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Why E-A-T Matters for Your Business


Whether we’re discussing small businesses or big data, one thing’s for certain: folks these days will find information about it on a search engine like the University of Google. Search engines are our gateways to our desired rabbit holes. And how your business ranks on these gateways can help determine how well your family E-A-Ts.


Here, we’ll break down the search engine optimization - SEO - triad as a ranking factor and why it matters to your business’s digital footprint.

What is E-A-T?

E-A-T is an acronym for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness coined by Google to assess the quality of its search results. These characteristics are intended to help webmasters understand what Google looks at for a website in its optimal state. And with around 5.4 billion searches a day, I’d say Google has a pretty good handle on SEO and best practices. And yes, it is part of Google’s algorithm to search engine results page (SERP) as outlined in the Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines first published in 2013.

How Is It Evaluated?

Although expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness have similarities, they are each evaluated differently by Google through the quality of content created on web pages. For instance, expertise is ranked by knowledge or skill-based, helpful content created by an obvious subject-matter expert (SME). Authoritativeness is synonymous with a website’s reputation with Google. Human raters will rank your business’s website based on reviews, references, and recommendations by experts that consider your site a go-to source for relevant industry information. (What is this, campaigning for homecoming king or queen?!) Finally, trustworthiness is rooted in the accuracy and transparency of the content shared on your website. Here, factors such as content author listings and your business’s physical location are used to perceive the level of user trust associated with your business site.


What Is Considered Great Content?

According to Google’s guidelines, great content is described as digital media that:

  • Help users

  • Is created by an expert

  • Is posted on an authoritative site

  • Is trustworthy

  • Can be updated regularly


When considering a page refresh or content overhaul, we recommend adhering to Google’s guidance on page quality (PQ) ratings and their relation to the purpose of your business’s page. Is your goal to share personal or social information or to entertain? Does your business plan to sell products or services or is your site simply to express your opinion or point of view? Gaining a better understanding of your page’s purpose could improve your PQ rating and as a result, increase your Google search ranking.

Why Does It Matter?

We believe that most businesses want to share information or services that add value to their customers’ lives. Be it tax advice, credit recovery, or even life coaching - you’d want this advice to come from a credible, trusted source, right? This is why E-A-T matters. This type of information could impact the health, financial stability, or safety of people, or the welfare or well-being of society if provided by an unscrupulous source. Google calls these topics ‘Your Money or Your Life’, or YMYL. And Google uses E-A-T to ensure that you, your family, and your business only receive the most credible information when seeking guidance on potentially life-changing decisions.


How to Improve and Demonstrate E-A-T?

While Google does not give your website an E-A-T score, it is one of many factors E-A-T is a set of several factors considered by human quality raters who evaluate the content and relevance of your website. And yes - that’s clear as mud. The important thing to remember: your site isn’t given an E-A-T score, but high-performing E-A-T can increase your position on the search engine results page.



Here are some ways you can better showcase your E-A-T to get Google’s attention:

  1. Build more links to and from authoritative sites as well as business reviews

  2. Keep content maintained, fact-checked, and updated regularly

  3. Show contact details on your website

  4. Be braggadocious and show off your expertise and credentials

  5. Hire experts (shameless plug: Like McCoy & Associates, LLC)

Wrap Up

Ranking factor or not, E-A-T is important for SEO. Better web traffic, which can lead to a better digital footprint and eventually better business opportunities, is linked to improving E-A-T, especially for Your Money Your Life (YMYL) topics. Consider some of the tactics above to enhance your E-A-T and prioritize your customers. With some time and effort, your business will thank you kindly.

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