You’ve probably heard of Google E-A-T unless you’re new to the search industry. Despite the fact that the concept is present since 2014, it has slowly evolved into one of the most crucial aspects of SEO.
Unfortunately, even for industry specialists, it’s one of the most perplexing.
What exactly is E-A-T in SEO?
E-A-T stand for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
The concept is based on Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, and it gained popularity following the controversial Medic Update in August 2018 E-A-T is one of the factors that Google considers when determining the overall quality of a website. Page quality, as you might expect has a substantial impact on where a page ranks in Google’s organic search results.
According to Google’s guidelines, the most essential variables utilized to determine the overall quality of a web page are:
- The Page’s Purpose (does it serve a useful purpose?)
- Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness are all important factors to consider
- The quantity and quality of the main content
- Information about the website or the author of the main content
- The creator of the main content or the website’s reputation
So, if all other factors are equal, the higher a page’s ranking should be the more it exhibits expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
How does Google determine E-A-T?
Lets understand how Google evaluates a page’s E-A-T. The Google search quality evaluator guidelines describe three major components at a high level:
- The expertise of the Main Content author.
- The authoritativeness of the Main Content creator the Main Content itself, and the website.
- The trustworthiness of the Main Content creator, the Main Content itself, and the website.
Ensuring accurate, truthful, useful information
By the way of E-A-T Google tries to ensure that it offers accurate, truthful, and useful information to searchers. Anyone can make a website and put anything they want on it. To launch a medical information website or write about investment, you don’t need to be a doctor or have a financial degree.
Of course, this is beneficial in certain ways. It does, however, creates a problem for Google. People make significant judgments depending on the information found in search results. As a result, Google strives to ensure that such decisions are based on the most reliable data available.
As a result, Google considers the individual creator of page content, the content itself and the entire website’s expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. A thorough medical article on the Mayo Clinic website written by an experienced doctor is far more valuable to Google than a random blog post dispensing unverified medical advice.
What is expertise?
Google understands that depending on the type of website E-A-T will look very different. On a gossip site, expertise is very different than on a news site. They also recognize that even if a person hasn’t obtained official training in a field, they can have skill in it.
However, there is one type of website E-A-T that Google values above all others: Your Money or Your Life.
What exactly is YMYL?
YMYL is an acronym that stands for Your Money or Your Life’. This abbreviation is used by Google to categorize pages that affect your money, health, safety, and/or happiness.
Because of the subject matter and the implications for a user if that material is misrepresented. YMYL sites are held to the highest possible CAT standards.
E-A-T SEO Importance:
Google recognizes that what a person reads online can lead to life-changing decisions. As a result, a faulty information source in Google search results can have real world ramifications.
If any of these YMYL Categories apply to your web pages or material, you must proceed with caution. Make it apparent that it was written by people who have the authority to do so.
The more E-A-T criteria you can follow and apply to your content the better your chances of organic search engine visibility and ranking success.
Is E-A-T a ranking factor?
G-A-T is not a direct Google ranking factor in terms of measurable data. However, there are other ranking indicators that Google utilities to assess expertise, authority, and trust.
The importance of EAT in Google’s rankings was highlighted in a white paper released in February titled “How Google Fights Disinformation.” Furthermore, the present version of Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines has references to “EAT Clearly, it is a crucial concept.
However, there is no one parameter that can be used to determine a Google E-A-T score. Rather, it assesses other quantifiable characteristics such as author quality, web page quality, website quality, and brand quality.
The overall procedure works in the following manner. Search quality raters gauge and assess the quality of websites, and the feedback is fed into the Google algorithm. Furthermore, Google’s algorithm can precisely measure the signals that are linked to E-A-T (eg, backlinks).
Why E-A-T is important for your SEO strategy?
If you’ve been paying attention to recent Google search core algorithm updates, y probably noticed a common theme improving the user experience.
Because keyword stuffing disturbed the reading experience, Google started punishing it a long time ago. When the majority of people began using mobile devices to search the internet, they made mobile responsiveness a raring factor. Google chose HTTPS Over HTTP because it wanted to give searchers more protection. They created Core Web Vitals in order to measure a quick and seamless user experience.
G-A-T is no exception. It’s yet another way for Google to give users what they want.
E-A-Tis a tool for determining credibility. It serves as the foundation for determining if a website and its constituent pages provide real value to the users. Google wants to serve up the pages with the most value in regard to a certain search query because that’s how it keeps users coming back.
If search engine optimization is crucial to your digital marketing success, E-A-T should be at the forefront of your SEO plan development.
