Are you trying to improve your SEO but don’t know where to start? Consider the principles of E-E-A-T as your new best friend while working on creating an excellent consumer experience that helps you rank high on search engines.
In this article, we’ll dive into what each level of E-E-A-T means and how you can implement it effectively. By the end, you’ll have a better idea of how you can eat up those desirable top spots in search engine rankings with an optimized SEO strategy. Let’s get started!
What Is E-E-A-T?
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. These are common aspects that the Google algorithm looks for in content when determining how to rank it on SERPs (search engine results pages). If you can showcase all of them in your content, there’s a better chance you will rank closer to those desirable top 10 spots in search.
Why Is E-E-A-T Important?
You may have heard E-E-A-T used in combination with the acronym YMYL (Your Money Your Life). YMYL niches offer products and services that affect your health and financial well-being. These could include financial investment topics, workout or diet programs, medical information, etc.
Google’s algorithm is much stricter in how it ranks this type of content because it can drastically affect people’s lives. It’s a preventative measure to keep everyone safer and avoid spreading factually incorrect health or financial guidelines. However, these strict guidelines can also hurt professionals spreading good information on these subjects.
E-E-A-T is an effective strategy to prevent this from happening. Even if you aren’t in one of those niches, implementing these principles will help you. So no matter what industry you’re in, stick around to learn more about this concept.
Showcasing Experience in SEO
SEO trends are always evolving. But while you may be using the right keywords, optimizing your images, and creating awesome meta descriptions, your content may still lack something. That portion can often be adding your own personal (or company’s) experiences that connect to readers and show your knowledge on the topic.
- How Do You Add Experience to SEO Content?
- Why Does This Strategy Work?
Examples, stories, and even sharing times when you’ve struggled can be excellent ways to showcase your experience.
For instance, let’s say you’re a personal trainer trying to write expert content to reach your target audience. Sharing your stories and background in fitness would help improve your content to connect with readers.
You could write about how you struggled to find the right routine when you first started working out. And with the help of a personal trainer, you got back on the right track, lost 20 pounds, and now feel like a healthier and better version of yourself.
Telling a story like the above would help connect your readers to your content. Someone struggling with weight loss would be able to see how a personal trainer helps through first-hand shared experience. Suddenly, you would have a new client ready to get started. This is why SEO can be vital for health and wellness creators.
Presenting Your Expertise
You have personal experiences down, but now you’re probably wondering how to present your expertise. After all, everyone online can portray themselves as an expert. So how do you stand out?
- Proper Education, Licenses, or Certifications
- The Results You’ve Achieved
- Well-Researched Content
One of the key factors Google’s algorithm looks for on YMYL websites is if creators have appropriate licensing for the industry. Having an About Page representing you and/or your team’s information and expertise can be a great way to display this information, especially if you can link to credible pages showing your education or licensing information.
Another great way to show expertise to Google and your readers is through factual results from your professional experience.
For example, a financial advisor with many excellent client testimonials will stand out as an expert and industry leader. The same goes for any case studies displaying results you’ve achieved from investments, retirement planning solutions, or debt relief assistance, among other aspects you may help clients with.
The last bit of expertise is simply showcasing that you put in the research while creating your content. This can include citing factual information and linking to other reputable resources.
Building Authoritativeness
When learning about why SEO is important for businesses, you’ve probably heard that it helps build authority. However, you also need to put some best practices in place to build it in the first place.
- Backlinks From Other Credible Industry Websites
- Topical Authority
One of the primary ranking factors that Google considers is your backlink profile. A backlink is when another website links to yours, such as if they cite your content as a source for information they’re providing in an article.
Building backlinks can be a common hurdle for many new website owners, and it may take some time. Creating high-quality content that shares your experience and expertise, working with link building services, or doing outreach in your industry helps move the process along.
Another fundamental ranking aspect is having topical authority with a wide range of content that shows your expertise and experience in a subject. For instance, if you’re a debt relief specialist and have written 20 unique pieces of content related to debt settlements, that would show your topical authority on the subject. It’s especially valuable to add internal links from your previous content to your new posts, showing Google that they are all related.
Creating Trustworthiness
Last but not least, we have the trustworthiness aspect of the E-E-A-T equation. It’s like any other marketing strategy – if people trust you, they’re more likely to buy from you. In this case, if Google trusts you, you’re more likely to rank higher. So how do you create trust?
- Reviews and Positive Comments
- Content Quality Metrics
- Average time on page
- Average visit duration
- Bounce rate
- If the content satisfied a user’s search intent
When someone leaves reviews for your services or posts positive comments about a blog post you wrote, it’s a big signifier to Google and your prospective customers that you’re a trustworthy source. Therefore, encourage your satisfied customers to leave a review and your blog readers to leave a comment.
When Google analyzes content and how it should rank, several quality metrics are considered. These may include:
That’s why it’s essential to create compelling content that captures readers’ attention and provides them with all the information they need. You want to show Google you’re the first source consumers want to go to and the last one they need before making a decision.
Start Using E-E-A-T to Boost Your SEO Ranking
Implementing all the core components of E-E-A-T will help you improve important metrics. This will show Google that you’re the right source to send consumers when they’re looking for information. Remember to:
- Experience: Showcase your unique experiences.
- Expertise: Provide factual examples of your expertise and the positive results you achieved.
- Authoritativeness: Build authority through link building, creating high-quality content, and achieving topical authority.
- Trustworthiness: Create trust with reviews, comments, and helpful content that satisfies reader needs.
Following these principles will have you on the right track toward success. All that’s left is to get out there and start creating!
