Properly Utilize E-E-A-T Signals - We Have SEO Recipe Suggestions

The world of organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO for short) is constantly evolving. Especially after the AI/AI offensive, which made waves at the beginning of the year, the conceptual and strategic orientation of a website must be rethought.

With the annual updates of search engine algorithms, especially Google's, website operators and SEOs must stay continuously informed to meet the demands. One term that has particularly emerged in recent years is E-E-A-T. But what does this term mean, and why has it become so important?

What master plan does Google have behind it? This article describes Google EEAT in detail, defines concrete measures for website implementation, and we also take a look into the crystal ball.

What is Google E-E-A-T?

Recently, Google celebrated its 25th anniversary. Since its founding in 1998, the search engine has been constantly evolving with the goal of providing users with the most relevant and high-quality information.

Over the years, the way Google evaluates the quality of websites has changed and been refined. E-E-A-T has emerged as one (of many) key factors in Google's quality assessment. Let's take a closer look at the acronym.

What does E-E-A-T mean

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. These criteria play a crucial role in evaluating content and websites.

Experience: Experience refers to the extent to which authors have direct knowledge or practical familiarity with a product, service, or webpage content. In short: Are there really expert insights into a particular topic?

Expertise: This refers to content being written or created by someone with deep expertise in a specific field.

Authoritativeness: This refers to the reputation of a website or an author. Content written by a recognized authority or expert in a field is considered more credible.

Trustworthiness: This refers to how secure and trustworthy a website is, including technical aspects (like a secure connection) and content-related aspects.

When examining the individual factors, it becomes clear that differentiation of the four core themes is not always possible. There are many overlaps in SEO EEAT. However, the basic principle should always be kept in mind.

Figure 1: Composition of EEAT

Since when does E-E-A-T exist?

The concept of E-E-A-T is not new. It was first introduced in the so-called "Quality Rater Guidelines" in 2014. However, it has gained significant importance in recent years as Google places increased emphasis on high-quality content. With the latest Helpful Content Update (September 2023) from Google, the importance of the four Google EEAT factors was emphasized once again.

Why is E-E-A-T so important for SEO?

With a strengthened focus on experience, expertise, trust, and authority, Google has made it clear that quality is at the center of its evaluation criteria. Websites that follow the E-E-A-T signals have a better chance of ranking higher in search results. Therefore, it is crucial for anyone dealing with these factors to understand, apply, and, of course, make the successes associated with E-E-A-T measurable.

Let’s take a look at the manual - Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines

Google uses a complex algorithm to determine the order of search results - and thus the relevance. The algorithm is one of the best-kept secrets in the world. This algorithm is continuously adjusted and updated. This often happens silently or with a "Core Update" bang.

However, to ensure that the algorithm works effectively and to include human feedback in the process, Google uses so-called "Quality Raters". Despite the AI/AI wave, it is still the case that Google relies on real human beings. These raters follow a specific guide, known as the Search Quality Rater Guidelines (SQRG for short).

What are the Search Quality Rater Guidelines?

These guidelines are a detailed document provided by Google to help quality raters assess web pages and search results. They are not direct instructions for the algorithm but a guide to help raters evaluate the quality of web pages in terms of user search queries. However, the ratings defined by the raters can certainly influence the Google algorithm.

"Our Search Quality Rating Process measures the quality of Search results on an ongoing basis. We work with ~16,000 external Search Quality Raters who provide ratings based on our guidelines and represent real users and their likely information needs, using their best judgment to represent their locale."

Source https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/hsw-sqrg.pdf

In detail:

Raters are instructed to identify and assess the main content of a page to determine if it fulfills the intended purpose.

Possible intentions might be:

• Explanation: Content aimed at clarifying misconceptions or debunking myths.

• Inspiration: Posts intended to motivate people, find new ideas, or promote creative thinking.

• Education: Content that conveys specific knowledge or skills.

• Persuasion: Texts or presentations aimed at changing opinions or prompting action.

• Reflection: Content sharing personal thoughts, feelings, or life experiences.

• Criticism: Analyses or reviews highlighting strengths and weaknesses of products, services, or ideas.

• Interaction: Posts encouraging active audience participation.

The Google EEAT factors are an essential part of the guidelines. Raters are instructed to evaluate the main content on how well it meets these criteria.

These criteria include, for example, page quality and search results.

Page Quality: This refers to the overall impression of a website, including the main content, user experience/usability, and other factors. A high-quality page should have a clear purpose and provide genuine value to users.

Search Results: Raters evaluate whether the displayed search results for a given query are useful, aiming to ensure that the results help users find the information, content, or answers they seek.

YMYL (Your Money or Your Life): Google identifies certain pages as particularly important because they can have a significant impact on the life, health, or financial well-being of users. Such pages are evaluated by higher standards - also in terms of E-E-A-T. In short: Websites with YMYL content hold a higher value in evaluations by EEAT criteria - Google looks closely.

Figure 2: User Intention with the Keyword Batman: Superhero vs. City in Turkey

In summary, the Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines are an essential document for anyone wanting to understand how Google works and what the requirements for high-quality web content are. By familiarizing yourself with these guidelines and adhering to their principles, you can increase your chances of being more visible in search results and providing genuine value to users.

Optimizing the Website according to E-E-A-T signals

The concrete question now arises: How must a page's content be optimized so that users find it, human quality raters rate it as relevant and positively, and the world's leading search engine Google is satisfied?

Here are some concrete recommendations for optimization based on SEO EEAT signals.

Author Boxes - Don’t Hide Expertise

A classic author box is a small, prominent box usually at the end of a post or article. Featuring brief information about the authors in the form of a resume, an attractive photo, and links to social media or other relevant sites.

The advantage is obvious. This element gives the entire article a face as a trust-building measure. It clearly demonstrates (professional) expertise, which has weighting in the E-E-A-T signals based on qualifications and links. Links to possible social media profiles like LinkedIn strengthen credibility and thereby further enhance the entire user experience on the website itself.

In summary, a seemingly small element offers real added value. An even stronger influence on EEAT in SEO can be generated if these info boxes themselves link to entire author subpages. These pages offer the opportunity for rankings from the specific names of the authors or in combination with possible subject-specific keyword combinations.

Figure 3: Example of an Author Box

Reviews are Good - Trust is Better

Reviews on websites (also in combination with tools like Trusted Shops, etc.) are still an important indicator for users to assess a website's trustworthiness.

• Building Trust: Reviews, especially positive ones, help strengthen users' trust in a brand or company.

• Indicator of Quality Content: Reviews can provide a clue about the quality of products, services, or content.

• User Engagement: Reviews encourage user engagement, which can be a positive signal to Google that the content is relevant and valuable.

Companies should strive to receive genuine and predominantly positive reviews from their customers and manage and respond to them appropriately.

It is essential that the review profile is realistic. Users are naturally skeptical, and completely 5-star reviews are more likely to be viewed suspiciously.

Figure 4: Example of Google Reviews

No Excuses – The Technology Must Perform

Just as a train cannot run on broken tracks, a website cannot have organic visibility if it has significant technical errors.

The technology of a website is crucial for the EEAT concept in search engine optimization, as it forms the foundation for a high-quality user experience and determines the integrity and credibility of a website.

The following points are the focus:

• Secure and Accessible Website: One might think that this topic should have arrived everywhere by now. Unfortunately, numerous sites on the web are still not equipped with basic security measures. Secure access via HTTPS shows that a website takes data protection and security seriously, which, among other things, increases trustworthiness. Accessibility ensures that search engines can easily crawl and index the content.

• Avoiding Technical Errors: Errors such as dead links, 4xx/5xx errors, or duplicate content issues can undermine trust in a website. The health of a website should be regularly critically examined. Information from the Google Search Console provides many helpful insights.

• Fast Loading Times: Fast loading times improve user experience and can increase trust in the site.

A solid technical foundation is essential for a website to be seen as authoritative and trustworthy. If the technical foundation or CMS of a website is not up-to-date, the EEAT profile, regardless of the quality of the content, could suffer.

Conclusion on Dealing with E-E-A-T

When implementing EEAT factors, it is the reasons and derivations (from Google) that matter. These insights should be in the back of the mind of anyone optimizing their website. Also crucial are the regularly published updates or significant changes by Google that may affect the search algorithm or the appearance of search results.

In summary, it is clear that E-E-A-T is crucial for creating and presenting high-quality content on the web.

Websites providing content with high expertise, authority, and trustworthiness tend to have better rankings in Google’s search results.

If you want to optimize your website according to the Google EEAT signals, we can significantly support you in the implementation. Contact our experts in this area and schedule an appointment.