Since this world of search engine optimization is growing at such a breakneck speed, E-E-A-T-Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness by Google continue to mold the way ranking occurs on 2024. In this world of improvement in search engine giant algorithm, four pillars have become a necessity to assure visibility mainly in the YMYL categories like finance, health, and the law sectors wherein only accuracy and trust count.
In this post, we will explain what E-E-A-T means, how it is connected to SEO, and also how you can improve your position of your website on Google with respect to the current rankings.
What Does E-E-A-T Stand For?
E-E-A-T stands for four things –
• Experience: Is the content that has shown through personally lived experience and examples?
• Expertise: Was the content created by someone with expertise or experience in their area of focus?
• Authority: Is the website or creator a reputable authority, or source, in the industry they are covering?
• Trustworthiness: Is the content believable, authentic, and trustworthy-from transparent author credentials to credible sources?
This signals give Google an idea about the quality of the content on a website and whether or not the website should rank well for specific searches.
Why E-E-A-T Matters in 2024
Google wants to provide the users with the most useful and trustworthy information now. The function of E-E-A-T is to filter out poor quality content – something which could possibly misinform or harm consumers. Those websites, that do not have E-E-A-T, can dramatically drop their rankings. This happens especially more in such highly competitive fields as healthcare and finance.
Even when your business doesn’t fall into YMYL, the application of E-E-A-T still gives you a head over all others in establishing your niche as authentic and authoritative.
How to Raise the E-E-A-T of Your Site
1. Display Author Authority
Google likes pieces of content written by experts or people that have first-hand knowledge of the subject matter. On your website, post authors’ profiles that show credentials and experience in their respective fields. An added advantage to posting authors’ profiles through LinkedIn is that that also adds to their credibility.
2. Build Domain Authority
Create content that other sites in your niche want to link to. To build domain authority, focus on content that’s more extensive and informative, research-based, and potentially contains thought leadership articles and case studies.
3. Promote Trust Signals
Trust is the guarantee for both users and search engines. A website that has security badges prominently displayed, has transparent policies regarding its privacies, and displays its editorial guidelines clearly can benefit from the trust factor. Encourage customer reviews and testimonials and clear author profiles to increase the trust factor further.
4. Use Case Studies and Real-Life Scenarios
Credibility and real-world experience are exemplified through case studies and examples. This is especially useful for industries that an individual’s experience lends to the credibility of.
5. Be Transparent
Clearly define who is responsible for the content on your site. This transparency with authorship and processes around your content creation goes a long way in showing Google, and users can trust your website. Describe your editorial policies and provide your users with an explicit way to contact you .
E-E-A-T for YMYL Content
For finance, health, and legal advice, websites have much more at risk.
Low-quality content could be a loss of ranking, or worse, a loss of trust. Apply the principles of E-E-A-T to the YMYL content so you are protected from being penalized.
Conclusion
Google really looks into the future of SEO, focusing on E-E-A-T. Websites that show them that they have a sense of expertise, authority, and trustworthiness tend to rank better and get a listener’s ears due to their validity. Whether that is a blog or a full-fledged e-commerce site, for that matter, keeping those principles in mind will help your site stand out in the land of ever-increasing competitive landscapes.