Google is continually updating its decision-making algorithm in efforts to provide the best answers and experience for users. Traditional factors like on-page content, optimization, external authority signals and user experience metrics continue to be critical factors for success in organic search.
However, making a decision based on the level of information, influence and integrity of a site or piece of content is such a difficult task that Google has begun to address it with its introduction and expansion of E-A-T.
So what is Google E-A-T?
Google’s E-A-T is a component within its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines that manual website reviewers use during their process of scoring websites and pages of content. These “scores” are the basis for algorithm updates to replicate the judgments a highly keen individual (i.e., a real human, not a machine) would make of a piece of content. It stands for…
- Expertise — The first factor refers to whomever the main content creator is on the page. Are they an expert on the given topic? Do they have the credentials required to back them up? When you make information like creator bylines and bios available on your website, you only solidify your expertise.
- Authority — The second factor refers to being recognized as an authority. Do those who know you and your background look to you as an industry leader? Do they view you as a reliable voice and authority in a given space? When you are accepted as a solid source of knowledge and information, people will reference you, the content itself, and the website on which your content lives.
- Trustworthiness —The third factor refers to not just the website, but the content and creator of the content. Are you a trustworthy expert and source of information that others look to? Do you provide the most honest and accurate information within your field of expertise? When you establish a solid track record of delivering expert, authoritative content over time, your trustworthiness only grows.
E-A-T is all about evaluating whether users can trust you. But, what does that mean for your website and content?
Time to implement Google E-A-T guidelines
Ok, so it’s clear. We want to rank highly for our content and want to avoid a fallout in rankings as a result of Google’s E-A-T update. Or perhaps, you’ve already seen declines and need to figure out how to recover.
1. Review existing website and content.
You should review your content often, so you can integrate updates and adapt your current content and SEO strategies to deliver the most relevant and quality content. That’s Google’s mission, and yours should align.
To accomplish it, you should take a good hard look in the mirror to see what you’re doing. If you have a great website, blog, service or product offerings, as well as a reputable company, this should organically drive positive reviews and press, links, and other items that Google and other search engines use to assess quality. If you notice that this simply isn’t the case, you’ll likely not perform well in search, regardless of the content you produce or the amount of technical SEO you pour into your website.
Aside from core service content and company information, the other thing to audit is your informational and educational content. Content is always at the forefront when it comes to search performance. And now, more than ever, it needs to improve your website’s E-A-T. This means meeting the correct standards, like being expertly written, authoritative, and trustworthy. Your assessment should analyze whether current content checks the boxes of E-A-T and prepare you for upcoming production that satisfies these elements.
Here are some tips to help when getting started:
- Remove or revise any content that may be viewed as spam, fluff, duplicate, or even harmful.
- Dive into Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Both should help identify pages that may perform poorly in terms of user behavior metics, traffic, conversions, or any other metrics that you deem essential.
- If any pages are deleted, ensure you implement relevant redirects.
- Revisit your content style guide. Revise as you see needed best to align your company and verbiage to Google’s E-A-T. (Don’t have a formal style guide? What a perfect time to develop one!)
2. Clean up your About Us page.
While this may seem obvious, the About Us page is something E-A-T will evaluate. After all, one thing that the guidelines of Google clearly state is that it should be made crystal clear who is responsible for the information on your website. Believe it or not, this matters to users as well. They want to be able to visit a source they can trust.
One of the easiest ways to gain this trust is to implement an About page if one does not currently exist. But, it’s not just about whether the page exists; it must also indicate expertise, authority, and trust. You could achieve this by:
- Displaying the experience or status of you and even your team members
- Provide client testimonials and any positive press about you
- List any awards that you have been nominated for or won
- Have your contact and business location information accessible
3. Establish a good reputation, because it goes a long way.
Reputation matters a lot. Therefore, anyone crafting content should have an author profile, photo, and provide a detailed bio about themselves, as well as create a personal touch that should speak to their trustworthiness in your category.
What belongs in the author profile to best appeal to Google’s E-A-T? Here are some ideas:
- Popular blogs or businesses they contribute on or own
- Awards they’ve won or been nominated for
- Any speaking engagements, conferences or industry events they lead or associated with
- Education and place or residence (especially helpful for local SEO)
- Top or important companies they have worked for or with in the past
4. List expert credentials.
SEO isn’t solely focused on your on-page optimization. It also includes off-page authority signals. E-A-T is no different. It concerns your website’s environment as a whole. So, ensuring that your online reputation is as good as possible is critical. Here are some items to include to best manage your online reputation:
- Press coverage: If there’s a way to get featured on notable news sources, go for it! But, please note that Google is skilled at uncovering whether the coverage was purchased. So let’s not pay to play here.
- Guest posts: It’s a good idea to get you or your authors featured on prominent websites. When you do so, it will reflect well on you.
- Reviews: Get featured on industry-related websites and have others review what you have to offer.
- Testimonials: Collect feedback from clients and customers and post them on your website.
ClearVoice’s role in Google E-A-T
Premium author talent is a, if not the, core pillar of the ClearVoice offering. Our proprietary VoiceGraph technology identifies and attracts the internet’s top author talent from more than 200,000 of today’s leading digital publications.
Every day, VoiceGraph automatically indexes and catalogs published content — with more than 100 million articles indexed so far — and uses natural language processing to determine categories and topics, while simultaneously evaluating domain and content metrics like domain authority and social sharing.
Through machine learning, VoiceGraph then associates the data with each author’s dynamically generated ClearVoice Portfolio, known as their CV, and aggregates all content published under their byline that’s discoverable by VoiceGraph. Our unique data profiles then power ClearVoice’s internal Talent Matching algorithm, which serves as the basis for their perceived influence on Google’s E-A-T score.
VoiceGraph surfacing of top talent
Authors who claim their portfolio are able to join ClearVoice’s proprietary freelance network and market their capabilities to ClearVoice and our customers.
During the Talent Matching process, VoiceGraph technology surfaces top creator talent with the expertise and topical authority related to queries and other search operators used in the internal search engine, making your mission appeal to Google’s E-A-T needs that much easier.
The connectivity and cohesiveness of freelancers, customers, and success have never been so robust thanks to the capabilities of CV Portfolios and VoiceGraph. With ClearVoice put into action, brands can expect:
- Shorter identification and onboarding of talent
- Writers who exhibit command of the category
- Bylines that carry credibility
- Authentic content for acute readers and audiences
- Increased rankings, visibility and traffic
- Less time invested with better results
Boosting Google E-A-T with the ClearVoice Talent Network
To date, ClearVoice’s proprietary freelance talent network houses over 50,000 of the highest qualified and vertically specialized freelance content creators, all recognized and published on the most trusted digital content destinations.
Our Talent Matching process searches authors across 500,000+ topics and more than 200 business categories to find the optimal match for our customers’ business and needs. This process ensures that your content creators carry significant category-specific Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness to boost the publishing website’s credibility, rankings, traffic and revenue.
We’re able to provide top Google E-A-T-friendly talent in every industry vertical, including Marketing & Advertising, Finance, Healthcare, Retail, Software & Technology, and many more.
Final thoughts
To continue and achieve organic success and rank well in search engines, you must stay updated with the ever-changing landscape of SEO. This essentially means paying close attention to Google’s major algorithm changes and noting that your work is never done in SEO and content, as you’ll need to revisit and evaluate your strategies continually.
E-A-T is just another step taken toward providing users with the best results that provide expertise and are trustworthy. Now more than ever offers the opportunity to rethink how to improve your website and build your content strategy for the future.
Learn more about how our talent network can help to improve your Google E-A-T with the expertise, authority, and trustworthiness of our freelance talent within the ClearVoice network.
