What we eat has a direct influence on our health. The same applies to your website.
The healthier a website’s E-A-T, the higher its value and the more likely it is to perform well in the search engine rankings.
But what is E-A-T and just why is it so important?
E-A-T is an acronym for E (Expertise) A (Authority) T (Trust) and it was established a few years ago by Google as part of its push to give users the best experience possible and the best search results possible. Google uses E-A-T to assess websites in terms of the quality of their content and their relevance and will reward those with good ‘E-A-T-ing habits’ with higher rankings.
Even though E-A-T was first introduced some time ago, most website managers really started to take notice of it when Google put it front and centre of its major 2018 Update, commonly referred to as the ‘Medic Update’. The search engine giant has even said that it is in its top three factors when it comes to assessing page quality.
In short, building your website’s E-A-T is critically important in setting your business up for online success.
The greater a website’s E-A-T rating, the more likely it is to rank well in the search engine pages and the greater the likelihood of more website traffic and increased conversions.
Let’s look at what each of the components of E-A-T involves and then investigate ways of incorporating it into your website.
This relates to the author of the main content on the page. Who created the content? What are their credentials? What qualifies them to be recognised as an expert?
The person who created the content on the page needs to be an expert in their field. This will obviously be more important for sites that offer professional advice, eg a law firm or a financial advisor and it is possible to prove expertise by sharing details of the content creator’s qualifications, credentials and expertise. Google may even consider someone to be an ‘expert’ if they have life experience in a particular area.
This refers to several elements of a website, namely the content, the primary content creator or author and the website itself.
Is the author respected as an industry leader or spokesperson? What is their background? How does a user know that they are acknowledged as an authority? Does the content have authority? Testimonials, case studies, links to published articles, industry awards, accreditations, membership of professional bodies and reviews are valuable proof of the creator’s standing in the industry and the quality of the content.
As with authority, trust refers to the content, the primary content creator or author and the website itself.
Does the quality of the content reassure the user that its creator is trustworthy? Do users feel secure on the site? Can they trust your business? Are you presenting as a reliable and honest business? Is the information on your website accurate?
There are plenty of ways of adding E-A-T to your website, and I want to show you some effective strategies that I’ve learnt in my many years as an SEO specialist and digital marketing expert in Perth.
Here are some of my tips for optimising your website’s E-A-T and improving its rankings, performance and traffic.
Of course, not all of the above apply to every website. Each website is unique and you need to implement things that will impact on your particular target market and which will benefit your specific users. But whatever your business and whatever your industry, optimising your website’s E-A-T is critical to online visibility and success.
My business, Blue Cherry Online Marketing, has been helping businesses across Australia be seen and found online and achieve tremendous e-commerce success. My focus as an SEO specialist in Perth is to achieve outstanding results for my clients without breaking the bank, and the many reviews on my website are testimonies that can be done!
If you’d like more information on how to improve your website’s E-A-T, specialist SEO advice or simply a friendly obligation-free chat about your online visibility, get in touch through the website or give me a call on 08 6313 3935. I’m here to help!
You might also enjoy: 6 Top B2B Marketing Tips and Top Five E-Commerce Tips To Take Your Website To The Next Level
Karen Dauncey has been working in SEO since 2003 and is a recognised expert in Local SEO for professional and service-based businesses across Australia.
She is the founder of Blue Cherry Online Marketing, a Local SEO and Google Ads agency she established in 2008. Through Blue Cherry, Karen has optimised over 1,000 websites and managed millions of dollars in Google Ads spend, giving her a deep understanding of what drives visibility and enquiries for service businesses in a constantly evolving search landscape. Over the past two decades, she has worked with a wide range of local service businesses including trades, allied health, psychologists, childcare centres, naturopaths, accountants, lawyers and many more.
Karen is also the creator of The SEO School, an online SEO course designed to teach business owners how to take control of their own SEO. She regularly delivers educational programs for Local, State and Federal Government and was an advisor for the ASBAS Digital Solutions Program. Her passion for making SEO accessible drives everything she does, from free resources to hands-on training.
Karen has attended search engine conferences in London, Stockholm, Adelaide and Sydney, and was invited to attend a pilot Business Coaching Course at Google's Head Office. She holds a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK.
She is also the co-owner of the Digital Experts Directory, an online directory for female service-based businesses.
To keep up to date with the latest in SEO, join her Facebook group The SEO School Community or follow her on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Yes, keywords play a significant part in helping your business get found online by your target market, but there’s more to successful SEO than just keywords. Don’t get me wrong, doing comprehensive keyword research and knowing how and where to use them in your online content is huge in terms of your digital visibility
Google’s Helpful Content Update came with a lot of fanfare and now that roll-out is complete, let’s take a look at what this latest algorithm change means for SEO. In recent times, Google has really stepped up its efforts to improve the quality of its search results. Its stated aim is to deliver the most relevant, most
If you’ve heard the term ‘schema markup’ and are unsure as to what it’s all about (and whether you even need it on your website), this article is worth a read. We’ll discuss schema for SEO, its purpose and why you should include it on your website. After all, why wouldn’t you want to do something that research
