E-E-A-T refers to the concept of “Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness” (E-E-A-T), which is part of Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines. Google updated its guidelines in December 2023, adding another E, Experience, to the previous E-A-T guidelines. In this article, I will explain what this means and what has changed in search engine optimization in 2023.
Experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness
E-E-A-T requires first-hand experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Your website should have experts with first-hand experience and everyday expertise. Your website should also be a reliable source with experience on the topic for Google to show your site high in search results. E-E-A-T helps search engines identify high-quality sites and provide users with relevant and valuable content.
With E-E-A-T, Google aims to “reward” pages where the author has first-hand experience with the topic they are writing about. If you don’t have experience, invite an expert to write for your site who has experience in the subject.
The importance of E-E-A-T is especially emphasized in certain fields, such as healthcare, finance, and legal matters. In these areas, search engine users are looking for particularly reliable information, so websites must meet higher standards in E-E-A-T.
The higher the E-E-A-T scores, the more likely the website is to rank well on search engine results pages (SERP). It is also important to note that E-E-A-T is just one factor among many that Google considers when evaluating websites, and it should not be the only focus in an SEO strategy. Authority and trust factors, such as links and mentions from strong and relevant sites, have always been important and still are. Trust, represented by T, is the most important of these letters, meaning backlinks, brand searches, and brand mentions on other sites are crucial to ranking high for competitive keywords.
The E-E-A-T update came just in time with the era of Chat GPT, as the internet is filling with auto-generated content. I believe unique content, sources, and E-E-A-T will be even more important in future SEO to rank high in Google’s search results.
E-E-A-T examples
- For an iPhone review, the author must have used the product.
- For a guide to the best bars in Helsinki, the author must have visited them.
- For an overnight oats recipe, the author must have tried the recipe themselves.
- For an article on how to help people survive mental illness, the author must have either experienced the illness themselves or helped others with it.
- For a guide on how to succeed in business, the author must have succeeded in it themselves.
- For an article on how to succeed in search engine optimization, the author must have optimized websites themselves, etc.
Summary
E-E-A-T is an important factor in search engine algorithms in 2023, and it requires website content to have first-hand experience, everyday expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. While E-E-A-T is important, it is not the only factor affecting search engine rankings, so an SEO strategy should also consider other factors. I believe unique content, sources, and E-E-A-T will be even more important for ranking high in Google search results in the future.
Sources
Makosiewicz, M. (2023, March 6). E-E-A-T Is the New E-A-T. What the New “E” Means for SEO. SEO Blog by Ahrefs. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://ahrefs.com/blog/eeat-seo/
Ray, L. (2022, December 15). E-E-A-T and Major Updates to Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines. Search Engine Land. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://searchengineland.com/google-search-quality-rater-guidelines-changes-december-2022-390350
Southern, M. G. (2022, December 15). Google E-E-A-T: How to Demonstrate First-Hand Experience. Search Engine Journal. Last updated March 6, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-e-e-a-t-how-to-demonstrate-first-hand-experience/474446/