When someone searches on Google, the search engine wants to surface high-quality content that best matches search intent.
In the past, Google has relied on what it calls E-A-T as a ranking signal to help its algorithms decide which content to display. E-A-T stands for:
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
Google recently updated its guidance and added an additional letter to make this acronym E-E-A-T. The additional E at the beginning adds:
- Experience
E-E-A-T is now part of Google’s Search Quality Guidelines, which is used by human raters to evaluate the effectiveness of the algorithm.
How the extra “E” impacts search results
With this guidance, Google lets us know that experience matters when it comes to content. The search engine will place value on content, such as online reviews, that offer first-hand experience with brands and products. In other words, if someone has actually used a product or service, the content will be scored higher by the algorithm.
Content that appears on a company’s website or online review sites sends ranking signals about quality, making both important to improving brand reputation. A user with first-hand experience is more likely to be knowledgeable about a product or service, which can provide a level of trust. More about this later.
How E-E-A-T works
While Google says E-E-A-T does not directly impact page rankings, it is a tool that search engine users to rate the quality of its results. Content that demonstrates E-E-A-T is the gold standard for what Google wants to rank highest.
Content that demonstrates E-E-A-T is the gold standard for what Google wants to rank highest.
Content that demonstrates E-E-A-T is the gold standard for what Google wants to rank highest.
It also aligns with Google’s August 2022 Helpful Content Update, which weighs content that provides useful and helpful information more highly.
How E-E-A-T is judged
Google says it will look for experience signals in a variety of ways:
- What others say about the website or content creators
- What the site or content creator says about themselves
- What is visible on the page, including main content and sections such as reviews and comments
The first three letters in E-E-A-T demonstrate experience, expertise, and authority and they add up to the final letter T for trust. According to Google Search Quality Guidelines, “Trust is the most important member of the E-E-A-T family because untrustworthy pages have low E-E-A-T no matter how Experienced, Expert, or Authoritative they may seem.”
“Trust is the most important member of the E-E-A-T family because untrustworthy pages have low E-E-A-T no matter how Experienced, Expert, or Authoritative they may seem.”
E-E-A-T & your reputation
E-E-A-T needs to be part of your marketing strategy when it comes to brand reputation and improving search engine optimization (SEO). Developing valuable, relevant, and helpful content that demonstrates E-E-A-T will be an important component of any content marketing and website development strategy.
Reviews play a significant role in the reputation of your brands, products, and services.Reviews on Google-certified platforms (like Sitejabber) provide experience and helpful information for people evaluating products and services. In its E-E-A-T evaluation, Google may favor independent reviews on trustworthy platforms to inform your website’s credibility.
In its E-E-A-T evaluation, Google may favor independent reviews on trustworthy platforms to inform your website’s credibility.
In its E-E-A-T evaluation, Google may favor independent reviews on trustworthy platforms to inform your website’s credibility.
You will also want to encourage reviews from users to demonstrate E-E-A-T and feature them within your website. You can display reviews from review platforms, adding to the quality of your pages. For example, Sitejabber lets you create a free account and add review widgets to your website.
One important distinction that Google makes is that influencers or people paid to promote products may indeed have first-hand experience, but they are not unbiased since they have a financial connection to the company. Even if they provide valuable information about a product or service, the lack of independence may influence results. So, if a review author or content creator has a “material connection” with a brand, it should be disclosed as per FTC guidelines.
Additional guidance
Along with adding the extra E, Google also announced some added guidance on how it will assess page quality for sites.
Page purpose
Google wants to know that you are delivering honest and reliable information. So, a website that has “hidden motives” would be viewed less favorably. For example:
- A website or page that redirects users to an unrelated topic.
- An article that promises helpful information but does not deliver on the headline.
- Paying people to provide reviews on your site but not disclosing it.
The key factor is evaluating whether a page or site delivers on its purpose. For example, a product description is fine. When people click on a product, they expect to see product details so it delivers on the purpose. Selling products on your website is OK, too, as long as it’s not misleading.
A key element here will be assessing how well a page achieves its purpose. So, a page that is a landing page for a product is fine — if that is the purpose and is not misleading.
You should pay particular attention to page titles. Does the headline match the content? Clickbait titles that fail to deliver on the promises made will be flagged.
Potential for harm
Google will also downgrade content that is untrustworthy, harmful, or misleading. While this is important for all content, it is especially important for what the search engine classifies as Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) topics. This includes topics such as providing health information, financial advice, or personal opinions that could potentially cause harm.
Content quality
Google will also evaluate content quality, especially the main content on a site or page. Low-quality, auto-generated, and spammy content will be downgraded in the assessment, as will content that shows a lack of expertise or skill.
Content that provides E-E-A-T and meets the purpose of the page will be upgraded.
Content authorship
If a website or content creator demonstrates a pattern of disinformation or has a negative reputation, it can also impact E-E-A-T. Google wants to display valuable and relevant information from high-quality sources. So, where your content appears makes a difference.
Google also says that there should be information available about who is responsible for creating content, specifically for YMYL content.
E-E-A-T and high-quality content
The December 2022 update also provides clear guidance on what they want to see when it comes to E-E-A-T and what it will look for in what it classifies as high-quality content. The list includes content that:
- Has a helpful, beneficial purpose.
- Does not mislead users.
- Delivers on promises.
- Appears on a website with a positive reputation.
- Has a positive reputation.
- Informs users about who created content.
- Has content that requires “effort, originality, talent, or skill.”
Is your content living up to the quality E-E-A-T requires? Google suggests you self-assess your content and ask these questions:
- Does the content provide original information, reporting, research, or analysis?
- Does the content provide a substantial, complete, or comprehensive description of the topic?
- Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond the obvious?
- If the content draws on other sources, does it avoid simply copying or rewriting those sources, and instead provide substantial additional value and originality?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
- Would you expect to see this content in or referenced by a printed magazine, encyclopedia, or book?
- Does the content provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
- If someone researched the site producing the content, would they come away with the impression that it is well-trusted or widely recognized as an authority on its topic?
- Is this content written by an expert or enthusiast who demonstrably knows the topic well?
- Does your content demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge (for example, expertise that comes from having used a product or service, or visiting a place)?
- Does your content demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge (for example, expertise that comes from having actually used a product or service, or visiting a place)?
It’s time to E-E-A-T
If you take a close look at what Google is recommending, all of its common sense. Someone that has hands-on experience with a product is going to have better insight. Whether you choose to incorporate E-E-A-T into your marketing strategy or not, you need to understand the potential impact, especially when it comes to search.
Google’s E-E-A-T guidance shows that reviews and high-quality information are even more important than in the past in how it will assess and rank pages. When you consider that Google has an 84% share of the search market, following their guidance is sound advice.
While you can’t control what reviewers will say about you when they are posting reviews, you can quickly see how important they are. Whether something is positive or negative, someone that has first-hand experience with your products or services and provides useful information to others will play a significant role in not only how your brand is perceived but can contribute to your E-E-A-T, too.
