EEAT: What does Google's concept mean for SEO?
Google's EAT concept was supplemented by another E in December of 2022 and is now called EEAT.
This raises fundamental questions: What does this acronym actually stand for and what is behind the concept? And more importantly, what will this concept mean for the future of online search? This blog post promises to shed some light on the subject.
EEAT: What is it and why is it important for SEO?
First, let's clarify what exactly the acronym stands for. EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
This is a Google concept that was first introduced in August 2018 as part of an algorithm update. Content with higher expertise, authority and trust was now preferred in the search engine results pages (SERPs) - EAT was born.
At the end of 2022, the missing "E" was finally added to expand the "expertise" criterion to include personal experience.
These four criteria form a uniform evaluation basis that Google uses to prioritize those websites in its search results that offer users particularly trustworthy and high-quality information. This is particularly relevant in industries such as insurance, healthcare and finance, but companies with less critical products and services also benefit from optimizing their website for EEAT.
Google presents its so-called "Quality Raters" with websites that they are to evaluate and consequently classify according to these criteria. The "Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines" (SQEG) serve as the basis for the evaluation of web content.
Expertise: How Google recognizes it
The "Google raters" therefore have the task of determining the level of expertise behind the content. Depending on how relevant the content of a page could be for the reader, certain references and evidence must be noted. This is especially important for so-called YMYL websites, which contain content that could affect the reader's future happiness, health, financial stability or safety. So if you run a business or organization in the medical, legal, journalistic, security or regulatory fields, you will need to provide official evidence of your expertise. But even if your website deals with less serious topics, you should make an effort to show how and why you are an expert in your field.
While the term "expertise" refers to typical things like academic degrees etc. that come to mind, it also refers to practical and everyday specialized knowledge.
Ultimately, quality raters can tell the difference between actual experts and non-experts directly from the references.
Authoritativeness: The perception and authority of your website from the perspective of others
While expertise is about proving yourself as an expert in your field, the criterion of authoritativeness largely depends on whether others recognize you as an expert. Much of this is based on the number and quality of third-party websites that link to or cite your web pages or brand information.
Tools such as Moz Link Explorer are very useful for this, as they show how many and which websites link to your domain.
Trustworthiness: Inspire the reader´s trust
This criterion is the most important according to Google.
Trust is largely dependent on factors such as the accuracy, accessibility and validity of the information your business publishes and so there are a number of points that Quality Raters may consider.
In summary, the credibility and reliability of the content provided is assessed here. Websites that offer up-to-date, well-researched and clearly presented information without misleading or deceptive purposes are considered trustworthy by Google. Such sites therefore receive a higher rating. Positive reviews and topic-relevant backlinks, as well as technical features such as SSL encryption, also contribute to an improved rating.
The best indication of this is, for example, the contact section, which is an important indicator of whether a company is reputable and trustworthy and can be easily contacted by the public.
Experience: The new criterion
As already indicated, the "experience" factor plays a central role in the evaluation, with particular emphasis being placed on whether the information or experience provided comes directly from first-hand experience. Depending on the sector, the methods used to document experiences of a product, service or the content of a website vary, with customer reviews being a common practice. What is particularly relevant here is that, especially if a business model is based on providing information about places or similar, which is the case for many companies, this information should ideally be fully supported by photos - from the company and third parties.
Conclusion
Optimizing a website with EEAT criteria in mind can have a significant impact on rankings, especially for YMYL websites. By ensuring that content is not only high quality and informative, but also created by experienced and credible authors, websites can improve their rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) and generate more organic traffic.