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It's been more than a year since Google added “experience” to its EAT guidelines for search quality ratings, turning them into EEAT.
However, many websites still struggle to establish a digital presence according to these rules.
Most people think that optimizing for EEAT is as simple as adding an author bio to your website, but that's not true.
Let's take a look at what an EEAT requires and what SEO experts have to say about meeting these requirements.
Overview of EEAT and relevance in 2024
Every year, Google releases algorithm updates to improve the algorithm's ability to show you great content.
The most recent algorithm update was in December 2022, when Google's search quality rating guidelines changed to reflect:
- Experience (E): Indicates whether the author and website owner has real-life experience that can provide advice or commentary on the topic.
- Expertise (E): Indicates whether the author has the necessary education, qualifications, or market presence to speak on the topic.
- Authority (A): Assessing author and website credibility – typically measured through industry-wide recognition, backlink quality, and reputational signals (awards, citations, recommendations).
- Reliability (T): Indicates whether you are providing your users with a trustworthy website experience. The EEA part of the equation and end-user experience combine to determine quality.
Reliability is viewed as a horizontal bar that nests other elements.
SEO consultant Taylor Scher explains that people take the T-factor too seriously, creating contradictory effects.
“This is an old SEO story: You shouldn't compromise your website's UX in favor of SEO.
Since EEAT is based on page experience and credibility displays anyway, it's best to approach it with the mindset of improving EEAT without thinking about how to achieve all of this while providing a better experience for your readers and website visitors. is wrong. ”
Let's say you're offering advice on a YMYL topic (your money or your life), like “How to treat a cold at home.”
From an on-page SEO perspective, the author has a history and the domain is likely to have a high reputation.
However, from a technical SEO and user experience perspective, the lack of SSH encryption on your website can result in a substandard experience. Users may think that this is a duplicate of another medical website.
The combination of these four factors enables success. This is why even non-YMYL sites need to do everything in their power to stay relevant in the SERPs.
7 strategies to optimize your website for EEAT
Optimizing for EEAT requires a complete audit of your technical SEO and other tactics.
Here's what you need to optimize:
1. Create an author bio and editor schema for each article
A well-written author bio has two effects:
- program personal experience.
- establish Author's expertise.
Think of it this way. Want to visit a financial website and see if it was written by the company's team or by a PhD in corporate finance?
That being said, authors do not need a PhD, but rather some level of success in the industry.
How to create an authoritative author bio
Promote your author's credibility by adding the following:
- Years of experience.
- Focus areas.
- Education (if applicable).
- Achievements as a professional.
- Social media/website links.
Non-YMYL industries like SaaS and renewable energy also add schema markup for editors and reviewers.
This goes a long way in demonstrating your brand's editorial integrity.
Although the author byline is not a ranking factor, it also sends a trust signal to Google's quality raters.
Pro tip: Hire an experienced freelance SEO expert to build this into the backend of your CMS.
2. Don't forget to state the obvious
“Wirecutter does an amazing job of stating the obvious. Each product review typically begins with a short paragraph explaining the effort they put into writing the review,” HeadshotPro Marketing Reid, Jamie Sutton said.
The Wirecutter example explains how we tested each and the differences between them.
We also cite sources for each interview and bedding example, increasing trust in our products.
Similarly, you can explain your review process, data selection criteria, or inviting experts.
3. A source of expertise to enhance your reputation
Obtaining in-house expertise isn't always easy. That doesn't mean you can't look beyond your own company.
This is especially true for new brands that are still working on improving their EEAT.
Collaborate with industry experts and ask them to contribute if possible.
Here's how:
- Submit a quote request via HARO, Help a B2B Writer, Qwoted, etc.
- Join our LinkedIn or Facebook group.
- Invite thought leaders for interviews.
- Ask subject matter experts to guest post.
- Get insights from podcasts or webinars (with sources).
Or you can pitch your brand or in-house experts for referrals.
4. Create quality content with attribution
Content is at the center of everything.
The higher the quality of your content, the better your reputation (with users and search raters).
Even Google has published clear guidelines on this.
“People-first content means content that is created primarily for people, rather than to manipulate search engine rankings.Search engine content that is created primarily for the purpose of gaining search engine rankings. We recommend that you focus on creating user-first content to succeed in Google search, rather than first-order content. (Google)”
So create helpful content with depth, not breadth.
As artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT raise the bar, your content needs to go above and beyond.
Here are some best practices to keep in mind.
- Stick to core topics related to your business.
- Collaborate with other experts and companies.
- Create topic clusters that demonstrate your authority.
- Avoid the surface level insights that even SGE can provide.
- Deliver content on other channels to provide external signals.
- Conduct regular content audits to identify gaps and opportunities for updates.
Google's algorithm prioritizes fresh, recently published content.
Additionally, please cite the source. Google's algorithm monitors incoming and outgoing links. Therefore, cite and link to authoritative websites within your industry.
For example, Medical News Today cites scientific journals like The Lancet in all of its articles.
5. Build backlinks from relevant websites
It’s 2024, but backlinks still matter.
Backlinko's research analyzed 11.8 million search results and found that higher-ranking web pages have more backlinks than lower-ranking web pages.
However, there are two things to remember.
- Number of referring domains.
- Quality of backlinks.
Links must be from relevant websites. For example, an e-commerce fashion website should get links from fashion and clothing publications.
Also, create valuable content that acts as a link magnet.
Anurag Surya, SEO specialist at Freshworks, explains that they use research articles to do this.
“I want to invest in producing industry research articles that include metrics based on primary research. No other website has numbers like this, which means people searching for these numbers will find them on my page. and link there if possible.”
So build links, but do so strategically.
Pro tip: Work with an experienced link builder who can identify such opportunities for your brand.
6. Focus on your online brand reputation
Audit your brand's presence online.
Research your customers, monitor the reviews you receive, and observe public forums. These are common sources for getting feedback and understanding how people view your brand.
You can also use tools like UserTesting and Maze to determine whether users actually think your site can be trusted. Display social proof in a way that appears trustworthy in the eyes of users.
Add social proof from users as well as industry publications.
Also, feel free to respond to both good and bad reviews. Your brand awareness will increase over time.
Ultimately, the better your brand awareness, the better your overall authority will be.
7. Attract and use more user-generated content (UGC)
User-generated content is a great way to improve your website's EEAT.
why? Because unsolicited or unpaid reviews are a huge burden on brand perception.
Examples of UGC are:
- Case Study.
- Forum Post.
- Public comments.
- Ratings and Reviews.
- Video on social media.
- Personal blog post.
Google's crawlers can access social sites like Reddit and Quora. Make sure your reputation gives a positive impression.
This gives you the social proof you need and tells Google that your site is a trusted resource.
It's time for you to be relevant too
Optimizing your website for EEAT requires a strategic approach.
This process can be an extensive undertaking, but it doesn't have to be. Consider outsourcing the job to an SEO expert who will monitor these changes and adapt to ensure your search rankings.
Ultimately, this is a strategic decision that will get you one step closer to improving your website's EEAT.
image credits
Featured Image: Image by Fiverr Pro. Used with permission.
Image in post: Image provided by Fiverr Pro.Used with permission