In the world of content, Google is king - and it is imperative that businesses remain compliant with its ever-evolving search engine algorithm, especially as Google releases core updates. These form a crucial element of SEO, and businesses need to ensure that they understand what these updates are, and the impact that they can have on business success and online visibility – as well as tips on how to meet the required standards.
To help, we took a closer look at the details of EEAT, the impact that the updates are likely to have on your business, and the top tips you need to follow to ensure that your content remains compliant in the face of these changes.
EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, and is a key part of Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines - an ultimate guide to the quality of content that Google demands to allow the finished piece to rank highly in its search results.
It is important to note that EEAT is not itself a Google ranking factor, but Google will only serve results that demonstrate strong EEAT - and mastering this, therefore, is an integral element of successful SEO.
There are four main factors to EEAT:
Good quality content will demonstrate expertise in a particular subject, which will be backed up by comments on personal experience, opinions, and research. Google is searching for writers who have first-hand experience of what they’re talking about.
This is about having the right knowledge and understanding of the subject matter and being able to demonstrate this through written or video content.
Authoritativeness is another key element and refers to the overall reputation you have within your industry - particularly amongst other experts. As an example, WebMD would be considered authoritative when it comes to articles on health concerns, as they have a strong presence in the industry.
Finally, trustworthiness is about showcasing your reputation and earning the trust of readers and potential customers. Citing trustworthy sources, eliminating plagiarism, including factual information - such as statistics - and using reliable sources are all great ways to ensure your content is seen as trustworthy.
As you can see, this is an incredibly complex area that requires an understanding of the EEAT guidelines as well as a deep knowledge of SEO.
However, doing the work and attaining a solid understanding of the concept is crucial - the impact that EEAT can have on your business is significant, with some of the main areas including:
Google will favour websites and content which demonstrate strong EEAT, and this will help to increase visibility on the search engine results (SERPs).
If your website and content are seen as reliable and trustworthy, readers are more likely to convert into customers - which can have a huge impact on your bottom line.
Having your content rank highly for relevant queries helps to build brand reputation, which can also help to increase your reach and authority within your industry.
Now that we have outlined exactly what EEAT is, and the impact it can have on your business, let’s take a look at some of the top tips for improving your EEAT score through smart content, and SEO tips that can make a significant difference:
As with anything in SEO, quality is key - and ensuring that your content is well written and unique will be beneficial for attracting readers and customers alike. This means prioritising researching and writing content over quantity, and citing relevant sources, such as industry experts, or links to supporting evidence - all of which can help to boost your authority. It is also important to use reliable sources, as this will help to build trust with readers - take time to check the domain authority of sources you plan to cite, and make sure they are credible.
Make sure that your content is properly optimised for search engines - this means ensuring that you have included relevant keywords, and also making sure that all titles, tags and meta descriptions are optimised to the correct length and contain relevant information. Not only does this help to ensure that your content can be easily crawled by Google, but also that it is accurately indexed.
Backlinks are another great tactic - but they must be used correctly, and with care. Focus on thoughtful backlinks from high-quality domains, which are relevant to your content, products, or services. This will help to boost your overall presence and authority in the eyes of Google - as well as potential customers. Google uses a series of algorithms to help it determine the authority of backlinks, and demonstrate that your website is trustworthy and reliable.
It can be easy to become complacent with EEAT, and with SEO in general, but it is essential to stay on top of your content. Regularly auditing your website and content will help to ensure that you can identify any issues quickly, as well as enabling you to make sure all information is up to date and accurate
User Generated Content is another tool that can help to increase the trustworthiness of your website. This could involve encouraging customers to review products or simply offering them the ability to share their experiences on social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook. A positive online presence with reviews and recommendations can be hugely beneficial in terms of EEAT and should be embraced wherever possible.
Perhaps the best way to ensure that your website remains compliant with EEAT is to make sure that it is seen as a topical authority. This means staying up to date with industry trends, and creating content related to your industry and your audience’s needs - building content around relevant keywords and ensuring that you are able to provide the most accurate information possible. Being seen as an expert in your field can be hugely beneficial in terms of SEO and will help to ensure that your website is seen as a trustworthy source of information.
Ensuring your content has author information will also help with authority and trust. If you have experts within your team, use them! Provide a quick biography for each expert and link to it from the content they wrote.
The world of SEO is constantly evolving, and Google releases regular updates on their algorithms, as well as EEAT, so keeping up to date with the latest updates is essential. This will help to ensure that you are able to remain compliant and take advantage of any new opportunities which come about as a result.
Understanding and implementing EEAT is a fundamental part of SEO and is essential to remain compliant. Although it can be a challenge, taking the time to ensure that your content meets the standards set out by Google will help to ensure that you can make the most of your SEO strategy - from increasing online visibility to improving authority, EEAT is an essential part of any successful SEO strategy.
To unlock the secret to staying compliant with EEAT updates, get in touch with our experts. We can help you build a successful content strategy that will incorporate all the elements you need to improve your organic rankings. We’ll also help you stay up to date with constant changes in the Google algorithm. Our aim is to increase relevant traffic to your website so you can convert visitors into paying customers by turning your website into a revenue generating asset.