Why has Google's E-A-T algorithm update become the E-E-A-T update?

Google has always tried to serve the most relevant and accurate content to its users’ search queries and to facilitate this, they focus on the Expertise, Authority and Trust (E-A-T) aspects of content.

The original E-A-T algorithm update primarily targeted YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) sites. A YMYL site can be categorised as content information that can affect someone’s health, happiness, safety or financial stability, but the principles of quality are best practice to adopt for any sector.

Google have recently added the importance of ‘Experience’ to its quality rating guidelines hence the additional ‘E’. This refers to understanding the level of experience that the author in the chosen topic and how this relates to the trustworthy nature of the content.

There isn’t an ‘E-A-T score’ to measure how Google rates web content, however, the following recommendations will help support and reward publishers by demonstrating to Google the quality of their content.

What does this mean for my website?

The same principles surrounding the original E-A-T update have been reinforced. If your site sells a financial, medical or health product, then the content needs to demonstrate to Google that the organisation has Expertise, Authority and Trust (and now ‘Experience’) before making recommendations to consumers. It is likely that Google will look more favourably to sites that have proven credibility in their field and adhere to these guidelines.

As an example of how to improve an article that has some E-A-T signals, but could still be optimised further:

• Add an author

• Add a link to authors website/twitter/online presence

• Explain who the author is, why they are a trusted expert in the field

“Start by finding out who is responsible for the website and who created the content on the page... Then, look for information about the website and/or content creators on the website itself.”

Excerpt from Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines

Authorship credentials:

Publishers are likely to have several types of authors, such as a mix of in-house expertise and independent contract writers. To prove that all content is trusted and credible, the inclusion of authorship credentials will show to readers and Google that published content that has been written and approved by experts in the field.

Authorship refers to individuals who write the piece of content. An author page (also referred to as author profile and author bio) refers to an individual page created within your website that outlines the credentials of the content writer.

It is important that websites have clear signs of authorship for specific informational content. Additionally, it is essential to create author pages that include the credentials of content writers as this sends signals to both users and search engines that your website produces quality content. Google is seeking to reward content that is created by genuine experts.

It’s widely accepted as a strong signal to demonstrate E-A-T to create author pages that link internally to content they have written. These should include the following on the author page:

• Writer’s role in professional life

• Qualifications

• Industry awards

• Background

• Detailed experience in the industry

• Contact information

• Press coverage and links to published work

• Links to other content written by author on website

• Link to professional blog/website and social media

• Image of writer

• Include a brief synopsis of this profile on the article

The role of functional content:

Functional content refers to content about your brand, products or services, and its aim is to help users research, choose and buy. This content includes product pages, the About Us, Contact Us, Customer reviews and FAQ pages and customer service information.

Proven ways of ensuring that your functional content meets E-A-T guidelines are as follows:

• Introduce some of your staff – detailed bios to establish credibility

• History of company

• Awards – marked up with schema

• Company credentials, including relevant certification

• Partners

• Testimonials from independent sources – review, references, news articles

• Core values

• Independently collected customer reviews, with responses

• Regularly updated frequently asked questions

• Detailed contact us information

• Ensure all contact numbers have tap and call enabled

The role of product pages:

Product pages are of course designed to set out the unique proposition of your companies products and why the consumer should consider buying them, however, they should not be overlooked from an E-A-T perspective.

• Create content that is fresh and updated and not just a sales pitch

• Include relevant product/service information

• Link to informational content that is relevant to the topic

The role of informational content:

Informational content provides useful and actionable content which includes guides and articles and are very important to help send signals of experience, expertise, authority and trust, as follows:

• Choose content topics where it could be perceived as an authoritative, trustworthy source of information and expert in its field

• Facts should be referenced/cited throughout copy

• List of sources should be included at the bottom of the article including author of source and date source was written

• Date when article was first published

• Second date when article was last updated

• Author profile below article and internally linked

• Other articles written by same author should be internally linked

• Create author pages/biographies for all content writers

• Create useful information that your customers really want and need

• Information that is edited, reviewed and updated regularly

• Content that is properly researched, accurate and referenced

• Varying viewpoints to ensure a balanced article

• In-depth content which informs users without bias

• Internal links to other relevant informational content on topic area

• Minimal links to product sales pages

In summary, the new E-E-A-T guidelines are intended to support Google in it’s mission to ensure that their search engine delivers the most relevant, trustworthy and useful information to the user. It encourages publishers to focus on quality content to serve their customers as accurately as possible and will be rewarded by ranking higher in organic search.

If you would like to receive more information on how the E-E-A-T algorithm updates might affect your site and SEO performance, then get in touch.