Google E-E-A-T has become one of the most important aspects SEO. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most confusing as well, even for experts. E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trust. These concepts come from Google’s Search Quality Rater guidelines and is a factor they use to assess the overall quality of a website. The more experience, expertise, authority, and trust that a page displays, the higher their rank should be. But these elements are subjective and while your page could be strong in one area, it could be weaker in another. For example, you could be an expert food blogger, but have no experience with medical topics such as food allergies. Ultimately, each type of content requires different levels of E-E-A-T determined by Google. Although all are important considerations of page quality, Google holds that trust is the most important aspect. Here is what Google looks for in each element:
Experience – The content creator should have first-hand or real-world experience of the topic. For the most part, experience is viewed at a lower bar than expertise or authority.
Expertise – The content creator should have extensive real-world experience and/or training to be considered an expert. It does, however, take more than being an expert to be seen as an authority.
Authoritativeness – Authority is seen at a level above expertise. To have authority, the content creator must build a reputation of excellence.
Trust – This, as mentioned previously, is the most important element of the E-E-A-T concept. It is what Google is attempting to measure by assessing the experience, expertise, and authority of content.
Overall, E-E-A-T is an important tool that Google uses to ensure it provides truthful, safe, and useful information to the searchers. And it is an important SEO concept to keep in mind when creating your content.
3 Responses
These items are very important and helpful to SEO. I love the acronym you used and how simple it is to understand and implement to SEO practices.
These are good principles to keep in mind. While it is used by an automated search engine, I also feel like this is in large part the process we walk through when evaluating a site as well. Even subconsciously, these are the characteristics we look for in a good and reputable site.
It is fascinating to see how Google’s algorithm has evolved over time to prioritize the quality and trustworthiness of content. E-E-A-T is an essential concept to understand for anyone looking to improve their website’s search engine ranking. It’s important to consider all four elements when creating content, but remember that trust is the most critical factor for Google.