What Does E-A-T Mean for SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the tactics that help websites rank higher in search results. When practicing SEO, there are many different concepts website owners should know. These various concepts will impact the way a website is ranked in search engines. One of these concepts is the idea of E-A-T. This blog post will cover everything you need to know about E-A-T and what it means for SEO.

What Does E-A-T Mean?

E-A-T stands for expert, authoritative and trustworthy. This term was created by Google to refer to the qualities they check for when ranking websites in search results. When a website meets all three of the “E-A-T” traits, it can expect to rank higher in search results. Now, let’s go into detail on what each letter in the E-A-T acronym means to Google.

Expert

Search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing look at websites to see if they are experts on what they are writing about. Website owners need to appear as experts if they wish to rank well in search results. Google came up with this “expert” factor to make it more likely for people who use their search engine to find the answers they seek. The idea of expertise helps to put valuable content into the searcher’s hands in a shorter amount of time.

Depending on your industry, the way you show your expertise to Google, and other search engines, will vary. One way for businesses to establish expertise is to use accurate and industry related terminology. It is also helpful to publish high value articles on leading websites within the same industry. Websites like travel blogs and product reviews should also establish themselves as experts, but do not necessarily need to focus as much on using specific terminology. They are expected to show they have a level of “everyday expertise” and they have relevant life experience that relates to their website. Every website should only publish content that is relevant and helpful to their readership. Content should answer readers’ questions and should publish factual information.

Authoritative

Whether or not a website has authority over a topic is also evaluated by search engines. Every piece of content on a website should be consistent in relevance with the rest of the content on the same website. For example, we publish content that has to do with online marketing. We could start publishing content about dog food, but dog food and online marketing don’t relate to each other. If we were to write about dog food, there would be a lack of relevance, and this would limit our ability to situate ourselves as an authority in online marketing. When we stay consistent with the theme of our blog, we help build our authority over that topic. Website owners should stay consistent with the type of content they publish if they want to gain authority.

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One way to establish authority over a topic is to start publishing content about it. Publish multiple pieces of content about a topic to let search engines know you have authority. If there is a topic that is directly related to your website, you should be covering the ins and outs of that topic with your content. You can do this by publishing a pillar post and then following it up with related content that links to the pillar post.

Trustworthy

Google says they expect website owners should create content that is “produced with journalistic professionalism” if they want their websites to rank well. This includes being both knowledgeable and honest with your content. With that being said, publishing accurate information is very important to rank well in search engines.

Websites need to be trustworthy and should not throw bogus information together to have content. This should be the easiest part of the E-A-T concept. Just make sure your website is trustworthy and people will want to get their information from you. If you do this, you will have Google’s trustworthy box checked off!

Google’s goal is to have its first few search results answer the searcher’s question. If they detect a website is dishonest or includes spammy fluff content, they avoid pushing it to the first page of a Google search. This is why websites with inaccurate information do not rank well, if at all, in search results. When writing content for your website, make sure you are being 100% honest with your readers. This should be obvious, but do not try to scam people with your content. Even if you do not have the goal of ranking well, you should always be honest and trustworthy.

Practice E-A-T for SEO

Google has published many different characteristics they expect from websites regarding E-A-T (with examples). Making sure your website meets the expectations of Google is pretty simple. You should only publish content if you are knowledgeable about the subject and always tell the truth. When you know a lot about a topic, you should write more about it to gain authority over the topic. Just like with any SEO tactic, make sure your content is valuable and answers your reader’s questions. That’s it!

If you have questions about E-A-T or SEO, feel free to contact us! You can easily do that by filling out the form below. We look forward to speaking with you.