E-A-T and SEO: Building Trust and Authority in Your Niche

E-A-T is an umbrella term for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Google uses these adjectives to judge website content that succeeds in delivering value to its visitors and, thus, allowing it to perform well in organic search results. 

These principles describing valuable content have always held high regard in the content writing services of companies. Still, the Google algorithm update of 2018 made them an indispensable part of search engine optimization. 

Hence, companies that failed to integrate E-A-T in their content marketing services or showed a poor E-A-T score were reduced to surprisingly low traffic levels. It went on to the extent that closing down was the only option for them to save themselves. 

If you wish to save the brand from meeting the same fate, you’re at the right place. I have compiled everything you need to know about E-A-T and SEO for a better chance of securing a high ranking on SERPs while following the latest Google algorithm updates.

Understanding E-A-T

E-A-T is an SEO requirement that presents a set of rules or guidelines for on-page content that must be incorporated into your business website for high rankings on Google’s SERPs. 

Here’s a breakdown of E-A-T SEO to further simplify the concept: 

E- Expertise

The expertise in this context refers to the expertise level of content writers who possess sufficient subject matter expertise to craft high-quality and engaging content. It ensures that your website visitors spend more time on a page. 

Google pays close attention to such demographics and subsequently increases or decreases your search rankings, directly affecting your website traffic.

A- Authoritativeness

When we see a specific type of content, we don’t automatically conclude that its author is a professional in their field just by looking at the credentials in the byline. Instead, we check their bio, LinkedIn profile, or resume for a valid assessment.

Similarly, Google determines the authoritativeness of content if it is of high quality, consists of links leading to other authority pages, flows systematically, and delivers what it promises to submit.

Other factors that indicate authority include whether the site where the content is published regularly posts such content, whether others cite it, and whether the content must be professionally formatted and well-maintained.

T- Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness applies to the website, its content creator, and the content posted on it. The content must be comprehensive, up-to-date, factual, and reiterate the information indicated by the title and sub-headings.

Moreover, trustworthy sites load quickly, are user-friendly, establish credibility with about us pages, and do not include questionable external links on their pages. 

E-A-T Checklist for SEO-Optimized Website Content

In the words of Lily Ray, Director of SEO at Amsive Digital, “It’s important to remember that there is no single confirmed approach to improving EAT; it can be done in a variety of ways and should really just be focused on improving user experience, quality, and trust.”

So, let’s take a look at how you can fulfil these requirements in accordance with Google’s EAT principles.

Generate In-Depth Content 

Anyone can rewrite content that is already available on the internet. You need to show that you’re not another site that repurposes content by showcasing your expertise. 

You can accomplish this in the following ways:

• Execute keyword research to understand what people are searching for. 
• Consider your target audience, what they’re looking for, and why they’re searching. This is known as the searcher’s intent. 
• Use AI tools such as SEMrush SEO or MarketMuse to understand what more needs to be embedded in your content for it to be SEO-optimized.
• Leverage Google’s autocomplete tool and the People Also Ask section to better understand people’s queries regarding the topic you’re writing for. This way, you can craft your content to answer your audience’s most common queries. 
• Adopt various content formats for the information to be easily analyzed and accessible to your website users and learners. This includes on-page text, images, videos, podcasts, bullets and subheadings, infographics, audio, and FAQs.

Build Niche Authority 

Consistently publishing in-depth content according to your niche helps you establish authority. However, doing this isn’t enough to make you land on top of the SERPs. 

Integrate the following steps in your search engine optimization services to augment your authority and SEO efficiency.

Encourage links from niche-related sites with high authority

Launch high-quality content on your website that may encourage other people to re-share or link it to content on their websites. Similarly, you can expand your networking by sharing or linking other high-authority websites’ content to your pages.

You can also participate in guest posting opportunities or offer quotes to people who write their content as a substitute for your website’s link.

Form reputable citations

Citations are formed when another site mentions your business and can be game changers if they contain your entire NAP data, i.e., business name, phone number, and address.

Some ways of ensuring this happens include joining national or international industry events and connecting with different organizations in your industry. You can also claim your profile from other sites to boost the frequency with which other online pages mention you. 

Build social shares

Social shares can be generated through content that either helps or entertains viewers. The key here is to remain active on your socials to propel engagement and increase the chances of others sharing your content.

Mention Authorship of Your Content

Google states that although the E-A-T of the content is paramount, the E-A-T of the creator is equally essential. This is particularly applicable to specific types of pages. 

Besides Google, even your website visitors wish to know the entity providing them with the information. Mention authorship to maintain the authority of your pages by using the following tips.

• Add author bylines so readers can see who has written the content, even if it’s one of your employees.
• Feature a link to the author’s profile to showcase their expertise or establish their authority in the discussed topic.
• Use the author’s schema so the search engine knows who wrote the content and their relevance to that field.
• Encourage creators to write detailed bios that express the capabilities of the writer. Attach those bios to your site and link the content or author bylines to them.

A great example of demonstrating writer authorship is shown below, which offers a link to Amanda’s social profiles. It further indicates that Amanda is a real person you can contact and has the credentials that allow her to write about the topic with expertise. 

Source Experts to Assist With Writing Your Content

You can unlock a wide range of possibilities with your in-house writers. However, sourcing experts in your niche to assist with writing your content is a remarkable way to exhibit the authority of the content. 

There are two types of experts you can reach out to for this purpose. 

• An individual with actual expertise in the niche: Someone with knowledge in your niche and the accreditation to prove it. For instance, a doctor for health-related content, an accountant for finance content, and a certified hairstylist for content about hairstyling tips.

• An individual with Google authority: This is someone who has created an online reputation for writing top-notch content for a specific niche. For instance, a successful blogger or freelance writer. 

Auditing Your Site SEO for E-A-T Content

If you already have a website that doesn’t meet Google’s E-A-T requirements, conducting a site audit, in this case, is ideal. It prevents you from creating a website from scratch, saving you time and effort, and ensures that you don’t forego any existing traffic coming to your website. 

Here’s what you need to look for in the audit:

• Absence of authorship 
• Insufficient author bios or links that indicate the author’s expertise
• Scarcity of backlinks, especially when it’s been long since your content has been published. 
• Whether each page is ranking for the appropriate keywords.
• Does your content accurately answer the searcher’s intent?
• Is your content obsolete? A yearly review of your content is essential to ensure it’s up-to-date, especially when new technology has been introduced. 
• The number of links on every page to other authority sites
• The number of links on every page to your content.

FAQs

Final Words

Here is what you need to know about succeeding in Google’s SERPs: it doesn’t require any secret sauce that only the high-ranking sites know. Anyone can secure the top spot, provided they’re willing to invest the hard work that leads to such a result.

For starters, I’d suggest that it’s vital to stay updated with trends and produce evergreen content that ranks in the present and has the potential to rank in the future. 

Integrate the checklist pointers I’ve mentioned above to improve your E-A-T score. For more tips to attract organic traffic and improve your SERP rankings, stay tuned for my next post!

You have to frequently revise your strategy according to these factors to polish your page for better rankings in the future.