surprise! e-e-a-t is the ultimate secret sauce to kick your seo into high gear

google’s e-e-a-t concept is a concise roadmap that will ultimately lead you to seo success

E-A-T was originally coined by Google well over 10 years ago. This past December of 2022, Google added a second “E” making it now E-E-A-T. First and foremost, the acronym stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Secondly, it is very important to know that E-E-A-T is a major part of Google’s metrics. It means that your “E-E-A-T” absolutely factors in where Google’s algorithm places you in its search results.

Even in Google’s own documentation (“Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines”) says, “if you understand how raters learn to assess good content, that might help you improve your own content.”

There should be no doubt how Google’s E-E-A-T can make or possibly even break your SEO plans.

Have you heard of C-C-C? It’s simply a shorter way to remember the principles of E-E-A-T. The acronym stands for Content, Code and Credibility. I did a bit of searching and couldn’t find the origin of C-C-C as it pertains to SEO. There are quite a few SEO people using it and teaching it, so I included it here.

google’s priority isn’t you or me, it’s the searchers

If you don’t know by now, let me make it crystal clear. Sorry to tell you, but Google’s priority isn’t ranking your website higher. Their priority is to consistently deliver the best search results to searchers. That’s it.

Why E-E-A-T should matter to you is that it is quite literally your road map to SEO success. There are no shortcuts or quick fixes. It may take some time, but keep working at your company and your company’s web site in order to provide quality content in your industry. If you do this well, you’ll get more traffic, more quality backlinks, and thus gain more authority.

It’s that simple and that difficult.

It’s simple to understand and difficult to consistently put forward the efforts it requires to hit your goals. Regardless whether or not you make it to number one, those efforts will not go unnoticed by Google. You’ll be ranked for specific keywords you targeted and your site’s authority will continue to climb.

“E-E-A-T — or ‘Double-E-A-T,’ if you prefer, is now part of the updated search rater guidelines _{^{(opens a PDF)}} we’ve just released.”
Google, December 2022

let’s look at E-E-A-T and break down the meaning of each component

Sure, each word makes sense, but what does it mean to Google? To understand where they are coming from and how they intend to use it in their algorithm is to find the true meaning to SEO success. Seriously. Yes, there are many ways to achieve your SEO goals, but if you truly grasp this concept, it will guide you in every decision you make. That alone should make this information valuable to you.

experience

The new “E” in Google’s SEO acronym is fairly self-explanatory. It requires you and your company have real-life experience in the field that your business is in. Experience with the products and/or service. Lay it all out and create solid content for your website laden with the best keywords and phrases.

expertise

Expertise refers to the knowledge and expertise of the business, its owner and employees. Content that is created by someone who is an expert in their field is likely to be of higher quality than content created by someone with little to no experience. Write everything from the position of a confident expert.

authoritativeness

Authoritativeness (say that three times fast) is all about showing that your business provides credible information. The perceived level of authority that a website or content creator has can be measured by the number of high-quality (i.e., measured authority) backlinks a website has, the number of social media followers a content creator has, and the level of engagement that their content generates.

trustworthiness

Trustworthiness is literally about how trustworthy a website or content creator is perceived. This can actually be shown by many different factors. The design and layout of the website, the presence of contact information and privacy policies, even by the number of positive reviews and testimonials. The use of secure connections (SSL) and the authoritative stance from which the content is presented will bolster this point.

Now, if by reading the above descriptions of E-E-A-T the wheels in your brain are turning with thoughts and ideas…good! One suggestion is that you may want to hire a professional business writer (or yourself). Go through all of your current website content and alter the stance of the articles and pages to coincide with the E-E-A-T principles. It won’t be all that difficult and over time, it will absolutely improve your SEO standings and your company’s authority status – domain, content, website…the entire company.

here are 5 free seo tools for small businesses that can help you manage this seo stuff

why is e-e-a-t important for seo success?

Google’s famous algorithms are designed to prioritize high-quality content that is not only relevant, but from an authoritative source. Websites that demonstrate a high level of E-E-A-T properties are more likely to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) than those that do not.

you can have informal expertise and build on google’s e-e-a-t

In Google’s recently released, updated guidelines, quality raters are told to use critical thinking to determine what content is best served to actual people using Google’s search engine. Evaluate your own website the same exact way. Real people don’t want to read a textbook, they want “real world” information that can answer questions to their problems and to show them who they can trust with their business needs.

From page 23 of Google’s guidelines from December 2022:

“If it seems as if the person creating the content has the  type and amount of life experience to make him or her an ‘expert’ on the topic, we will value this ‘everyday expertise’ and not penalize the person/webpage/website for not having ‘formal’ education or training in the field. […] Think about the topic of the page. What kind of expertise is required for the page to achieve its purpose well? The standard for expertise depends on the topic of the page.”

how can small business owners master e-e-a-t for seo?

Now that you understand the basics of what E-E-A-T is and why it is important for SEO, let’s explore some practical tips that actual small business owners like yourself can use to master it.

capitalize on your experience

As I said earlier, you’ll want to comb through your current website content for areas to improve considering the focus on E-E-A-T.

Create or maybe update author bio pages. If you have in-house experts writing authoritative content, accentuate their experience.

Revisit and update your company’s About page or section of your website. Add individual bio profiles of important – and experienced – officers and employees. Be sure to write about their years of experience.

E-E-A-T Factoid: As of April 2023, there have been over 20 updates announced by Google since 2020. Every update focuses on giving search results that are more authentic, of higher quality and of more relevance.

sticking to this e-e-a-t stuff will really help the future of your business

focus on expertise

By focusing on your expertise, this means you need to create content that demonstrates your company’s expertise in the field…as well as your own.

Here are some tips to help you do this:

• Create content that is in-depth and of high-quality. The website’s content needs to be well-researched and it must be of value to your readers. It needs to demonstrate knowledge and expertise in the industry.

• Provide case studies and examples wherever possible. By using real-world examples and case studies it will demonstrate your expertise and show experience in your company’s field.

• Solves problems! Writing content that answers common problems and questions in your company’s industry. Show your expertise and give value to your audience.

• Stick to what you know. Don’t rush to fill your website with content by adding “fluff.” Only write well-researched articles that serve a purpose. Keep the E-E-A-T goal in mind.

build authority

In order to build authority, you need to create a solid online presence for you and your company. Not only on your website, but on social media as well (Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.). Use them to demonstrate you and your company’s authority in the industry.

Try these ideas:

• Bolster your social media presence! Social media can help to build yours and your company’s authority in order to reach a bigger audience. Create high-quality content that people want to share. You should also share content from other solid industry leaders. Build yourself a following.

• Become a guest blogger on other authoritative websites. Guest blogging/writing on websites in your industry will help to build your authority. Be sure that the websites you reach out to have a big following in your industry or a related field.

establish trustworthiness

This one goes beyond business-related trust. Trustworthiness can also be shown through the details. The technical aspects of your website, easy to find contact information and more.

• Make sure that your website is professionally built. Not only the aesthetics. It needs to be free of technical errors and easy for visitors to navigate.

• Show that you can be trusted. Your site must have a secure SSL certificate installed to prevent hacking and encrypt not only your data, but any data your visitors provide (credit card, etc.).

• Provide contact information (phone, Email, address) so it is easily found. These days there are big companies that do everything they can to avoid being reached via every way but through forms. By readily giving out contact information, it really does represent trust.

by mastering e-e-a-t, you’ll master seo

While there may be plenty of new takes on SEO in this article, it is still the basics. If you instill these principles into your overall SEO strategy, you and your company will benefit from it. This philosophy, if you will, creates a solid system and set of rules for your company’s employees to follow.

This article isn’t about quick fixes and shortcuts. They really are principles and guidelines that will help your online presence look good in Google’s ever-seeing eyes. The true bonus here is that it will help your company’s PR in a way that will manifest itself in better customers, more sales, more profit and more referrals.

please note: I will be constantly updating this article as I find new information, change my mind, or if I hear feedback that I haven’t thought of. I’ll also update this article if I think of ways to improve it. Keep checking back. Share this article with those who you think could use it and please write your comments and questions below. It could help me…and others.