You’re probably wondering, “What on earth is E.A.T?”
E-A-T is an acronym for Expertise Authority and Trustworthiness.
Search engines use this to judge the quality of your website.
It’s also important because the better your website is, the higher it will be in the search results and the more traffic (and visitors) you’ll receive.
Let’s take a look at it. How can you prove to Google that your website has E-A.T?
What is E.A.T?
E-A.T. is the combination of three factors that search engines use to evaluate your website:
Expertise shows that your company is an expert in your field.
Authority shows that you are a leader and an excellent source of information in your area.
Trustworthiness shows that you are trustworthy and can provide accurate, honest, and truthful information.
Google’s guidelines, “Your Money, Your Life (YMYL),” also incorporate the E-A-T Framework.
Google considers that YMYL pages could have an impact on the “future happiness or health, financial stability, or safety” of users.
The information or products that appear on a page can have a significant impact on the life of the reader.
Google is looking for more proof that the pages are from a reliable site.
They want to see more E.A.T. They can be pages from websites such as:
It’s all about branding
E-A-T is a brand name that you may be familiar with.
Branding professionals look at the brand from a potential customer’s point of view. They are looking for signs that show expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
As an SEO strategist, I will show you how to apply E-A.T. to technical SEO.
How to prove that you are E-A.T.
Google is a mysterious company at times. There’s no official document that outlines the preferred E-A-T signals.
Some SEO techniques the industry has widely accepted to assist Google’s bots.
Here is a list of the most common E-A.T. signals they can pick up.
Site protected with SSL (Secure Socket Layer).
Contact information should be easy to locate.
Privacy page and Terms and Conditions page.
If you are an online business, make sure to have a clear policy on refunds and returns.
Names and bios of authors on blog posts.
Citations (directory listings, links to social media pages) that are accurate.
Backlinks are links from authoritative websites.
Let’s look more closely at each one.
Site protected with SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
People expect to be able to experience online activities safely and privately.
Secure your website so that others can’t spy on conversations or steal private information.
It helps you to show that your website is trustworthy.
This page is about
Did you know that the About page of a site is the most popular?
A good About page can also help you in all three areas of your E.A.T.
We cannot ask What E-A-T is?, without discussing your About page.
You can demonstrate to customers and Google that you are an expert and a respected authority figure by telling your story well.
This is your chance to let them know a bit about yourself and why you should be trusted.
Think of it as speed dating. You only have a few seconds to grab the reader’s interest.
Discuss how you can assist them and why they should choose to work with you.
Contact information is easy to locate
This one adds to the “T” in E-A.T: Are you trustworthy?
Google looks for genuine businesses in the age of internet scams.
Your genuineness is demonstrated by providing clear contact information and making it easy to locate on your website.
Privacy policy and terms and conditions pages
Google will trust you if your privacy policies and terms of service pages are clear.
Your terms and conditions should be clearly stated, addressing any applicable consumer law requirements.
Your privacy policy should clearly explain how your company handles and stores personal data.
Even though they may take some time to get right, it’s worth the effort.
Not just from a purely legal perspective. They will give your website more E-A and increase traffic.
Links to these pages are often placed in the footer so that they can be accessed easily without being part of the main navigation.
If you are an online business, make sure to have a clear policy on refunds and returns
A clear return and refund policy will show that you are trustworthy.
Google will add a tick to your E.A.T., and you’ll have a better chance of showing up in search results.
It’s also very helpful to the visitors of your website, just like all other items on this list.
Knowing that refunds and returns are available will help your customers feel more comfortable.
Bios and author names on blog posts
Include the author’s information on your blog post to help with the “E” in E-A.T. – expertise.
If Google’s quality raters can see that there is a person behind the information, with a biography explaining how the person has the expertise to cover a topic — your page will be more likely to appear as a high-quality source of information.
It will then be more likely that it will appear in search engine results.
Accurate citations (including links to social media and directories)
Citation is a mention online of your company details (name and address, phone number).
You can find citations in business directories, social media platforms, and other places.
Citations help people find local businesses.
They can also hinder (or help) your SEO efforts.
Three main points are to be considered.
The number of citations that your business has accrued.
These citations are accurate.
The quality of websites on which they appear.
Google and other search engines scour the web to find citations.
It can improve your ranking if they are able to verify that the information is correct and that all of the citations match. This shows you as a trustworthy person.
If the citations do not match, trust will be eroded, and your chances of ranking will be diminished.
