Many people have heard about Google EAT at least once but have little idea about what it is. So, what is Google EAT? The acronym EAT brings together the three pillars of the vision of the quality of a website, according to Google: Expertise – Authoritativeness – Trustworthiness.
At Google, “quality raters” manually evaluate the quality of search results by studying the best-ranked results. Their reference tool is a 172-page instrument called the Google Quality Rater Guidelines.
Google EAT update dates from 2018. These EAT criteria, initially intended for YMYL (your money, your life) sites, now apply to all websites. And every entrepreneur, owner of a site, blog, or e-commerce is therefore concerned. We will tell you all you need to know about it: it won’t be a problem anymore.
What is the real impact of EAT criteria on your SEO?
As we know, Google’s explicit objective is to offer the best possible experience to its users; it intends to promote the most qualitative and reliable websites that provide the best answer to Internet users’ questions. That is why, if your website does not succeed, it will struggle to climb in Google’s ranking and will have little visibility.
EAT, therefore, has a real impact on your SEO since it can induce an increase in your organic traffic if Google recognizes the expertise and quality of your site or, failing that, relegate you off the first page of search results, where you will vegetate without any visit.
Here are some tips if you are wondering how to meet Google’s EAT criteria.
Google EAT: how to create SEO friendly content (tips)
Here are some ways to improve your website’s EAT criteria to positively influence your ranking in Google search results.
Affirm your expertise
When Google talks about expertise, the expertise of the creator of web content is meant. The question here is: why should I trust this content? Is its author competent? Is he well-known? Who else is talking about him? Here are some tips.
- Clearly define the goal and content of your platform. Avoid being a jack of all and sweeping a wide range of topics. Many forums and question-and-answer sites that covered (too many) different areas of interest, with the general content of little value, have made this a bitter experience. This is clearly the type of site that Google wants to eliminate.
- Update your content. The priority for a website is the creation of high-quality and trustworthy content. This content must be reviewed and updated regularly. If you have a splendid site, but nothing happens there, Google realizes it, and you will gradually regress in its ranking.
- Introduce your experts! Make the authors of your content known. Add information about the author of each blog post (short description or link to a LinkedIn profile). You will thus demonstrate the author’s expertise. A well-documented “About” page is another way to increase confidence.
- Cite your sources. Show that your claims are supported by studies, surveys, or analyses from credible and authoritative sources.
- Improve low-quality pages. If your site is pretty old and full of content, you will have to identify low-quality pages that could harm your site’s overall reputation. You will then have to rework or delete them.
Demonstrate your authoritativeness
Another EAT Google factor is authoritativeness. What Google calls authoritativeness refers not only to the content creator but also to the content itself and the website. In this case, Google checks the degree of popularity of a site and its authors.
Other people must therefore recognize your expertise for you to get better results. This recognition can take the form of links, mentions, shares, criticisms, or any other type of quotation.
- Widely disseminate your content.
- Don’t just publish your content on your website. An active presence on social networks is essential to gain visibility and authority.
- Engage your community and make sharing easier.
- The more reactions you get (likes, comments, shares, links), the more authoritative you become. But how to encourage people to like, share or link to your site? For example, end your blog posts with a question in order to stimulate interactions: it is really helpful. You should also publish high-quality and relevant content so that Internet users will like to share it. You can also make quality videos that will create a buzz and will be liked by your audience. Making people like you is easier than you think.
- Get quality incoming links. Analysts focus on backlinks and say that a site’s authority is demonstrated, among other things, by the number of links (mentions) from authoritative sites.
- Work on your brand image. Building an inspiring and attractive brand is another sign of confidence. Make yourself recognizable, and people will remember you for a long time. If the proportion of direct traffic to a website increases, it is a signal that tells Google that users come back to visit your website to find answers to their questions.
- Take care of the indexing and technical quality of your site. Properly indexed pages and good quality on all media (PC, tablet, smartphone) strengthen your site’s users’ confidence. And Google takes this into account!
Gain trustworthiness
This is an EAT criterion that targets the author, content, and the entire website. Here are some recommendations that will help you gain trustworthiness.
- Increase user confidence. Obtaining reviews can increase user confidence, but also that of Google. Encourage Internet users to leave reviews and guarantee the authenticity of published reviews by using recognized sites such as Trustpilot.
- Strengthen the security of your site. The reliability of a site is also a matter of security. Any site without a valid SSL certificate or that has not switched to HTTPS is unlikely to get a good EAT score. It is especially relevant if we are talking about e-commerce. For an online store, security also requires reliable payment methods and compliance with the GDPR.
FAQ – three most common questions about Google EAT
What does EAT mean?
In natural referencing, EAT is the acronym for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. These are the quality criteria used by Google to define content with high-added value.
What are the prerequisites for quality content?
These are the basic elements of web writing: the structure of subtitles, optimized titles, and correctly chosen keywords.
How to write content with high-added value?
Follow the three rules of high-quality web writing: writing detailed and reasoned content, obtaining quality backlinks, staying on standby, and crossing information.
In conclusion
EAT is a set of factors related to the quality of sites that can positively influence your site’s ranking if you take them into account and improve.
With Google’s EAT criteria in mind, any small business can create and promote content that will ensure visibility in search results pages. However, it is important to remember that you will not see results overnight. It takes time, effort, and patience to reach first places in Google search results. But once you start seeing results, it becomes easier to maintain and develop them. Hopefully, our tips will help you get better results.