EEAT is Google’s algorithm for evaluating the quality of content, which affects the position of sites in search results. In this article, I will describe its main elements, and also tell you what the new letter in the name means and how to get a high EEAT rating from the search engine.
Basic elements of EEAT
In March 2013, Google officially published SQR (Search Quality Rater), a guide to evaluating search quality. It is updated approximately once a year.
In 2014, the EAT concept appeared in SQR: Expertise + Authoritativeness + Trustworthiness . At the end of 2022, it was replenished with another E ( Experience ) and turned into EEAT.
The concept of EEAT is an important aspect of SEO . This became especially noticeable in August 2018 after the Google Medic update. According to Moz , in just seven days after the update, some sites saw a 70% increase or decrease in their visibility on the first page of search results.
Most often, the search engine uses the EEAT concept to evaluate online stores, news resources, and sites related to medical, security, financial, and legal information.
Let me tell you what each of the EEAT factors means.
Factor 1. Experience
Google ranks articles from authors with real product experience higher. Such content can include, for example, a review of a product that the author has been using for some time. If he spoke in detail about his experience, noted the strengths and weaknesses of the product, the material will receive a high rating from EEAT.
Factor 2. Expertise
Authors of articles must have specialized knowledge or personal experience in order to provide readers with reliable information.
Google defines two types of topics.
- General topics. They do not require high qualification of the authors. They should be created by people with personal experience in the field they are writing about. For example, a travel blogger might write an article about their hitchhiking trip.
- Topics from the concept of YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) , which affect the health, safety and financial well-being of users. They should be written by experts. For example, materials on medical topics should be written to doctors.
In order to position himself as an expert, the author of the article must have specialized education, work experience, necessary qualifications and articles published under his authorship on several resources.
Factor 3. Authoritativeness
The author of the content and the site on which it is published must have a good reputation in the niche. Forbes is considered one of the most authoritative publications in the world about finance and economics, because the authors of the articles have extensive knowledge and rich experience.
The higher the authority of the author and the site, the more likely it is that the content will be recognized as high-quality by Google. Authority can be measured by:
- the number and quality of backlinks;
- mentioned in reliable sources;
- personal brand of the author as an expert.
Factor 4. Trustworthiness (reliability)
Reliability is the most important factor for Google. I will list the main points that indicate the reliability of the site.
- Accuracy of information and reliability of sources .
- Security (secure HTTPS connection ). This is especially important for ecommerce. Users need to be confident that their transactions will be processed correctly and that they will not fall victim to fraud.
- High usability indicators. It should be intuitively clear how to find the necessary information on the site.
- Informative pages of the site : “Project authors”, “About us”, “Contacts”, “Privacy policy”, “Terms of use”, etc.
EEAT levels
In the updated SQR guide, Google divides the concept of EEAT into levels: from the lowest to the highest. The scale also has intermediate values, which can be used to give a more accurate assessment:
- N/A (Absence);
- Lowest (Lowest);
- Lowest + (Lowest+);
- Low (Low);
- Low + (Low+);
- Medium (Medium);
- Medium + (Medium+);
- High (High);
- High + (High+);
- Highest (Highest).
I will tell you more about the main ones.
N/A (Absence) EEAT
The EEAT rating is most often absent due to the authors having zero or insufficient experience in the field they are writing about. For example, a review of a restaurant in which the author has never dined.
Lowest (Lowest) EEAT
This score is given to pages that, in Google’s opinion, cannot provide a positive user experience and are not trustworthy. Especially if they contain information that can cause harm. These are the pages:
- with a call to violence;
- with inaccurate information;
- spam and fraudulent content.
Low EEAT
A low level means that the main content of the site has been created in a hurry, just to fill the space. Such pages may contain inaccuracies and unnecessary information.
Articles on such sites do not achieve their goal, but at least they do not harm readers.
Medium EEAT
Pages on an average quality site are doing good, or at least not doing any harm. They usually have an adequate title and the necessary minimum information about the authors of the materials.
Such articles achieve their goal and do not contain signs of spam or calls for violence.
High EEAT
Pages with a high EEAT score demonstrate significant experience, reliability, and credibility. The main markers that Google pays attention to:
- useful information that does not harm readers;
- headings briefly describe the content of the pages;
- advertising and additional content do not interfere with the main content;
- there is information about the site and authors.
Highest EEAT
The highest level of EEAT is assigned to the most reliable and trustworthy sources.
How to improve EEAT site?
An increase in EEAT indicators will improve the visibility of the site in search results and strengthen the trust of the audience in the brand. To achieve this, take several steps.
Step 1. Create high-quality content and update it regularly
Keep writing new articles.
- Focus on people in your content : answer their questions, give advice, be useful and original. Leave readers feeling satisfied.
- Periodically check the materials for usefulness and relevance. Information becomes outdated over time, so don’t forget to update it.
- Remove low-quality content . Initially, this may reduce the traffic of the resource, but in the long run it will improve the EEAT score.
Step 2. Add author information
Google expects important articles to be written by reliable and verified experts. For example, certified pharmacists will become authors of instructions for the use of medical preparations.
Sites must contain in public access:
- data about the team;
- separate pages of biographies of the authors, their certification, experience and academic degrees;
- links to authors’ social networks and their publications.
To communicate to search engines the competence and authority of authors, use the Person micro-tag on bio pages.
Step 3: Use reliable sources
In your content, refer to official, verified sources: studies, scientific articles, tweets and blog posts from experts. For example, for an article on obtaining a passport for traveling abroad, you should refer to the page of the State Migration Service.
Step 4: Demonstrate content expertise
The author of the article about clothes for hiking in the mountains must have personal experience to support his advice with practical recommendations.
Showcase your expertise in product and service reviews, articles with tips, tricks, and life hacks. They should add photos, videos and screenshots.
Step 5. Create a positive brand reputation
Manage the reputation of the online resource, because it is crucial to the concept of EEAT. This is a long and thorough job that needs to be done throughout the life cycle of the business.
Monitor reviews
How to work with the reputation of a medical brand on the Internet – company reviews to respond to them quickly and professionally. Respond to both bad and good reviews – positive interaction with customers will improve brand reputation in the long run.
Encourage customer engagement
Motivate customers to share product photos and videos with contests, social media sweepstakes, email newsletters, and advertising campaigns. Ask users to add hashtags and mention the brand. Custom content increases brand loyalty.
Add micro markup
Micro-markup is a way to give search engines and users additional information about your site. It is created thanks to the implementation of tags and attributes in the HTML code of the page.
Micro-markup will make it possible to show the site’s ranking, the presence of customer reviews and the company’s pricing policy in Google’s search results.
Use quality and relevant backlinks
Get backlinks from sites with similar topics. The closer the link is to the original resource, the more authority it conveys. Backlinks help Google classify a site’s pages and domain on a macro level.
Step 6. Add important pages to the site
Create informative pages on the site to prove its reliability and authority.
About us page
Add to it links to publications about the company, its social networks and ratings. Also, this page may contain the mission, history, certificates, diplomas, awards and licenses of the business.
Contact page
Add an email, phone number and a feedback form on it so that users can contact the company.
Product exchange and return page
Its presence instills a sense of reliability in buyers, because products from online stores often do not fit the size or do not meet expectations. Buyers are pleased to know that they will have the option to return or exchange the product in this case.
Step 7: Secure the site with HTTPS
Site security is one of the most important factors in evaluating the EEAT rating. HTTP sites in the Google Chrome browser are shown with the “Dangerous” tag. In this way, Google encourages resource owners to switch to the HTTPS protocol.
EEAT vs. AI
Google has not yet developed an algorithm for evaluating the quality of content generated using it artificial intelligence, such as Chat GPT. According to the company, AI does not yet know how to create quality content, so Google does not recommend publishing it without prior human verification.
Search algorithms are more loyal to content written by experts with rich personal experience and fundamental knowledge in the field.
EEAT checklist for the site
Google’s recommendations for improving the EEAT concept can be boiled down to a simple checklist.
- Create quality content and update it regularly.
- If the articles on the site directly affect the health and safety of readers, the authors should be people with appropriate education and work experience.
- Authors with practical experience should write on common topics.
- Articles written by artificial intelligence must be reviewed by a human.
- Place information about the authors on the site. Create a “Our Team” page, author bio pages, and searchable content so you can find the publications you need.
- Use the HTTPS protocol.
- Place on the company website:
- a feedback page with a phone number and email address;
- page with customer reviews;
- exchange and return page;
- the “About Us” page with the company’s accreditations and awards.
And also on request with:
- privacy policy;
- company ethics;
- referring to copyright;
- complaint handling policy;
- editorial policy;
- terms of use;
- disclaimer of responsibility for specific actions/events, etc.
Conclusions
- Understanding the principles of EEAT will improve the visibility of the site in the search results, strengthen the trust of visitors and, ultimately, increase the conversion and revenue of the company.
- The EEAT algorithm plays a key role in Google’s assessment of the quality of content on a website.
- Initially, the concept was based on three components — Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, but at the end of 2022, another letter was added to the acronym, which stands for Experience. Google now pays attention to the real experience of authors in the fields they write about.
- The EEAT concept evaluates the quality of content by levels: from the lowest (pages with harmful content that do not deserve trust) to the highest (the most reliable and trustworthy sources of information).
- Google has not yet developed an algorithm for evaluating content generated by artificial intelligence. ChatGPT and other chatbots do not yet know how to create quality content based on specific experiences.
- To improve the position of the site, create quality content, regularly update and update it. Also, demonstrate expertise, include information about content authors, and use reliable sources.
- Google will continue to remove irrelevant content and promote content written by experts.
