(2023) Google’s EAT Guideline Just Changed: What is Google EEAT?
Google just changed one of the most important parts of their ranking algorithm.
For the past years Google has used a guideline to determine whether a website or piece of content should be considered high quality commonly referred to as EAT. EAT guidelines are a set of quality guidelines that the search engine uses to evaluate the expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness of web pages and their content.
Google’s search quality rater guidelines have now been updated to represent an addition to the EAT model, experience.
Experience, which has adjusted the acronym to EEAT, puts an additional weight on the way writers and companies have interacted with the product, topic, or idea they are addressing. If you want to have your content recommended by Google, you need to know what EEAT is and how to portray it to Google.
What WaS the EAT Guideline?
Before speaking on the recent changes, here is a bit of foundation.
Google’s EAT principle is broken down into three pieces:
Expertise: Expertise refers to the level of knowledge and skill a website or its authors have in their respective fields. The content should demonstrate that the author or the website has in-depth knowledge of the topic they are discussing.
Authoritativeness: Authority refers to the reputation and influence of a website or its authors in their respective fields. This is measured by factors such as social media presence, citations from other authoritative websites, and other indicators of influence and recognition.
Trustworthiness: Trustworthiness refers to the credibility and reliability of a website or its authors. This includes factors such as transparency, accuracy, and the quality of the content, as well as the overall reputation of the website or its authors.
Here is a checklist of actions you could execute to exhibit EAT compliance:
Publish high-quality content: The content on your website is one of the most important factors in establishing EAT compliance. It's essential to ensure that the content you publish is informative, accurate, and well-researched. Make sure to use reputable sources to support your claims and avoid publishing misleading or deceptive information. Use a clear and concise writing style that is easy to read and understand.
Demonstrate your expertise: Showcase your knowledge and expertise in your field by publishing content that demonstrates your expertise. This could include blog posts, articles, case studies, whitepapers, or other forms of content. Make sure to use a variety of formats to keep your content fresh and engaging for your audience.
Show your authority: Establish yourself as an authority in your niche by creating content that is cited or referenced by other websites. This could include guest blogging, interviews, or other forms of collaboration. Use social media to promote your content and engage with other thought leaders in your industry.
Establish trustworthiness: Build trust with your audience by being transparent and honest about your business practices. Include contact information, such as your physical address and phone number, on your website, and make it easy for customers to reach out to you. Use customer testimonials and case studies to demonstrate your track record of success.
Get positive reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on your website, social media pages, or third-party review sites. Positive reviews can help establish trust and credibility with potential customers. Respond to negative reviews promptly and professionally, demonstrating your commitment to customer service.
Improve website security: This shows that you value the security of your clients and suggests to Google that you are not scam/bot content. Investing in website security measures, such as SSL certificates and firewalls, can help protect your website from hackers and other security threats. Make sure that your website is regularly updated with the latest security patches and updates.
Stay up-to-date with industry standards: Keep up with industry standards and best practices to ensure that your website is compliant with the latest guidelines and regulations. This could include things like ADA compliance, GDPR compliance, or other relevant standards.
What Is the EEAT Guideline?
Google’s search quality rater guidelines inform quality raters to evaluate a content creator’s expertise. The updated guideline says the following about experience:
“Consider the extent to which the content creator has the necessary first-hand or life experience for the topic. Many types of pages are trustworthy and achieve their purpose well when created by people with a wealth of personal experience. For example, which would you trust: a product review from someone who has personally used the product or a “review” by someone who has not? ”
This gives clear insight into where Google is prioritizing experience as a primary factor when determining content quality.
So here are a few tips for portraying your personal or professional experience within your published content:
Case Studies: This can be a great way to add a layer of experience to your content.
Bring in Experts: This uses “borrowed experience” to give your content credibility while still adding an aspect of experience to your information.
Speak in First-Person: This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it can be a useful tool to remember if you are trying to exhibit experience. An example may be seen in replacing “The clam chowder is a fan-favourite and is delicious” with something like “I loved the clam chowder and I understand why it is a fan favourite.”
Provide Proof using Pictures or Video: This is an easy way to prove your experience. Non-stock, applicable photography and videography is already rewarded by Google, and this can also be a way to add a piece of experience.
Renewed Emphasis on Trust
Google’s search quality rater guidelines were also updated to put a “renewed emphasis on trust”. Instead of an even mix of expertise, authority, and trust (like the previous EAT model), the EEAT model has the other three guidelines all in support of the central theme of trust. They explain in the guideline that this is “because untrustworthy pages have low E-E-A-T no matter how Experienced, Expert, or Authoritative they may seem.”
So prioritize trust! Google explains that your page should be “honest, safe, and reliable.”
Honest: Is your content answering the question it’s claiming to answer? Is the topic in your headings being answered throughout your content?
Safe: Content that appears spammy, or is lacking the industry standard of security will hurt your trust rating.
Reliable: Are you consistently in the same field? Do you have backlinks from credible outlets. For example, if the Washington Post (or trusted member of your field) mentions you, Google will see that as a sign you are a trustworthy source.
So if you are still needing to work on your EAT compliance, institute a few points from this article to strengthen your content. If you are already exhibiting expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, then try to adjust your content to add layers of experience wherever possible.
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