What is E-E-A-T and how does it affect Google search engine optimization?

You’ve surely heard of Google’s E-A-T guidelines by now, and you may have even seen the updated E-A-T acronym: E-E-A-T. But what does E-E-A-T mean? In this comprehensive article, we’ll delve into the topic of Google E-E-A-T and explain what steps you can take to incorporate E-E-A-T into your search engine optimization strategy and improve your chances of ranking well in Google Search.

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google first introduced E-A-T in its Quality Rater Guidelines in 2014 and added the additional “E” for Experience in 2022.

Since then, E-E-A-T signals have been factored into Google's assessment of a website's overall quality and thus influence its ranking in search results.

Ever since Google introduced E-A-T, there has been a lot of confusion among business owners and marketing professionals about exactly what E-A-T is and how it affects search rankings. Now that “Experience” has been added to the E-A-T acronym—and with the 2022 update for helpful content—understanding how Google views and uses E-E-A-T is crucial for achieving and maintaining high SERP rankings.

In this article, I’ll answer the question, “What is E-E-A-T?” and explain exactly how and why it’s important for your SEO. You can improve your E-E-A-T scores using a few simple, actionable methods. That’s why I’ll take an in-depth look at the strategies you can use to create a positive experience, demonstrate expertise, build authority, and foster trust in your website and your business. But first, let’s define E-E-A-T.

What does E-E-A-T stand for?

Because Google wants to provide searchers with the best possible experience, it rewards content that meets the highest quality standards with higher rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). Google evaluates the quality of web pages based on its published standards for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust. The E-E-A-T assessment applies to the Main Content (MC), the Supplementary Content, as well as the author, publisher, or source in general.

So you can think of E-E-A-T as a foundation with four pillars. Your website needs all four parts to stand strong.

experience

• When evaluating content, Google takes first-hand and personal experiences into account.
• Google gives priority to reviews from people who have had personal experience with a product or service over those who appear to have no connection to it.

expertise

• Google favors content created by an expert in the field.
• Google evaluates expertise at the content level, not at the website level.
• Your website should demonstrate that you have a high level of expertise in a specific field.
• Your content will then be evaluated to determine whether it demonstrates a higher level of expertise than other pages with similar content.

authority

• Authority means reputation, especially among other experts and influencers in the industry.
• Authoritarian websites are considered the go-to source for information on a given topic.
• Authority is relative and specific to a particular field.

Trustworthiness

• For Google, trust is one of the most important signals for E-E-A-T. A website that demonstrates experience, expertise, and authority but is not trustworthy will be rated as having low trustworthiness.
• Trustworthiness is a measure of your website's security.
  • Is your domain secure, or do you need to switch from HTTP to HTTPS?
  • Do you provide details such as your company name and contact information?
  • Does your business have a Google Business Profile?
  • Are there privacy policies, refund and return policies, and a page with the terms and conditions?
  • Does your online store offer secure payment methods?
• Trustworthiness is a measure of the legitimacy, accuracy, and transparency of content.
  • Who created the content?
  • Is there any contact information for the author?
  • Is the information supported by expert consensus?
• Trustworthiness also depends on a specific field; for example, Google requires different evidence of trust from an online store than from a website that covers health topics.

Where does E-E-A-T come from?

Now that you know the answer to the question “What is E-E-A-T?”, let’s talk about where E-E-A-T comes from and how Google uses it to measure content quality.

The acronym E-E-A-T comes from a set of guidelines published by Google to train its quality assurance team (Quality Rater Guidelines), or, as Google calls them, the “Search Quality Raters.”

Who are the Search Quality Raters?

Search Quality Raters are real people who review the quality of search results after engineers on Google's search engine and algorithm team have made changes.

According to the Search Quality Raters Guidelines, the E-E-A-T score is “very important” for pages that serve a useful purpose, and Google instructs its raters to consider the following:

• The Website as a Whole
• The authors of the website's content
• E-E-A-T of the page's main content, which the Search Quality Raters analyze.

But what exactly does “main content” mean?

Google defines what constitutes "main content" in its guidelines. For quality assessment purposes, the following factors are therefore considered in the main content:

• The page title
• Text
• Pictures
• Videos
• Page Properties

Furthermore, the main content may consist of user-generated content, such as videos, comments, or articles, that users have added or uploaded to the site.

Using the E-E-A-T factor, Search Quality Raters evaluate the quality of the page on a scale ranging from the lowest to the highest value.

Guidelines for Search Quality Raters

The Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines are the guidelines that human quality evaluators use to assess a website and its SERPs. The guidelines consist of a 176-page document that provides a detailed, step-by-step description of how to evaluate page quality.

The work of search quality raters does not directly affect rankings, but Google uses their assessments to improve its search algorithm. That’s why SEO strategists like us at this:matters take a close look at Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines to identify the signals that Google is trying to measure.

The E-E-A-T guidelines include, among other things, the following:

• How can you identify the author of the content or the owner of the website domain?
• How to Research the E-E-A-T of Content Creators
• How to Evaluate the Quality of a Web Page and Its Content
• What Distinguishes High-Quality Content from Low-Quality Content
• What types of domains or pages require a high level of E-E-A-T (such as “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) pages)
• How to Compare a Website's Mobile Experience to Its Desktop Experience
• What types of pages, page designs, or a page's usability could be harmful to users
• How to rate domains and pages using a rating slider ranging from “Fully meets user needs” to “Does not meet user needs”

Given the huge number of websites on the internet, you might be wondering: Why does Google place so much emphasis on experience, expertise, authority, and trust?

The answer is quite simple—security for Google itself and its users.

Why is E-E-A-T so important?

From the very beginning, Google has made it its mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. E-E-A-T is part of Google’s ongoing effort to prevent people from manipulating the system (e.g., through keyword stuffing) and to reward useful, high-quality content that searchers can trust. Google may be the world’s most widely used search engine, but only as long as its users are satisfied with its mission.

E-E-A-T is important because it helps Google direct searchers to the most useful and high-quality content that answers their search query. The goal is to improve web content for human users. If the user is happy, so is Google.

Assessing the trustworthiness of content also ensures a safe browsing experience for Google users, especially those who are vulnerable to fraud or identity theft.

The more feedback Search Quality Raters provide on the effectiveness of Google’s algorithm, the better the search engine can interpret E-E-A-T signals. The more sophisticated Google’s algorithm becomes, the more “intuitively” it can reward high-quality content and push low-quality content to the bottom of search results—or even remove it from the index.

How does E-E-A-T factor into Google's algorithm updates?

The E-E-A-T concept has always been important, but Google's ability to measure it and incorporate that information into its decisions about website rankings has changed significantly over the years—a fact that many companies have come to realize.

In early August 2018, for example, many websites were affected by Google's major algorithm update, which became known asthe “Medic Update.”

Although this has not been confirmed by Google, the SEO community analyzed the data and concluded that this update harmed YMYL websites that did not meet the E-E-A-T expectations. On the other hand, it appears to have rewarded YMYL websites that do meet the quality standards. The industry-wide conclusion is that YMYL sites must exercise due diligence to ensure that their E-E-A-T signals meet the requirements.

As Google becomes increasingly capable of measuring expertise, authority, and trust, these signals will have an ever-greater impact on page rankings.

How does Google correlate ranking signals with E-E-A-T?

Backlinks and mentions are important

Strategically placed backlinks from relevant, high-authority domains form the backbone of an effective SEO strategy and are one of the best ways to demonstrate subject matter authority in your industry.

Google knows which links are valuable

Google evaluates links by measuring their proximity to and from “homepages.” According to Google’s algorithm patent, seed pages must be reliable and diverse in order to cover a broad range of topics of public interest, and they must be well-connected to other pages (i.e., have a large number of outbound links).

Other signals that align with the E-E-A-T guidelines:

• Positive Reviews
• Reputation
• Forum Mentions

Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?

The question of whether E-E-A-T is a ranking factor or not has led to a great deal of confusion and misinformation.

A “ranking factor” must be something objective and tangible that an algorithm can evaluate, such as the volume of backlinks.

Experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness are subjective human concepts. That is why Google engineers need quality raters to provide feedback on whether the algorithm updates—which are designed to measure the objective signals that align with E-E-A-T—are correct or not.

With human assistance, Google engineers are getting closer and closer to quantifying the signals that indicate E-E-A-T. This means that while E-E-A-T is still not a direct ranking factor, it does influence rankings and will continue to do so.

By improving your signals for experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness, you increase your chances of ranking highly in search results.

What happens if you ignore E-E-A-T?

It's never a good idea to ignore Google's recommendations if you want your website and your business to succeed. However, if you do decide to do so, there are two possible consequences if you don't follow the E-E-A-T guidelines:

1. In the best-case scenario: You’ll lose ground in the rankings to competitors who don’t ignore E-E-A-T.
2. In the worst-case scenario: You'll be penalized for content that Google deems untrustworthy, especially if your website contains YMYL content.

Trying to address E-E-A-T is not a quick fix

There's no trick or hack that can help you recover lost rankings if you've ignored the importance of E-E-A-T.

Some of the strategies I suggest below for improving your website’s experience, expertise, authority, and trust signals may lead to faster gains in the SERPs than others. But since E-E-A-T isn’t a direct ranking factor, there’s no shortcut to results. Consistent progress will ultimately lead to significant improvements and is often rewarded following a major Google update.

How to Improve E-E-A-T SEO

The most recent changes to Google's Search Quality Guidelines and the subsequent updates to the core algorithm suggest that experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness play a more important role in rankings than ever before.

Here is a list of recommendations that can help you improve your E-E-A-T scores and increase your chances of outperforming your competitors in search results.

1. Review your brand

A good reputation for your brand is crucial if you want your pages to receive higher quality ratings than those of others in your industry. If it’s difficult to identify the person behind your brand, find contact information, or understand the purpose of your business, this lack of transparency could make your brand appear untrustworthy.

Here are the most important questions you should ask yourself when evaluating your brand:

What are real people saying about your company and/or your website?

Check reviews, social media mentions, and forum discussions where your brand is being talked about. Hopefully, you'll find a list of enthusiastic reviews. If there are any problematic discussions, think about how you can resolve them.

You can keep track of mentions by setting up a Google Alert for your company name, which will notify you whenever your brand is mentioned online.

Who are you? How long has your company been in business? What are your company's values?

Provide as much information about your business as possible so that people understand who you are, what you stand for, and what you want to achieve.

What sets your company apart from the rest?

Whether it’s your company’s history and reputation or your strong corporate values and commitment to the community—all of these elements strengthen people’s connection to your brand. Show potential customers why your brand matters and why they should buy from you or work with you. The more information you share about your company, the better.

There’s nothing worse than visiting a website and having to play detective to find important information about a company. Potential customers and Google’s quality raters need to know the answers to these brand audit questions, and they need to be able to find them easily on your website or social media pages.

2. Review your content

You may already know that it's a good idea to review your website's content to keep it up to date, but did you also know that this can affect your E-E-A-T signals?

A review of your website's content for Google E-E-A-T may include the following:

• Updating the pages that provide information about who you are and what you do.
• Assignment of an author for all written content.
• Update outdated quotes and references on all pages and blog posts.

Reviewing the “About Us” Page

Google's Search Quality Rating Guidelines acknowledge that your "Contact," "About Us," or "About" page contains important information for visitors to your website.

Use these pages to explain exactly who you are:

• Why should people trust your company?
• Who are the experts behind the content on your website, and what qualifications do they have?
• Who are the people behind your company? Include links to their professional social media accounts and any professional associations they might belong to.

When you tell potential customers about your team members’ experience (no matter how extensive or varied it may be) and their specific job titles, it not only builds trust but also helps you reinforce your employees’ professional authority.

Review all authors

Use a bio page to attribute all your content to a specific author. The bio pages should highlight who your authors are and what qualifications and experience they have. This information shows why readers can trust their expertise.

Always link your content to an industry expert—even if they're a subject matter expert—and include a link to your leadership team's page or a biography.

You can also demonstrate the authors' expertise in the following ways:

• Make sure your authors are active and responsive on the relevant social media platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.).
• Look for opportunities for employees to be interviewed and quoted online. (HARO is a great tool for connecting with journalists.)
• Supporting employees in publishing relevant content in reputable, topic-specific publications.
• Require that your author’s biography in guest posts link to his social media accounts, his personal website (if he has one), his bio page on your company’s website, and/or his Wikipedia page.

Quality evaluators are encouraged to verify reputation information provided by third parties rather than relying solely on content created by the brand or its authors. Check the online reputation of your contributors to ensure they project authority and expertise.

Check citations and references

Quality evaluators know that well-sourced citations and references are a sign of expertise and authority.

Be sure to include external links and citations when you cite statistics, make quantifiable statements, or mention industry-specific benchmarks. Make sure all external links lead to up-to-date, high-authority content. The expertise, authority, and trustworthiness of the pages you link to are reflected in your E-E-A-T signals.

3. Check your social media and your reputation

Social media and online reviews can play a major role in your company’s reputation. Although a page can earn a “high” rating even without a reputation, it cannot receive a “high” rating if a Search Quality Rater finds compelling evidence of a negative reputation.

According to Google's guidelines, reviewers should “search for articles, reviews, forum posts, discussions, etc., written by people on the website.”

Whether it's good or bad, the reviewers will find it. Listen and take note of what people are saying about your business.

Most reviewers are looking for reviews like these:

• Yelp and/or Google Business
• Better Business Bureau
• Amazon
• Google Shopping

Don't ignore bad reviews, comments on social media, or immediate concerns about your brand. You can’t just make bad reviews disappear, because nothing builds trust more than a company that publicly acknowledges its mistakes and addresses customer complaints. If you don’t respond to negative customer feedback online, it will damage your reputation and negatively impact how E-E-A-T evaluators assess your company’s trustworthiness.

Show that you're listening to your audience and build trust by adding content to your website that addresses the concerns mentioned in reviews or social media comments. You can use common phrases, concerns, or questions as keywords on new pages.

Improve E-E-A-T with a Trusted SEO Partner

Addressing E-E-A-T is at the heart of a solid SEO strategy—and let’s be honest, it’s simply good business practice. From an SEO perspective, implementing best practices to improve your E-E-A-T signals is a crucial step in ensuring that your SEO efforts have the best chance of success. Find a good SEO agency, such as this:matters, that takes a holistic approach to your SEO strategy and conducts an E-E-A-T analysis to identify the issues preventing your website from getting the attention it deserves.

Do you have any questions? Then sign up for a free consultation and take the first step toward better search engine visibility.