Google E-A-T: no, it’s not what’s for dinner!
With all the acronyms today, it can be a little hard keeping them straight! But when it comes to the future of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), E-A-T is one you’ll want to know.
What is E-A-T?
E-A-T is an acronym used by Google in it’s Quality Rater Guidelines (QRG) that is a way to “grade” your site and web presence. Considered a high priority, as it is mentioned 135 times in the 167 pages of the current draft of Google’s QRG, this is a way to test the quality of your content. By using E-A-T, the team of reviewers is ranking your site based off of the overall Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness you exhibit through your content.
Expertise
To display your expertise, you will want the author of the content (or owner of the page, if you are not creating the content yourself) to have the appropriate education, qualifications, and/or life experience to support your claim to be an expert on your subject/industry.
Authority
To establish your authority, you and/or the author will need to be recognized as an expert in your field not only by your audience but also by your professional peers. Reviews, testimonials, and quality backlinking can prove vital to establishing your authority.
Trustworthiness
To show your trustworthiness, you need to build credibility with your audience by the accuracy of your content, your transparency, and your reputation. Listing awards your business has won, recognizable brands that you have worked with, and staff introductions including headshots and qualifications all help to boost the trust of your audience.
The Future of SEO
While the Google algorithm itself may not be able to judge the quality of your content using E-A-T, there is a clear indication that E-A-T is the direction that we are looking at in the future. By knowing this, you can get ahead of the game and start optimizing the quality of your content now, so that when Google does figure out how to include it in the algorithm, you will maintain your rankings. As an added benefit, your client base will not only be grateful for your attention to detail, it could also grow!
