Publicly, Google claims EETA is an influencer to improve content, not a ranking factor.

What is YMYL content?

YMYL means “Your Money, Your Life.” It refers to content that could significantly impact a person's financial situation, health, or safety. For example, medical advice, financial guidance, legal information, and news articles related to these topics. To ensure that YMYL content meets its standards, Google uses strict E-E-A-T guidelines that evaluate the expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness of the content creators and sources.

Can you fake E-E-A-T signals?

Yes, it's possible to fake E-E-A-T signals, but it's not a sustainable or ethical strategy. While you might be able to manipulate certain metrics, Google's algorithms are becoming increasingly advanced at detecting deceptive signals. Ultimately, genuine expertise, authority, and trustworthiness are the foundations of high-quality content that will rank well in search engine results.

Are there any specific tools available to assess a website’s E-E-A-T level?

There isn't a single definitive tool to measure E-E-A-T directly. Instead, you can use various tools and psychological techniques to assess these factors. For example, you can analyze the author's credentials, the website's reputation, and the quality of the content by inspection. For your E-E-A-T results, tools like Google Search Console can provide insights into how your website is performing in search results, which can indirectly indicate your E-E-A-T level.

Is E-E-A-T more important for some organizations than others?

Yes, E-E-A-T is more important for some organizations than others. YMYL content includes topics like health, finance, and law. These types of content require a higher level of E-E-A-T due to the potential consequences of misinformation. Organizations in these industries must demonstrate a strong foundation of expertise, authority, and trustworthiness to establish credibility and build trust with their audience.