What is Google E-E-A-T, and Why Should You Care about it Right Now

Google's secret formula for ranking websites revealed. Learn how E-E-A-T can boost your rankings by 33% in the next 90 days.

Do you want to rank well on Google? Of course you do! But, you know what you need to understand? E-E-A-T. No, it's not another complicated algorithm! It is just how Google finds content that helps people.

Let me explain.

Understanding Google E-E-A-T: A Quality Checklist

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. You can think of it like a report card for your website, where the more you score, the more your content will rank well.

Here’s the thing. Google added “Experience” in December 2022 because of the amount of AI content populating the internet. Google wanted to see real people talking about their experiences, rather than content generated completely by AI.

The four pillars are:

• Experience = Have you actually done it?
• Expertise = Do you know your stuff?
• Authoritativeness = Do others respect you?
• Trustworthiness = Can people believe you?

Why It's Not a Direct Ranking Factor But It Matters

This is a point that many struggle with. E-E-A-T is not a straightforward ranking factor. You cannot "optimize" for it like you would keywords. It's a framework Google looks for to help train its systems.

Google employs thousands of human raters. These raters look at websites and provide ratings on their quality. These ratings provide feedback to help Google's understanding of quality content. Your job is to create content that raters would love to rate highly.

When you nail E-E-A-T, the good stuff starts to just happen. You earn high-quality backlinks. People lead your content naturally. Users spend greater time on your page. All of these are positive signals that improve your rankings.

Explained Simply: The Four Pillars

1. Experience: Demonstrate You've Been There

Experience means you have actually done whatever it is you are writing about. You do not just repeat the information from other websites; you have original knowledge to provide readers.

Ways to demonstrate experience:

• Share personal stories and real-world examples
• Display original photos and video
• Include details that only someone that has been there would know
• Talk about mistakes that you have made and lessons learned

A review of a restaurant from a person who actually ate there is better than a review from someone who looked at the menu online. Notice the difference?

2. Expertise: Show That You Know Your Stuff

When it comes to credibility, expertise revolves around knowledge and more relevantly, in-depth knowledge. Sometimes this requires degrees to back up your topic; sometimes years of practice is worth more than degrees behind your name.

Here are some ways to demonstrate expertise:

• Show your credentials and certificates.
• Show your education and training.
• Show data and research studies about your topic.
• Show that you can talk about your topic, including technical terminology, but explain it in simple terms for the audience to understand.

If we're talking about heart disease, you better be a doctor. If you're talking about woodworking, you better show evidence of your 20 years of building furniture.

3. Authoritativeness: Build Your Influence

Authoritative = Others recognize you politically in your topic. Not what you say, but what can you show.

Building authority takes time:

• Mentioned/referenced on other known high-quality industry websites.
• Backlinks to your site from trusted sources.
• Awards, recognitions, citation of your work in news articles, other forms of recognition of being a leader.

For example, ESPN has authority in sports. The Mayo Clinic has authority in health. What is your niche? You should be the expert/authority in your niche.

4. Trustworthiness – The Most Important Pillar

The most significant pillar is trust. Nothing matters without trust. Users have to feel safe and secure on your website.

Trust signals are:

• HTTPS security (the padlock in the browser)
• A clear privacy policy
• Easily found contact information
• A transparent "About Us" page
• Positive reviews and testimonials

Would you order from a site with no contact information? Neither would anyone else. Make trust apparent everywhere.

YMYL Content: The E-E-A-T Risk

YMYL stands for "Your Money or Your Life." YMYL topics can significantly influence a person's health, money, safety, or happiness. Google pays careful attention to these categories.

YMYL categories include:

• Health and medical advice
• Financial planning and investment
• Legal advice and information
• News about significant events
• Shopping and transactions online

If you get a YMYL topic wrong, you could ultimately harm people. That's why Google expects the highest E-E-A-T standards. No shortcuts will be accepted.

Easy Steps to Improve Your E-E-A-T Today

Want to improve your E-E-A-T signals right now? Here's some practical, actionable advice to get started. Most of these you can implement this week.

On Your Website:

Include a traditional author bio. Each article should have an author byline with their background and credentials. Create a full author page for your authors, outlining their credentials, experience, and published work.

Create comprehensive About and Contact pages. Share your story. Share your team. And share multiple ways to get in touch with you. If you can, include your address.

Update old content regularly. Information can become outdated quickly. Every six months, evaluate your posts. Update your data—fix errors, and let your audience know the "last updated" date.

Remove or improve low-quality pages. Review your site every quarter. Find any thin, outdated, or inaccurate content. You can either remove each one completely or improve it to excellence.

Cite your sources liberally. Link to trusted studies and expert opinions. When possible, show your work. And, back up with evidence/support when making statements or claims of note. 

Beyond Your Website:

Earn quality backlinks organically. Conduct original research for the industry to refer to. Create comprehensive guides that others use and link to as reference material. Be linkworthy!

Own your reputation online. A simple way to build trust and authority is to encourage your loyal (happy) customers to review your business on Google, Yelp, and any site where the review will be part of your reputation. Respond to all feedback, including negative feedback, in a professional way.

Collaborate with trusted experts. As mentioned, ask an expert in the subject you're covering if they will contribute a guest post. And then ask trusted experts to review your content. It goes a long way to establish your authority in the industry.

Stay active on relevant social platforms. Share your expertise on LinkedIn or Twitter. Engage in industry discussions. Build a community that trusts your knowledge.

Common E-E-A-T Mistakes to Be Aware Of

Don't hide behind anonymous authorship. Every article should have a name of a real person. Anonymous authors destroy trust very quickly.

Don't fabricate credentials. Don't fabricate experience. Google is smart, and users are smarter! You should share your opinion only about what you know, and if you are still learning, so say that.

Don't disregard the technical basics. Repair broken links. Use HTTPS. Make your site mobile-friendly. Technical issues yell "unprofessional."

Don't copy your competitors' content. You should provide original insights and unique perspectives, and E-E-A-T rewards you for it. Be you!

The Bottom Line: E-E-A-T is About Real Value

E-E-A-T isn't a hack or a trick. E-E-A-T is Google asking: "Does this content actually help people?" When you prioritize actually being useful, your rankings will follow.

Think long term. It actually takes time to build real expertise and authority, but once you do - good luck to your competitors trying to replicate it. You are the trusted source.

The websites that are winning today, are not gaming it. They are creating quality content, from knowledgeable people. They are transparent, trustworthy and genuinely useful.

This is what the future of SEO will look like. And the truth? It's a better internet for all of us.

Are You Ready To Build E-E-A-T For Your Niche?

A strong set of E-E-A-T signals makes for a totally transformed internet presence. You will start ranking higher, you'll earn people's trust, and you'll convert better.

But simply building E-E-A-T takes knowledge and experience. This is where maxrankr.com comes in. We specialize in orienting businesses in a direction that builds authentic authority - authority that Google rewards. We know every subtle nuance of E-E-A-T.

We'll audit your existing E-E-A-T signals, and identify the gaps you need to address. We'll then create a step-by-step industrial and situational approach for your E-E-A-T build process. We know what works for industries whether in YMYL niches or with competitive businesses.

No more wanting to play the game of guessing the algorithm updates. Instead, let's start building authentic, lasting authority. Join us at maxrankr.com and let's start growing organic traffic the right way.