What are E-A-T factors

E‑A-T factors became known 9 years ago. But many people still do not fully understand how to implement the concepts of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness on their website. This is how the abbreviation E ‑ A-T is deciphered, and it is translated as:

  • expertise
  • authority
  • reliability

These are the factors that Google relies on when choosing pages for TOP-3, 5, 10.

The expertise, authority and reliability of the content are assessed according to different criteria. It may seem that these concepts are similar, but this is only at first glance. Let’s take a look at how E-A-T scores, where they are most important, and how to apply them on the site, in order.

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When E-A-T Factors Are Especially Important

Google is committed to delivering quality content. It is for this purpose that he uses the E-A-T factors and, for some queries, they are extremely important. If you are looking for general information, for example, about cat or dog breeds, then the expertise of the site’s content may not play a big role.

But people are looking for a variety of information, including about health, money. And giving them expert, quality content in return can literally be a matter of life and death. Google classifies sites that relate to law, medicine and finance in a separate category YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) and very strictly monitors the quality of content in this area.

This does not mean that if you provide, for example, construction services, then E-A-T is not important to you. It’s just that Google makes the most stringent requirements for the YMYL sphere.

How E-A-T Factors Are Assessed

Expertise

In an ideal world, Google would like all website content to be created by experts in a specific field. The qualifications and high level of knowledge in a particular area of ​​the author will put such content above the amateur one.

For example, for a website that provides audit and accounting services, the content should be created by a chartered accountant, and not just a copywriter who has read a couple of articles about filing a tax return.

In the YMYL topics, the so-called formal expertise is needed, while in others, it is enough everyday (user) expertise. Formal expertise is determined by the work experience and qualifications of the author in a particular field.

Everyday expertise is possessed by the author, who has his own experience in the covered topic. That is, a person who has experienced something personally and can talk about it has sufficient everyday expertise.

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Authority

She’s a reputation. If a person or site is considered a reliable source of information, if other experts and opinion leaders refer to it. To assess authority, assessors look at site or author mentions. Wikipedia is a good example of authority. This site is cited by many sources, and its reputation is not in doubt. Of course, it is impossible to fit every site to Wiki standards, but you can always give it more authority. And then we will give a checklist on how to do this.

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Credibility

At this point, the truthfulness and accuracy of the information is important. The factor of reliability can be the physical address and telephone number of the company indicated on the site, the name and photo of the author also give weight to the information. The accuracy of the content for assessors is determined by facts, links and citations from credible sources.

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How to increase the E ‑ A-T of a site

Although the concepts of expertise, authority and credibility can be considered subjective, they can definitely be improved, and with fairly simple methods. You can always make improvements to the site, and publish new content only taking into account the requirements for the E-A-T factors.

All E-A-T enhancement factors are divided into internal and external. Let’s measure with each of them:

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Internal factors

Home page

It should contain information confirming your expertise and professionalism. They can be emphasized with certificates, mention of participation in specialized events, partnerships with well-known brands.

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Page “About the Company”

Check if she answers questions about your brand:

  • what do you suggest;
  • how many years on the market;
  • mission, values that you promote
  • information about the team, confirmation of their professionalism
  • maximum contact information, physical address, phone numbers

The more information you give, the closer the target audience becomes. It’s like with a person – it is always more pleasant to communicate with a good acquaintance, and not with a “dark horse”.

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Contact page

In addition to the maximum contact information, phone numbers, post offices, physical address, it is worth indicating the location on the map. And of course, do not forget to check that all the data is correct, and that the phones and mails are working.

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Conduct an audit of the content on the site

The first thing to look at is whether the content meets the needs of the customers, whether it answers their questions. If not, you can change the content, add content to it that meets user expectations, or completely update it.

What to look for when composing content:

  • literacy;
  • links to internal pages of the site;
  • links to reliable sources;
  • tables, images, confirming text information.

All this is needed not just for “ranking”, links, tables and photos must correspond to the needs of customers. Make sure your visitors are not distracted by large amounts of advertisements and pop-ups.

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Connect experts to writing articles

Of course, no one knows the intricacies of audit better than an accountant, but you can always find a copywriter who understands accounting and can clearly and concisely disclose information in an article. And it will be more pleasant to read it than if the chief accountant himself wrote it (but this is not for sure 😉)

Such articles can be published with the mark “Expertly verified …”, for example, by the chief accountant (engineer / technologist, etc.). If you include the first and last name of not only the author, but also the expert who participated in the creation of the content, it will increase the E ‑ A-T of the articles. If the site is of a medical nature, then in addition to the author, it is necessary to indicate an editor, an expert.

For authors, you can make separate pages on which there will be information about them, links to social networks. Or add “cards” of authors, editors, which will be published after each material. They can indicate the author’s experience in this area, the level of his qualifications.

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Consider the benefits of your content to your visitors

If this is a website for a cafe or restaurant, it must contain the location and opening hours, a menu, a blog that tells about upcoming events.

If you are describing recipes, you need not only a description of the ingredients, but also step-by-step instructions for cooking. This is the only way you can prove the authority of your content.

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Track low-quality content

The site may contain low-quality content that cannot be gotten rid of. These are service and search pages, filters, etc. Such content on the site must be marked with meta tags (noindex, nofollow) so that the pages are not indexed.

Another type of content that can be called substandard according to Google. Low E-A-T on certain pages can affect the rankings of the entire site. Therefore, periodically you need to check the dynamics of traffic and analyze which pages have suffered the most. If you identify low-quality content on certain pages, you can change it to improve rankings.

Another type of low-quality content pages are pages that don’t receive organic traffic. Google may regard such pages as informational spam because they don’t make any sense to Google. You can use Analytics, Search Console, and Google Data Studio to find them.

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Content can be considered expert:

  • with reliable facts that can be verified;
  • containing links to research, scientific articles;
  • in which there is a versatile disclosure of the issue;
  • in which the author mentions his own experience or the experience of his colleagues;
  • in which there is a description of the steps to solve the problem.

Before publishing, re-read the article and make sure that it meets the specified parameters.

It’s important to make sure your content is always up to date. Google recommends updating and editing content regularly.

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Website technical optimization

In internal promotion, interlinking between pages and convenient navigation are important. Be sure to pay attention to the fact that all pages of the site are indexed, also check:

  • no duplicate pages;
  • no garbage pages;
  • server response The HTTP 200 OK to all pages.

Pay attention to the level of nesting of the pages. Levels are determined by the number of clicks a user makes on the way from the home page to a specific page. Important pages should be at the 2nd, maximum at the 3rd level.

What else you need to pay attention to:

  • mobile version of the site. If not, Google perceives the site as outdated and abandoned. This means that he cannot claim high positions in the SERP;
  • outdated design, poor layout, strange color combinations and abandoned pages also indicate that no one is working on the site;
  • lack of HTTPS protocol. If the site uses the old HTTP protocol, the assessors will perceive this as a signal of poor quality of the resource;
  • high-quality modern fonts, relevant images. Fonts should be large enough to be easy to read, and images should be unique and consistent with the text;
  • availability of information. The site should clearly communicate what you are doing, you need information about leading specialists, achievements, detailed information about services;
  • download speed. Sites that load for more than 5 seconds immediately lose the opportunity to take the top positions in the search results;
  • overspam in texts. It would seem that everyone has known about this for a long time, but some still ignore the rules of good manners and fill the pages with keys to overflowing;
  • excess animation on the site, the use of Adobe Flash is also a sign of an outdated resource
  • information for clients. Make sure that website visitors can get as much information as possible on it. If you provide a service, then describe how it happens, what options are there, how much it costs, what it gives. Write everything you know about your service so that after reading it, the non-user will not have any questions. This will let them know that they are dealing with professionals in their field and will increase the level of confidence in your business.

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External website optimization

Analyze mentions

It is worth checking periodically what people are saying about your business. Ask customers, look for mentions on the Internet, do not leave unanswered dialogues with them.

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Reviews

Always work with reviews. Analyze what is written about you on the Internet, on forums, in social networks. If you see negative ratings, try to respond to them correctly, contact the author, leave an open answer with a promise to fix the problems. And do eliminate, especially if they are repetitive.

If we consider external promotion from the point of view of E-A-T, then it is important to disseminate information about your company as much as possible, collect reviews. Ask customers to leave reviews on Google My Business, on your company’s social media pages, such as Facebook and other open sources. Be sure to check for spammy links.

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Links from reputable sources

If there is an opportunity to get a mention in Wikipedia or any authoritative resources with a lot of organic traffic, be sure to use it. If this is not possible, regularly post articles about your company on authoritative resources and news channels.

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Conclusions

The E-A-T factors – really influence the site’s ranking. They cannot be ignored, especially if the site is related to YMYL (finance, health, life). You can develop E ‑ A-T at any stage and it must be done. This is the only way to qualify for the TOP results in Google.

If the pages of the site do not meet the rules of expertise, authority and reliability, then the search algorithms can assign them a low rating. As a result, the site will lose its position in organic search results.

When publishing content, be sure to check if the content meets the requirements:

  • expertise – the author has expertise in the issues he writes about;
  • authority – the author is an authority in the area covered by the site;
  • credibility – the content is truthful and up-to-date, this can be verified in other reputable sources.

The E-A-T rating is not used to make life difficult for site owners, but to prevent the spread of inaccurate content that could harm people’s lives and health. Its implementation was preceded by scientific research, which noted that people in the YMYL field receive the greatest harm from false and inaccurate information. Therefore, the strictest requirements are imposed on these sites.

For example, advice on the prevention and treatment of disease can only be published by medical practitioners. But at the same time, personal experience is also an expertise, so a person who has experienced any experience can share it on a blog, on a forum, and such content will correspond to E-A-T.

If we talk about other areas, then people can share their experience of using products, equipment, technologies, any other life experience. Google will identify such content as expert and useful.

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