Guide to work Google’s E-E-A-T for SEO [2023]

The E-E-A-T is a set of signals that Google uses to determine whether a piece of content is valuable to the user and, consequently, to position it in the best possible way.

It is a system that joins the many others that the search engine already uses and that focuses on analysing the level of experience, knowledge, authority and reliability of the pages and their content. The difference? In this case, it is evaluated by humans, not bots.

In this guide about E-E-A-T for SEO we tell you everything that has to do with this concept, how it is evaluated, what all its factors consist of, ways to work with it in a web project, and more.

What is Google’s E-E-A-T?

The E-E-A-T was born in 2014 and at the time it only had one E (expertise or knowledge). Until then, Google used its algorithm to rank content based on optimised SEO factors and the quality of the content according to its standards.

But in order to fight spam, false information and avoid its consequences on people’s well-being, it decided to incorporate human evaluators (up to 100,000 worldwide) to assess aspects that a machine is not capable of discerning.

Google’s evaluators follow the Search Quality Raters guidelines, which are almost 170 pages long, and which we have analysed here to extract the most relevant aspects to work on a website in order to pass with flying colours the E-E-A-T analysis that is carried out.

But as we are going to tell you all this already, we leave you a video of the talk given at the Brighton SEO 2018 by the E-E-A-T specialist Marie Haynes, and with which you can introduce yourself to this concept:

Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?

The million-dollar question before moving on to the explanation of the Google E-E-A-T. But to answer it, we have to start by introducing the concept.

The evaluation that quality raters make of a website and its content revolves around the E-E-A-T, which is made up of 4 key factors:

Actually, we can talk about aspects or characteristics, because Google has denied that the E-E-A-T is a ranking factor as is (for example) web speed:

Is E-A-T a ranking factor? Not if you mean there's some technical thing like with speed that we can measure directly.

We do use a variety of signals as a proxy to tell if content seems to match E-A-T as humans would assess it.

In that regard, yeah, it's a ranking factor.

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) October 11, 2019

This has been made official in Google’s guidelines for useful content:

As Danny Sullivan says, the E-E-AT is one more signal to value content, but as it is not a ranking factor, it does not penalise. And it does not do so because it is not something that can be measured automatically by a machine, as is the case with the other factors.

For example, backlinks can be tracked and counted. But as Joshua Hardwick says: “The problem with expertise, authority and trust is that, while they are desirable qualities of content, they are fundamentally human concepts. You can’t tell a computer to rank pages with E-A-T higher because it only understands bits and bytes“.

Hence, as a solution, Google relies on human search evaluators. With their feedback, the search engine checks whether the assigned place in the SERP ranking is correct or whether it has to change it (for better or worse).

How E-E-A-T is assessed: its 4 key factors

Let’s now look at the detail of these 4 aspects that search quality raters look for in content.

(E) Experience

This factor has become especially important in recent years because it is what gives the differentiating touch to any relevant content: the author’s or brand’s experience in what they are communicating. It may be personal or work experience, but Google understands that this is where the real knowledge comes from and not just from researching other sources.

This applies, above all, to content that has to do with giving an opinion on the use of a product or service (product reviews or comparisons):

“Consider the extent to which the content creator has the necessary first-hand or life experience for the topic. Many types of pages are trustworthy and achieve their purpose well when created by people with a wealth of personal experience. For example, which would you trust: a product review from someone who has personally used the product or a “review” by someone who has not? “

Google Search Quality Raters Guidelines

Prueba del peso que tiene esto es la Product Reviews Update, un sistema del algoritmo de Google para valorar este y otros aspectos en las reseñas de productos. A raíz de esta evaluación de este tipo de contenidos, Google lanzó una guía oficial sobre cómo escribir buenas reseñas de productos que te recomendamos leer si te dedicas a ello.

👉 A note: it is not always essential to have formal and proven experience (recognised professionals or with certifications) although it is highly recommended for YMYL issues that we will see later. Daily experience may be enough in most cases and it is not required to have a background or training in it.

(E) Expertise

This aspect values the knowledge that an author or the website in general demonstrates about a topic, which may or may not come from experience. In some cases, gaining knowledge through researching information sources is sufficient, but in others, being an expert in the subject matter may be more valued. And this expert status is often linked to professional experience.

For example, isn’t a tax agent more qualified to talk about taxes than a person who has no finance-related position? A similar example can be given by Google, but with electricians:

“Consider the extent to which the content creator has the necessary knowledge or skill for the topic. Different topics require different levels and types of expertise to be trustworthy. For example, which would you trust: home electrical rewiring advice from a skilled electrician or from an antique homes enthusiast who has no knowledge of electrical wiring?”

Google Search Quality Raters Guidelines

Again: not a prerequisite for many issues, but highly desirable for those of the YMYL type, which we will see later.

(A) Authoritativeness

For Google, to speak of authority is to speak of the reputation that both a site and a creator have in relation to a topic. In other words, that it is known to be an expert on the subject and therefore a reliable source of information.

To measure this reputation, not only the information available on the author or authors of the site’s content will count, but also external references such as citations and mentions on other pages or even on social networks.

The most obvious example is one of those provided by Google, which refers to information on bureaucratic procedures, such as obtaining a passport. For this, it will have more authority and we should trust the official website of our government rather than any other:

“Consider the extent to which the content creator or the website is known as a go-to source for the topic. While most topics do not have one official, Authoritative website or content creator, when they do, that website or content creator is often among the most reliable and trustworthy sources. For example, a local business profile page on social media may be the authoritative and trusted source for what is on sale now. The official government page for getting a passport is the unique, official, and authoritative source for passport renewal. “

Google Search Quality Raters Guidelines

(T) Trustworthiness

Reliability is the most important aspect of all and the most important determinant for evaluators to rate content as low E-E-A-A-T. Why? Because it has to do with the accuracy, safety and honesty of the information provided: “Consider the extent to which the page is accurate, honest, safe, and reliable“.

And this has a lot to do with the purpose of that information: does it want to help or, on the contrary, does it mislead or harm people? For example, misleading and unreliable content would be a product review that is written only to sell, because it fails to provide valuable information such as the author’s honest experience with the product, or delve into recommendations on who can and cannot use it and how: “Product reviews should be honest and written to help others make informed purchasing decisions (rather than solely to sell the product)“.

The same applies to all content on socially sensitive topics (YMYL), such as health or finance. Any inaccurate, false or misleading information will be rated with a low E-E-A-T and experience, knowledge or authority will not matter:

“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. For example, a financial scam is untrustworthy, even if the content creator is a highly experienced and expert scammer who is considered the go-to on running scams!”

Google Search Quality Raters Guidelines

In addition to the content, other signs of this trustworthiness are assessed depending on the type of page, such as, for example, whether an online shop guarantees secure payment and customer service.

In all cases, to confirm the trust that users can have in that project, the information page about the team or the author and what others say about it will be searched to determine to what extent it complies with the rest of the E-E-A-T factors.

👉 An interesting distinction Google makes: Social Media posts are meant to entertain, so if they are not about YMYL issues, they don’t need a high level of trust.

How do Google search quality raters rate the E-E-AT?

Having seen the E-E-A-T factors, it is interesting to see what the Search Quality Rating process consists of. It is composed of two different analyses, the overall Page Quality and the Needs Met. Together, they determine:

Each of the parts of the analysis assesses between 2 and 3 blocks of characteristics, and they cover these 4 aspects of E-E-A-T that we have seen:

Page Quality refers to the success of the page in achieving its objective, for which the quality of the content is decisive, and Needs Met refers to how useful the page is for a search. In other words, whether it effectively satisfies the search intent and can therefore be considered a relevant result that should rank well.

What is important in the Page Quality of Google Search Quality Raters guidelines

In this analysis, the evaluators will assess what the purpose of a page is (1. determining the purpose of the page), whether it is harmful or detrimental to people (2. asses if page is harmful) and finally, assign an overall rating based on the quality they consider it to have based on its purpose (3. determine the rating).

1. Determining the purpose of the page:

In order to determine whether a piece of content and its website are fit for purpose, evaluators must understand it from what they see when they enter the sites. Here are some examples provided by Google itself:

Other purposes mentioned in their guidelines are: “To share information about a “; “To share a personal experience, perspective, or feelings on a topic”, “To demonstrate a personal talent or skill”, “To entertain”, “To allow users to post questions for other users to answer”…. The fulfilment of these purposes through the content will determine the score of the pages.

2. Asses if page is harmful

It has to do with the topic of the analysed page and if it is detected that it can have a negative impact on health, financial stability, people’s safety and social welfare, it will be penalised with the lowest score (YMYL topics).

It affects both topics that are dangerous per se, such as those related to criminal acts, and those that can be harmful if the information is inadequate. An example would be financial investments or diseases.

3. Determine the rating

Based on the above two points, a score from 1 to 5 will be awarded. This is the meaning of each rating:

What’s important in the Needs Met of Google’s Search Quality Raters guidelines

In this second analysis, the evaluators determine whether the page and its content meet the user’s search intent. To do this (1. determine the user intent), they assess whether it matches the user’s search, whether it is understandable, whether it is up-to-date, whether it is an authoritative source and whether after reading it the user would need to search further.

Based on this they award one of these scores:

These two scores will be one more signal to help Google determine which results to show first in the search. In other words, they will not have a direct impact on positioning, but will be one more value to be weighted, as Google itself clarifies:

No single rating can directly impact how a particular webpage, website, or result appears in Google Search, nor can it cause specific webpages, websites, or results to move up or down on the search results page. Using ratings to position results on the search results page would not be feasible, as humans could never individually rate each page on the open web. Instead, ratings are used to measure how effectively search engines are working to deliver helpful content to people around the world. Ratings are also used to improve search engines by providing examples of helpful and unhelpful results for different searches.

Google Search Quality Raters Guidelines

What are the possible E-E-A-T assessment scores?

Although there is no numerical value that neither human evaluators nor Google can give to a website and its content, it can rate them as very low, low, high or very high E-E-A-T.

Below we have extracted the most important quotes from the official guidelines for each tier (we indicate the chapter for your reference):

Chapter 4.5.2 – Very Low E-E-A-T 👎

“If the E-E-A-T of a page is low enough, people cannot or should not use the MC of the page. If a page on YMYL topics is highly inexpert, it should be considered Untrustworthy and rated Lowest. Use the Lowest rating if the website and content creator have an extremely negative reputation, to the extent that many people would consider the webpage or website untrustworthy.”

Chapter 5.1 – Low E-E-A-A-T 🪫

Low quality pages often lack an appropriate level of E-E-A-T for the topic or purpose of the page. Here are some examples:

• The content creator lacks adequate experience, e.g. a restaurant review written by someone who has never eatenat the restaurant
• The content creator lacks adequate expertise, e.g. an article about how to skydive written by someone with no expertise in the subject
• The website or content creator is not an authoritative or trustworthy source for the topic of the page, e.g. tax form downloads provided on a cooking website.
• The page or website is not trustworthy for its purpose, e.g. a shopping page with minimal customer service information

Chapter 7.3 – High E-E-A-A-T 👍

“Pages with High E-E-A-T are trustworthy or very trustworthy. Experience is valuable for almost any topic. Social media posts and forum discussions are often High quality when they involve people sharing their experience. From writing symphonies to reviewing home appliances, first-hand experience can make a social media post or discussion page High quality.”

Chapter 8.3 – Very high E-E-A-T 🔋

“Very high E-E-A-T is a distinguishing factor for Highest quality pages. A website or content creator who is the uniquely authoritative, go-to source for a topic has very high E-E-A-T. A content creator with a wealth of experience may be considered to have very high E-E-A-T for topics where experience is the primary factor in trust. A very high level of expertise can justify a very high E-E-A-T assessment. Very high E-E-A-T websites and content creators are the most trusted sources on the internet for a particular topic.”

YMYL (Your Money Your Life) topics and how they affect Google search

The first thing that search quality raters evaluate is the purpose of a site to see if it aims to help people. But then comes the subject matter, and if it has to do with people’s wellbeing and health at all levels, it is considered a YMYL or Your Money Your Life type.

What types of YMYL topics are there?

YMYL sensitive topics are classified into 4 groups:

• YMYL Health or Safety: issues that could harm mental, physical and emotional health, or any form of security, such as physical security or online security.
• YMYL Financial Security: issues that could impair a person’s ability to support themselves and their family.
• YMYL Society: issues that could negatively affect groups of people, issues of public interest, trust in government institutions…
• The subject matter itself is dangerous: issues related to self-harm, criminal acts or violent extremism.

In all these areas, any inaccuracy in the data could cause harm to individuals and even have a strong impact on society:

“For example, mild inaccuracies or content from less reliable sources could significantly impact someone’s health, financial stability, or safety, or impact society, for topics like: symptoms of a heart attack, how to invest money, what to do if there is an earthquake, who can vote, or needed qualifications for obtaining a driver’s license”

Google Search Quality Raters Guidelines

In all these topics, the 4 factors of the E-E-A-T must be worked on and focus on fact-checking and updating the content so that it is always accurate, true and 100% reliable. In addition, it will be crucial that it is done by experts, with knowledge and a certain level of authority.

One help to distinguish whether a topic is YMYL or not is the table provided by Google, which you can view and download here:

YMYL and Google: a good example of how E-E-A-T works in SERPs

In light of this, it should come as no surprise that when we do certain searches on Google, the first thing we see are results from pages that meet the 4 E-E-A-T factors and that institutions and organisations (and not blogs) are prioritised. This is the case with “how to reduce a baby’s fever”:

As it is a question of health, the search engine prioritises highly reliable sources such as the website of a medical clinic (which appears as a highlight).

What can happen if I ignore Google’s guidelines for YMYL topics?

A forewarned is forearmed, and Google already did a sweep of unreliable results for these types of topics in 2018 with its much-hyped Medic Update. In reality, it was part of a wider algorithm improvement, but most of the affected websites were health-related and many lost up to 50% of their visibility:

So to avoid such crashes with Google’s yearly improvements, it’s best to do your homework.

How to work on and improve the E-E-A-T on your website

To improve the E-E-A-T for the organic positioning of a web project, several aspects of 4 fundamental blocks must be taken into account: relevant and quality content, authorship, external reputation and trust and security.

We have defined them by reading the guide for search evaluators and in each one we are going to see several concrete actions. As we will indicate, some will be more or less vital for different topics or types of online business.

Relevant and quality content

This includes all the key points that have to do with the content (the information we provide), which must always be useful for the user. For Google, this is synonymous with quality. For this…

1. Follow Google’s guidelines for creating useful, trustworthy and people-centred content

In other words: quality content. For Google this means relevant content that helps the user to find an appropriate answer to their query. This means that content should be created for people, to solve their needs, and not to rank:

“The helpful content system was introduced last year to ensure that users searching would see content created primarily by people, rather than content created for search ranking purposes.”

Therefore, as long as our content is in line with Google’s guidelines for creating useful and quality content, and we demonstrate the E-A-A-T qualities, we can rank and be visible in the search engine.

Exactly: the E-E-A-T aspects are just one more addition, one more signal to be taken into account. The basis is relevant content. These are some premises that indicate that content is created for people and that it is useful, reliable and of quality:

☑ It is based on original information, research, reports or analyses. Based on these, the author discusses the topic from a useful and interesting perspective and in a comprehensive and exhaustive manner.

☑ The title is descriptive according to the content and has not been exaggerated to promise answers that are not given in the text.

☑ It is based both on the author’s own experience and on information from other experts in the field. It gives a fresh point of view to add value.

☑ Thanks to his in-depth knowledge of the subject, his review of authoritative sources and his differential approach, one would expect to see it published or referenced in a specialised journal.

☑ There is a list of bibliographical references, details of the author of the content and information on his or her experience with the subject matter.

☑ Its presentation is pleasant to read: no spelling or stylistic mistakes, adaptability to mobiles and tablets and, if it has advertisements, they do not hinder interaction.

This is a summary of each of Google’s guidelines for useful content, which we recommend you read for more information. But, in short, it is about creating new and differentiating content that provides value to the user and that has our stamp of identity. That is to say, that reflects our experience on a topic. Only in this way will it rank high in the SERPs and we will start to be a reference for the users who visit us.

2. Avoid falling into practices recognised as Spam by Google

Knowing how to create content is essential, but knowing what not to do is even more useful (and even more so with the advent of AI in our lives). That’s why you shouldn’t ignore the basic anti-spam guidelines that Google abides by.

Some of the most important ones are:

• Machine translations of content published without any human review or editing
• Texts that are automatically generated and published regardless of their quality and user experience
• Text that is the result of combining content from other pages and does not provide any added value
• Text that is not understandable when read but contains keywords

Paraphrased texts, obfuscation techniques and scraping of feeds or search results are also mentioned. In other words: content created for positioning and not for people.

👉 If you have incorporated AI into your workflow, check out the two official contents that Google has created on the subject: Prohibited uses of AI + Guide to AI-generated content.

3. Research your user very well to cover their search intent

For the content to be useful to the user, you must not only offer good content, but also accurate information. It should be tailored to the search intent of the specific query type and no other.

In our guide on How to do entities and keyword research we talked about the 4 main types of search intent and the types of keywords that exist. This information will give you a clue as to the action involved in a search (getting information, comparing products or services, buying…) so that you can adapt your publication.

How to do keyword & entities research [with Keytrends]

But there is something even more important: investigate that search intent further to work on the semantics of the content. This means including related questions, suggested searches, keywords and entities that will help the search engine analyse the article while fully addressing the user’s need.

This information is available in Google’s own SERPs and in free tools, but in these cases you have to do several searches and jump from result to result to get more information (opening 15646 tabs 😅). You can automate this task by using the Keytrends AI Content Briefs Generator and its Copilot:

In addition, it will be important to keep an eye on the results that are already ranking to better target your content. Use the Competitors Headings tab in the Copilot:

If you are already a Keytrends user, you can detect which web publications have a greater potential for improving content and positioning thanks to the Score that we have incorporated in the My Search Console Data section.

Often, if a URL has many impressions and few clicks, it is because we appear for several queries that we have not considered in the content, and this is taken into account for the weighting of the Score:

We can teach you how to use this and other features to grow your business with Keytrends in a free mini training, just drop us a line or make an appointment below:

4. Keep your published content up to date

Updating content is closely related to covering the search intent and providing the user with what he or she expects. This is important in general to avoid giving outdated data or mentioning facts that over time have been proven to be untrue or new developments have arisen.

This is something that is mentioned in the Search Quality Raters guidelines, where emphasis is placed on certain types of websites (news, online shops, product websites…):

5. Keep topical authority in mind when creating your content strategy

Topical authority is a trump card that you have to play, because it works on all the E-E-A-T factors.

Its name says it all: when a website has a good topical authority it means that it has the status of expert in a specific business area, and that only through its content a person could get enough information to solve their needs or make purchasing decisions. Without the need to do more Google searches and staying on that same website.

That time and all the interaction it implies has a very clear meaning for Google’s algorithm systems:

✔ The content is useful for the user	✔ The information is of high quality	✔ The website is an expert on the subject
✔ The authors have sufficient knowledge	✔ Content conveys the brand experience	✔ The user trusts the source

How does a web project manage to convey all this? In addition to working on the E-E-A-T at a global level, by implementing a content strategy that manages to offer all the information that a person might be looking for about a topic.

This includes creating informative content on the main topics, related topics and solving doubts and questions by creating a structure of pillar articles and cluster articles (or pillar pages and topical clusters).

In this way, we ensure that we cover all the subtopics that may have to do with a large main topic so that the user has all the information they are looking for in the same place and in parallel, we work on the structure of internal links (which, in turn, helps crawlers to reach all corners of our website).

This is topical authority in broad terms, but we tell you all the ins and outs (including the technical ones) in our Guide to topical authority.

Topical authority for SEO: a complete guide [2023]

Content authorship

Authorship is one of the signals that Google uses to assess the E-E-A-T of a page and the website as a whole. In the past, it could be said that leaving clear information about the author of a content was fundamental for YMYL pages, but as of 2023 this figure is becoming essential for all types of sites, even more so with the rise of artificial intelligence.

Who do you think a user would prefer to read when looking for information about a health problem, a real doctor and expert in the field or a machine? Or a user who is evaluating the purchase of a product, wouldn’t they trust an author referenced as an expert in the sector (for example, a tech gadget geek) more than a stranger?

The fact that a content lacks an author, that there is no information about it or that it lacks expertise in the subject can be a reason for Google to consider a content of low quality, and in its Quality Raters Guidelines we find several examples of this:

In this case, both the author’s lack of knowledge of the subject matter and the low quality of the content are taken into account, which is why it deserves the lowest score. This also applies to the website as a whole: it should be as clear as possible who created it and for what purpose.

In this other case, there are no details of either the author of the site or the specific content, with the aggravating factor that it is a YMYL (health) topic. Therefore, Google declares it an unreliable source with no authority, knowledge or experience.

For this reason, and in 2023, it is now VITAL to include the author and as much information as possible about him/her in the content and in other sections of the website. For example, in the team section. Or in the news section, where publications where the author and other members of the team are referenced are compiled. Remember: the author’s expertise and knowledge must be aligned with the subject matter of the website.

Marie Haynes mentions a good example of this, which shows that it is no longer enough to be a professional editor or journalist:

“This is extremely important! Think of how many sites writing on YMYL topics have articles that are written by people who are fantastic journalists, but who have no actual real life experience on the topic on which they are writing.“

Marie Haynes

❗ Note: as Google values the E-E-A-T as a whole, both in a particular piece of content and on the website, it is possible that the website has such a reputation in the sector that it does not matter if the author of an article is not a benchmark.

For example, Emprendedores.es does not provide information about its editorial team, but it is an authority on the subject and other websites link to it continuously.

And you, do you think that others consider you as such in your field? If you are not yet known in your ecosystem, it is better to work on your E-E-A-T through (among other aspects!) authorship.

How do I know if Google sees me as an expert author?

Easy, do what Google does: crawl the SERPs for signs of your authority. Search for your name in relation to your area of expertise or your business sector and see if it:

• You are referenced on websites other than your own or your project’s website.
• There are several signs that you are active in the sector: for example, social media posts, either your own or those of your project.
• Don’t forget to search for images and (above all) videos: the latter indicate that you participate in channels other than your own. If they are specialised in your area, all the better: it is a very powerful sign that your professionalism is recognised.
• Check Google News and see if your work is picked up by the media; this will give you extra reputation points.

We have tested it with our CEO, Daniel Pinillos, and it seems that it deserves at least a B+:

Remember that this is desirable but not essential, except in YMYL themes.

Tips for working on your authorship for E-E-A-T

For Google and its evaluators to rate your content and your website with a good Page Quality is advisable:

1. Monitor your brand reputation

And if you see negative signals (bad reviews, derogatory comments in forums…) try to fix them. Google understands that this does not mean that you are giving a bad service, and will take into account all the ratings that their search quality raters find:

“Try to find enough reviews to understand a range of customer opinions and experiences, and read the details of negative reviews and low ratings before inferring that the business overall has a negative reputation. A few negative customer service reviews are typical for businesses such as stores or restaurants.”

Google Search Quality Raters Guidelines

If you don’t have ratings or a reputation, don’t worry, Google realises that many people don’t have a personal brand or are not known in their sector. In this case, other aspects of your content will carry more weight.

2. Provide as much information as possible

Both on the website and on each content: Google expects to know what kind of creator is behind the pages (individuals, companies, foundations, institutions…) and who is the author of the content.

It also expects there to be a way to contact them, especially if the subject matter of the site involves the management of personal data. The simple fact that a user can create an account and provide certain data makes this indispensable:

“Any site that handles personal, private or sensitive data must provide extensive contact information. This includes sites that ask users to create passwords, share personal information, or conduct financial transactions“.

The aim of this is to convey security and trust to the user, and in businesses that involve making a payment (online shops and others) it is indispensable.

3. Enable customer service

Closely related to the latter, if you enable a messaging service or even a chat in real time you will gain even more points and give more security to the user. Together with the rest of the actions, you transmit that behind the website there are real people willing to help. This depends on the nature of your project, not being necessary in the case of a personal blog.

4. Link to your social networks

This is a general and almost mandatory recommendation for individual content creators and those who prefer to use an alias to identify themselves, because social media is a way to track their identity.

And, for everyone, it is a way for people, reviewers and Google to know more about us. This will help confirm our subject matter expertise and that others recognise it through interaction with our posts:

“Popularity, user engagement, and user reviews can be considered evidence of reputation for non-YMYL websites: websites can be considered to have a positive reputation if they are popular and well-known for their topic or content type“.

In addition, posting often is a sign of updated content and that the project is still operational.

5. Enable structured authoring data

An extra step for Google spiders is to include rich snippets specific to the E-E-A-T in the code of your website. They allow you to add the author, their personal website, their profession or position within the organisation and the name of the organisation. They also indicate the date of publication and/or modification of the article.

6. Collaborate with professionals on your web project

From designers, copywriters, programmers to sales or customer service teams, make sure they have a reputation in their industry and are involved in spreading the word about your business. Include them on your team page.

These 6 are some of the signals that Google is already looking for in articles and web pages, and although they are recommended for many projects, they are MANDATORY for YMYL content and projects.

Take authorship even more seriously if you are a YMYL project

We do not want to end this section without insisting on the importance of authorship in YMYL projects:

“For pages that require a high level of trust, information about who created the content and who is responsible for the content is critical“.

The sentence is clear, and in the guidelines for evaluators, the authorship-related reasons why a YMLY site may be considered of low quality (if, in addition, it is determined that the purpose and subject matter of the YMYL site may be harmful to people) are specified:

For example, this health website has been rated as untrustworthy and low Page Quality for containing no site information and no authorship information, as well as uninformed and poorly written content:

In short: authorship is an essential aspect to obtain a good level of E-E-A-T in the eyes of Google and its evaluators, but more than that, it is fundamental for your audience to trust you (and buy from you).

The external reputation of your project

Google has always valued the signals that come from outside a website to know what others think of it. Before, with backlinks, and that was all a recognition of the authority of the linked content. Now everything counts and these are the 4 areas you should work on:

1. Get positive reviews on your website and beyond

For Google, reviews are a reflection of a brand’s reputation: “A website’s reputation is based on the experience of real users and the opinions of people who are experts“, so evaluators will conduct a reputation search to help them determine whether a site is harmful or untrustworthy.

“Reputation research is especially important for detecting untrustworthy websites and content creators. Content may look great on the surface, but reputation research can expose scams, fraud, or other signs of harm. You never know what you will find unless you look! Therefore, reputation research is required for all PQ rating tasks.” 

Google Search Quality Raters Guidelines

Reviewers will look for all available reviews of your product and/or service and will try to read the text as well as look at the overall rating or stars.

However, Google is well aware that there is fraud around reviews and this is not a determining factor for E-E-A-T or your ranking, but one that is weighted with the rest.

To counteract the effect of reviews that you do not control, it is highly recommended to implement a comment or review system within the site.

Marie Haynes advises observing whether our competitors have more or less reviews than us, what they are like and what the general feeling is (positive or negative). This will give us a clue as to the level of authority of our competitors.

2. Work on your link building strategy

External links are the other reflection of a brand’s reputation and, above all, its authority. Moreover, they are very important because they contain verdicts, statements and opinions that have not been launched by the brand itself but by others who are recognising its expertise.

That is why Search Quality Raters guidelines advise raters to look for content that speaks about the brand, such as news articles, blog posts, content in magazines, forums and independent organisations…

Wikipedia? Yes, you read that right. Although they are no-follow links and do not contribute to PageRank, they do contribute to your brand authority. And it is a very powerful signal because not all companies can have their own Wikipedia page; for that, the company’s information must go through a verification process. As Marie Haynes says, without authority there is no Wikipedia, and without Wikipedia, there is no authority.

But the rest of the links are also important, especially if they come from expert sources that are related to your sector. Remember: it is preferable to have fewer links, but of higher quality and semantic affinity. If you comply with this, you will be working on your topical authority at the same time.

➕ A plus: try to make sure that at least part of these links come in the form of natural mentions, because Google has the means to determine when a link has been bought or agreed upon.

3. Connect with other professionals and add value to your community

Closely linked to being present on social networks. You must identify where the professionals in your sector are, join and establish connections, because they will be the ones who will give you a voice. How? By publishing original content, of value and with the unique point of view that your experience gives you (remember that it is one of the E’s of E-E-A-T).

A good tip from Marie Haynes: connect with journalists in your industry. If they know you and your project, you are more likely to be featured in a publication. Marie also advises HARO to get collaborations.

For example, at Keytrends we have fostered relationships with media related to technology, marketing and startups:

4. Keep up to date with the latest trends in your sector

Also, try to keep up to date with the trends in your sector and create content around them, both on your personal and business accounts. Doing so will make you transmit a high authority in your subject matter, both on social networks and on your website, and will have two very positive effects for the E-E-A-T:

• On the one hand, you will be seen as a reference and you will attract other professionals in your sector, who will create interaction and connection with you on Social Media. This will get you mentions and collaborations to appear in other web projects and you know what that means: quality incoming links for your page.
• On the other hand, you will inspire much more security and confidence in the user, but also in Google and its evaluators.
• No less important: covering trends at the moment they appear can increase your visibility in search engines far above your competition, because few companies have a strategy for detecting trends in real time and publishing fresh content. Many of those queries that are trending due to their high growth arise spontaneously every day (it is estimated that 15% of Google searches are new) and therefore, your competition is very low.

You can detect these searches by manually checking Google Trends or with the Keytrends automatic trend finder, which provides you with a daily updated list of new trends:

We can teach you how to use this and other features to grow your business with Keytrends in a free mini training, just drop us a line or make an appointment below:

La confianza y la seguridad que transmites

As we have seen in the section for YMYL websites, with the E-E-A-T Google puts a lot of emphasis on people’s security and therefore checks the level of security and trust offered by a website in its entirety and each of its contents.

In reality, all of the above aspects that we have seen that can be worked on contribute to building user trust and are good signals for quality raters. But what other small actions can we implement to leave no room for doubt?

1. Include your “NAP”: Name, Adress and Phone

As we have already said, for certain types of businesses it is essential that there are contact details on the website so that people can resolve doubts or ask for help with any incident they may have. Let’s think about software, insurance, banking, medical appointments or an online shop. Even a physical shop (essential for local SEO).

The way to include this data is not banal and Cyberclick advises to always write it in the same order and in the same way in all the channels and platforms we are on (including Social Media).

It is also a good idea to make it easier for Google to find this information using the structured Postal Address and Contact Point data.

2. Get independently verified reviews

Above we have also emphasised the importance of reviews. But here we would like to make a point in reference to e-commerce, and that is that even more reliability is added when the reviews are verified by an external party, such as Trustpilot. Don’t just think about online shops, look at Holded, a 360º business management software:

However, it is also essential to have an internal feedback system that invites shoppers to participate. For example, by offering points, rewards and discounts. And of course, include testimonials from real users of your product or service on the homepage.

3. Make it clear that your website is secure and legally compliant

When you create a web project this is the first thing we all leave ready, but just in case, don’t forget to include all the necessary legal pages. Their text should be adapted to your type of business and to the user data you and the third party tools you use.

In addition, it may be advisable to report on the security measures you have taken to ensure that user data is protected, as well as payments (if you sell a product or service). Google refers to this in its guidelines for testers:

Finally, if you have been recognised by an organisation or if you have received awards, show it on your website. In the end it all adds up to your credibility.

A lot of things? As always with SEO, Content and Google, yes, a lot. The E-E-A-T is a complex subject and although we wanted to summarize everything and present it in a very clear way, nothing better to finish than a good mind map of everything you can do to work the E-E-A-T in your website.

Also, in case you’re still hungry for more, Search Engine Journal takes a more technical look at the topic (have you stopped to think about the role of anchor texts in all of this?)

Just one last thing: content is the means to achieve a high E-E-A-T, so why don’t we talk for a while about how you can create it in an agile way, with the help of AI and data, with our Keytrends tool?

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References:

Patel, N. (2022, January 10). Google E-A-T & How to Demonstrate First-Hand Experience. Search Engine Journal. Recuperado el 22 de abril de 2023, de https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-e-e-a-t-how-to-demonstrate-first-hand-experience/474446/

Ahrefs. (2019). E-A-T SEO: Qué es y cómo mejorar tu posicionamiento. Recuperado el 22 de abril de 2023, de https://ahrefs.com/blog/es/eat-seo/

Bring Connections. (2021). E-A-T SEO: Qué es y cómo aplicarlo en tu estrategia de contenidos. Recuperado el 22 de abril de 2023, de https://bringconnections.es/eat-seo/

Google Developers. (2022). Google Rater Guidelines: E-A-T. https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/12/google-raters-guidelines-e-e-a-t

Google. (2019). Directrices de evaluadores de la calidad de búsqueda de Google [PDF]. https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/es//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf

Google Developers. (2022). Creating helpful content. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content?hl=en#how-the-content-was-created

Google Developers. (2022, October 12). Helpful content update. Retrieved October 22, 2023, from https://developers.google.com/search/updates/helpful-content-update?hl=en

Google. (2022). Spammy automatically generated content. Google Search Central. Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies?hl=en#spammy-automatically-generated-content

Haynes, M. (2022). E-A-T and SEO: How to create content that Google loves. Marie Haynes Consulting Inc. https://www.mariehaynes.com/resources/eat/

Marketing4ecommerce.net. (2022). Qué es EAT en SEO: cómo potenciar tu experiencia, autoridad y confiabilidad. https://marketing4ecommerce.net/que-es-eat-en-seo-como-potenciar-tu-experiencia-autoridad-y-confiabilidad/

Schwartz, B. (2018, August 2). Google Medic Update: Many Medical Sites Hit Hard. Search Engine Roundtable. Recuperado el 22 de abril de 2023, de https://www.seroundtable.com/google-medic-update-26177.html

Sistrix. (2018). Actualización algorítmica Google: finanzas y salud son los afectados. Recuperado el 22 de abril de 2023, de https://www.sistrix.es/blog/actualizacion-algoritmica-google-finanzas-y-salud-son-los-afectados/