7 Proven Google E-E-A-T Strategies To Rank Your Website

If you are serious about building long term success online, mastering EEAT is non-negotiable. Why? Because it’s not just about SEO. It’s the foundation of your online credibility and reputation, whether for yourself or your business.

In this article, we are diving deep into what EEAT means, and more importantly, how you can apply it to supercharge your site and brand.

What is EEAT?

So EEAT stands for

• Experience
• Expertise
• Authoritativeness
• Trustworthiness.

It is a set of guidelines available to you and me in this page document, and it is used by third party human quality raters from all around the world employed by Google to assess the quality of sites.

Now, to be clear, EEAT is not a ranking factor. It is just a guideline, and its goal is to help users and search engines know if a website can be trusted.

This is especially important for sensitive topics like

• Health
• Finance
• Personal safety
• Etc.

And they are what we call the Y-M-Y-L topics, which means Your Money, Your Life.

If you are having a heart attack and you search for what to do, heart attack alone, you don’t want to get results like just breathe, just take a deep breath, right?

That’s part of the reason why EEAT exists, to assess the quality of information, knowledge, and advice so that poor quality information will not surface on sensitive topics when searched.

Let me explain each element and you understand why this concept matters.

Experience

We are not only talking about work experience. It can be your experience in a hobby, experience in using a product, experience in your personal life, etc.

Imagine you have created a website and you’re writing about a hobby you love, like growing vegetables.

Experience is the time you have spent and the lessons you have learned through your journey of growing vegetables.

Would you, as a beginner, learning to grow vegetables at home, learn from someone else who hasn’t done it before?

People like to learn things from others who have walked their journey, and someone without first-hand knowledge might make mistakes or give wrong information.

So the experience part of the guideline is there to assess the content creator’s experience on the things that they are talking about.

They will look at unique insights, authentic images, and share personal experiences in the subject matter.

Expertise

Experience is not nearly enough because anybody can have a five minutes experience in anything.

It is only when you achieve mastery in a subject or topic, you can give quality advice, and that’s what Google and other search engines are looking for.

It’s about knowing your subject inside and out. So how does Google spot real expertise?

They look at things like the depth of your content. Do you provide detailed helpful information?

They assess your background. Do you have relevant experience and education in your topic?

And here’s where LinkedIn and other sources will be helpful. We’ll talk more about the practical steps to optimize for EEAT in a while.

Do you cite information from trusted sources? And do other experts in your field agree with what you are saying?

Do people spend time reading your content and find it useful?

Authoritativeness

Imagine two doctors in your town. Both of them went to great medical schools and have been treating patients for years.

They are both experienced and knowledgeable, what we call experts. But how does Google decide which one to show first when someone searches for a medical topic?

This is where authoritativeness comes in. Let’s say that Dr. Smith regularly writes articles for the local newspaper about health topics.

He has been a guest on radio shows talking about staying healthy. Maybe he even has a YouTube channel where he explains medical concepts in simple terms.

On the other hand, Dr. Jones is just a good doctor. He doesn’t do any extra activities. He focuses solely on treating his patients in his office.

Now, does this mean that Dr. Jones is a worse doctor? Not at all. However, in Google’s eyes, Dr. Smith appears more authoritative.

He is putting himself out there, sharing his knowledge with a wider audience. This makes him more visible and easier for Google to recognize him as an authority in his field.

Another thing is that there is a fine line between having a good reputation being an authority and having experience and expertise.

You could be someone who faked it and made it, and hence you have a good reputation. But that doesn’t mean that you have experience and expertise.

So none of the elements in EEAT are independent when assessing for quality. Every element has to be present to have a high quality rating.

An authority is closely linked with link building. Backlinks from authoritative sites signal to Google that your content is reputable and valuable, and it may boost your rankings.

A site that constantly ranks for expert-level topics in its niche builds a strong authority signal.

Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness should come naturally if you have done well in the previous three elements.

It is about showing your audience that they can believe what you say and feel safe when they visit your site.

For example, if you run a blog about photography tips for beginners, you’ve got to be honest with your experience. If you are still learning yourself, say so. You could write, I’m an amateur photographer sharing what I’ve learned so far.

This honesty builds trust with your audience. If you are reviewing a high-end camera you have never used, be upfront about it. Admit your limitations. You would say, while I haven’t personally used this professional-grade camera, here’s what experts are saying.

This comes with a lot of integrity, and your audience can see how honest and genuine you are through your content. And when your audience trusts you, they will more likely come back to you for more advice.

Google user signals such as

• Reviews
• User Feedback
• Security features

To assess the trustworthiness of a website.

So ensuring that your site has robust security measures, transparent ownership information, and positive user interactions contributes to higher rankings.

The Strategies To Improve Your EEAT

Now that we understand what EEAT means, let’s discuss some practical steps to improve EEAT.

For most authoritative blogs, you can always see who the author is whenever you read an article.

When you click on the author’s name, it will lead you to a page that describes who the author is. This is what we call the author archive page as it archives a list of blog posts the author has written.

Especially when you are writing about a sensitive topic that requires expertise.

On top of writing your content to the best of your ability, you should also cite reliable sources, which means adding external links to your content to back up your claims and provide additional information.

This practice not only strengthens your content but also shows your readers that you have done your homework and you are not just making things up.

It’s important to understand that not all sources are created equal. Be cautious of using random blog posts or social media as sources unless they are from recognized experts in the field.

Building relationships with other authoritative sites in your niche is crucial for improving authoritativeness. Acquiring high-quality backlinks is like getting a vote of confidence from other respected websites.

When they link to your content, it signals to search engines and readers that your site is trustworthy and valuable.

To be honest, it is easier said than done. For sites that are new and do not have much authority, it is rather difficult to acquire high-quality backlinks unless you personally know a couple of experts in your niche or industry who owns a website.

If you are new to blogging and you are trying to reach out to others to link back to your site, most likely you will only attract low-quality sites because they want the same thing as you do.

Keeping your content fresh and up to date is the key part of maintaining and improving your site’s EEAT. For YMYL pages, this is critical as outdated information can harm your credibility.

So we recommend setting a regular schedule to review and update older posts.

For YMYL pages, try revisiting them every six months. And for other posts, visit them every 12 months.

And at the same time, you should keep publishing new content consistently, even if it’s just once or twice a month.

Quality matters more than quantity, so focus on accuracy and depth. Another good practice, whenever you update your content, is to show the date of change at the top of the post so that your audience knows that they are getting the latest information.

Encouraging user reviews and feedback is a powerful way to boost your site’s trustworthiness and expertise.

Go to any of your posts and scroll all the way down to the bottom and see if anyone can leave a comment here.

If not, you will want to go to your WordPress back-end. Hover over settings > click on the discussion > make sure that this allows people to submit comments on new posts ic checked.

Don’t be afraid of constructive criticism. If a reader points out an error or suggests an improvement, thank them and make the necessary changes.

This shows that you are committed to accuracy and willing to learn.

Also respond to feedback professionally and positively, even if it is a negative comment. This demonstrates your maturity and commitment to your audience experiences.

And if your site is part of a local business, then open up a Google business profile and get citations from other business listing sites like Trustpilot, Yelp, or whatever, so that your audience can easily leave a review or remarks on your business.

Would you want your audience to experience this when trying to find your site?

Absolutely not, right? Who will trust your site if they experience this?

Having a safe and secure site for your audience to visit is foundational and non-negotiable, and it is part of technical SEO.

While technical SEO doesn’t directly create expertise and trustworthiness, it ensures that the quality of your content you produce is easily discoverable and properly understood by search engines.

To optimize for technical SEO, you want to:

• Use HTTPS protocol on your site
• Reduce duplicate content
• Have a good site structure
• Add schema markups

It is crucial to establish a strong and consistent digital presence.

Start by creating comprehensive profiles on social networks like LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or whatever, and you want to start creating content on those platforms, too.

Especially for professional networks like LinkedIn, you can showcase your full professional history, educational background, and any relevant certifications or awards.

When you start appearing on other social media platforms and you produce all formats of content suitable for the platform, you significantly enhance your EEAT profile.

When your name or brand appears consistently across multiple platforms, it can translate into perceived authority.

Search engines and user alike may view this widespread presence as as an indicator of your prominence and relevance in your field.

Also, engagement metrics from these platforms, such as likes, shares, and comment, can serve as social proof of your expertise and the value of your content.

So these are the steps that can help improve your EEAT, and it is not difficult.

Be truthful to the content you publish and cite trusted sources when making a point.

Conclusion

I hope you find this article helpful.

If you have any other suggestions to improve EEAT, do let us know in the comments down below.