Introduction
In 2024, mastering SEO requires far more than just hitting the perfect keyword density. As search engines become increasingly sophisticated, Google has raised the bar with EEAT – a framework that’s changing how websites are ranked.
Our team has worked with businesses internationally for nearly two decades, and over that time we’ve seen huge shifts in the way Google assesses your website content. From the 2015 Quality Update to the recent August Core Update in 2024, Google’s focus has expanded from what you write to look at who is writing it.
This guide covers everything you need to know about EEAT, including what it means for your website and some simple tips to get started. For in-depth advice and guidance on building a strong SEO strategy, explore our SEO Digital Marketing Services.
Before diving into implementation strategies, let’s start with the fundamentals: what is EEAT?
What is Google EEAT?
The EEAT meaning is simple:
- Expertise
- Experience
- Authority
- Trustworthiness
This is what Google is looking for to judge the content on your site and determine if it is a reliable and relevant source for search engine users. Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines explain that content written with expertise, experience, authority and trustworthiness is considered high quality. On the other hand, content written with no expertise, experience, authority or trustworthiness (or content that aims to deceive or misinform users) is considered low quality.
Along with other factors, EEAT is used by Google to determine where your content will rank in search results.
Why It Matters
Content that has high credibility and quality is more likely to rank well in search results. The higher your position on the search page, the more likely you are to have users click through to your site.
A report from Backlinko found that the first organic result on the Google search results page had an average click through rate (CTR) of 27.6% and was 10x more likely to receive a click compared to the result at position 10 on the page.
The report also found that moving up a single spot in search results can increase CTR by 2.8%. So, even a small increase could have a big impact on the traffic your site receives.
From EAT to EEAT
If you’ve been keeping up to date with SEO developments, you’ll likely have heard of EAT before. The term first emerged in 2014, but another update in 2022 brought the additional E – Experience – to the table. Let’s examine each element of EEAT in detail, starting with expertise.
Expertise
The EEAT guidelines explain that both the level and type of your expertise should be suitable for the topic or industry you are publishing content in.
“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?”
To show your expertise, you need to be explicit with your education and achievements. Have you been nominated for or won relevant industry awards? What certifications do you have? The type and level of your expertise should match your topic.
For example, a qualified GP would have the perfect level of expertise to provide information about general healthcare on a blog. However, for an in-depth article on neurology, a qualified neurologist would have a better level of expertise than the GP.
A note on AI: Google doesn’t penalise for using AI to write content. But it will penalise you if your content is generic and unoriginal. As AI does not have in-depth expertise and qualifications in any industry, you can’t rely on it alone to produce content. Instead, you can use AI to formulate ideas, write up rough drafts, and help you present your expertise to the world.
You can boost your expertise by:
- Being transparent with your education and qualifications
- Citing credible sources
- Publishing original content
Experience
Experience, the new E in EEAT, is all about getting stuck in. Google wants to see that you don’t just have the know-how but have actually got your hands dirty. For a blogger, this might mean using your own photographs or physically using and reviewing the product you are promoting.
But what about businesses? If your business has a team with 36 hands in total, you can show their combined experience. For example, at AsOne we have almost two decades of experience. We demonstrate our experience through case studies and this blog, which shares insights from our team.
Experience was added by Google to acknowledge those who have years, maybe even decades, of experience but might not have the formal qualifications to demonstrate expertise.
You can boost your experience by:
- Publishing content about first-hand experiences
- Showing customer reviews and linking your site to Trustpilot or other review sites
Authority
Authority is all about your reputation and credibility. Is your site the go-to source for information in your industry? If the answer is yes, you have the highest authority.
In the EEAT guidelines, Google uses this 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.”
One way to signal to Google that your site is an authority is to have links from related websites or authority sources directed back to it. For example, you could give a quote to a reporter for an article on a news site. This would establish you as an expert in your field.
You can boost your authority by:
- Regularly publishing reliable information to naturally build a strong reputation
- Have links from other authority sources directing back to your site
Trustworthiness
Finally, trustworthiness. Why should users trust your website? You need to show that you are transparent, honest and take responsibility for the content you create.
Experience, expertise and authority contribute to your overall trustworthiness but you must work to build trust separately. A site can demonstrate the best experience, expertise and authority in a particular industry, but if it doesn’t have a security certificate, no user will trust it (and neither will Google).
You can boost trustworthiness by:
- Being transparent with sources and providing honest information
- Not misleading users, twisting facts or leaving out key information
- Clearly publishing contact details, such as a verifiable address and phone number
- Having a transparent privacy policy and Ts & Cs page
- Ensuring your website is safe and secure for users
So It’s Not Just About Keywords?
SEO is no longer just about keywords. But it’s not just about EEAT either. The truth is, Google’s algorithms are complex and there are many aspects that determine how well your content will rank. Website architecture, structured data, security certificates, schema markup, and even website speed can all impact how Google will rank your content on the results page.
Think of EEAT as just one slice of the pie.
To find out how your website ranks and what you can do to improve your SEO results, learn more about our SEO services today.
3 Ways to Boost EEAT On Your Site
While a comprehensive SEO strategy requires professional expertise, there are several practical steps you can take right now. Even if you are a blogger or small business owner, you can compete with the industry giants online by establishing a strong strategy that demonstrates EEAT. Here are three easy tasks that you can start today to boost EEAT on your site.
Add Reviews or Testimonials
Add authentic customer reviews to your site or testimonials from your clients. The best way to do this is to feature reviews from Trustpilot, Google Reviews, or another review site that authenticates the reviews before they’re published.
For e-commerce sites or service-based businesses, you can publish reviews from your customers. If you are a blogger, encourage readers to leave comments if they found something particularly useful. Even a portfolio website could feature LinkedIn recommendations to underscore authority and experience.
Write Case Studies and Brand Stories
Showing first-hand experience can be a head-scratcher for businesses. For a blogger, it’s quite appropriate to publish narrative pieces or details of your experiences. But for a business, you might need to take a different approach.
You could encourage a key member of your business team, or even the founder, to share their experiences in the form of a blog post. Another way to demonstrate experience is to publish examples of your work in the real world, like our case study explaining how we revamped Integrella’s website to elevate their online presence.
Use Author Bios on Your Blog
To help you build authority and trustworthiness while clearly showing Google your expertise, add author bios to your articles. Often located at the very end of the article in a box, the author bio briefly explains who wrote the article, their expertise and their experience.
Bonus: to further boost your authority, use structured data markup to create a profile page for each author. Reach out to AsOne for assistance.
Final Thoughts – SEO is Evolving
Search engines like Google are looking for the best way to meet the demands of their users. As the digital era progresses and more users become concerned about the validity and reliability of the information they read online, SEO guidelines are evolving to push the most trustworthy content to the forefront.
Ready to transform your website’s authority and visibility? This guide has explained the basics of creating trustworthy, credible content, but there’s no one size fits all. For an SEO strategy tailored to your business that provides lasting results, discover AsOne today.
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