What is Google’s E-A-T?

 

In August 2018, Google rolled out its ‘medic’ algorithm update which put an emphasis on making sure your content has Expertise, is Authoritative and Trustworthy, hence the name EAT. It is referred to as the medic update because at the time a lot of medical and health websites were negatively affected by the algorithm update for not providing reputable sources for the guidance they were sharing on their websites. 

 

Google’s objective behind the algorithm update was to provide searchers with more trustworthy, reputable content, especially if they were seeking medical, financial or educational advice. Google no longer wanted to focus on providing just relevant information, it wanted to provide the correct information too.

 

Why is E-A-T important for Information Technology Companies? 

 

When the medic update was rolled out, it was largely focused on YMYL (your money or your life) websites. This term encompasses any website that may impact “the future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety of users.”.This was at a time when a lot of ‘fake news’ and alternative medical advice was rife, with sometimes dangerous consequences. 

 

At the same time, many sites were able to profit by appearing high in search results and making inaccurate claims about their credibility as a company, the services they offer or the products they sell in order to convince people to part with their cash. As a result, Google’s update sought to reward trustworthy sellers and service providers who were able to display their credibility and authority in their niche. 

 

However these guidelines on expertise, authority and trust, can and should be used by all industries and websites. Both Google and its users appreciate content from trustworthy sites, so the more effort you can put in to make your content authoritative, and trustworthy, as well as establishing yourself as an expert in your field, the more benefit this will have on your rankings and visibility in the SERP. 

 

For information technology companies, this is important as you are often selling your products and services to a technically savvy audience. The tips and tricks you can learn from Google’s guidelines will not only help you establish yourself as a leader in your field, but it will help the search engines trust your brand and your website. Not only this, but as competition online is increasing, making sure that you are establishing yourself as a trusted market leader is more important than ever.

 

So now we’ve explained why tailoring your content and your website to Google’s guidelines is important, we’ll explain how you can do this.

 

How to make E-A-T friendly content

 

Expertise

You are considered an expert in your field if you offer a service or product that you have deep knowledge about. The more you can prove knowledge around your expert topic, especially above your competition, the stronger your position will be in search engines. Google will assess your website and see if you can demonstrate a high level of expertise on a topic. 

 

Crucially, the information you provide should be unique and come from a position of experience and expertise, offering value that goes beyond anything else your competitors are producing; rewording existing blog posts just won’t cut it. 

 

For information technology companies, things that help establish your expertise include writing blogs on your service/product stack, as well as FAQ pages and detailed product or solution pages. In blogs or articles, be sure to always include the author’s name, and if possible any degrees, certifications, or biography information that demonstrates their expertise. 

 

Authority

Your authority is how much weight you hold in your field of expertise. To measure your authority, Google will look at a few different KPIs including:

• Your backlink profile e.g. how many links your website is receiving from other authoritative websites. Check out how to improve your backlink profile and link building efforts.
• Shares of your content: this can be people sharing your posts on your social channels. Having your content shared is a good sign of authority, so try to make some useful infographics, videos or share-worthy blogs.
• Your trust score e.g. how trustworthy your website is in the search engine’s eyes – this is measured in a trust ratio. Though this isn’t a measure given directly by Google, most SEO tools have their own method for calculating trust score, which can give you a good indication of how trustworthy your site is considered to be .
• Having a knowledge panel and a wikipedia page are also ways to increase your authority. You can claim a knowledge panel in Google and keep it up to date with all of your key company information. Getting a wikipedia page for your brand/company is not easy, but if you can get one, this will have a positive impact on your authority.
• Build up your branded search volume: if lots of people are searching for your brand and branded terms, this contributes to your authority. So make sure you’re on top of your brand awareness campaigns.

 

Trustworthiness

There are a few ways to demonstrate your site’s trustworthiness, these include: 

• Getting reviews: getting genuine customer reviews is a great signal to search engines and to users that you are a trusted vendor. As an extra step, be sure to mark up your reviews with structured data.
• If you publish blogs or articles, create author profiles to demonstrate that you have real and reputable authors writing your content. Make sure these author profiles mention any relevant qualifications or experience and link to their LinkedIn profiles if possible.
• Having a secure domain: make sure you have the correct implementation of HTTPS and that any non-https pages are redirected.
• If selling products or services, have clear product descriptions with detailed features.
• Have an accessible privacy policy and T&C’s page.

 

So now you can make sure your content is E-A-T friendly and improve your visibility which will help you become a trusted supplier of services in Google’s and your potential customers’ eyes. If you would like further advice or support in creating SEO friendly content, reach out to one of our team.

 

Contact our Leeds based team on 0800 234 3977

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