In August 2018, Google’s infamous Medic Update revealed the concept of Search Quality Rater. E-A-T is a ranking factor Google uses to evaluate the quality of a web page. Google organic search results are heavily influenced by page quality. According to Google’s guidelines, the following factors are most important in determining the quality of a web page:
- What is the purpose of the page?
- Expertise, Authoritativeness & Trustworthiness (E-A-T)
- Ensure quality & quantity of content
- Detailed information about the website or content creator
- Site reputation or author reputation
Therefore, the more a page displays expertise, authority, and trustworthiness, the more likely it will be ranked highly.
What does E-A-T stand for?
Google first introduced this concept in 2014 but was once again in the spotlight toward the end of 2018.
E => Experties
A => Authoritativeness
T => Trustworthiness
E => Expertise:
It is essential to highlight the expertise you possess on your website. If you are writing about health and wealth as your main content, that is especially important. On the other hand, Humorous or gossip websites require less attention. It improves your audience’s trust when you demonstrate your knowledge on a topic or assign an expert to write about a topic related to his genre.
A=>Authoritativeness:
The key to demonstrating your authority in a blog post, a discussion in a forum, or an active presence in a community will indicate quality content. A credential could be a name, job title, biography, and, most importantly, an author’s experience.
T=>Trustworthy:
A website’s primary purpose should be to achieve the trust of the audience or visitors. If you create authentic content for your users, they should feel comfortable trusting you and your goals. In eCommerce websites, there is an essential element of trust, as the users are typically required to share their bank details with the company to make a transaction. It is often found that these users are cautious about making any decisions. Consequently, you should ensure that your website users feel safe while consuming content.
How integral is E-A-T to the content of your website?
Having just gone through the introduction, you may wonder why a website deserves to be regarded as authoritative, trusted, and expert. Google analyzes page quality by taking into account E-A-T as one of the top three factors. When rating a website or web page, quality raters consider how a page can add value to the user’s life and whether the content is worth comfort and is also recommendable to other users. If the content of a website is comfortable, informative, and worth sharing, then it will secure a high level of E-A-T and, therefore, boost its ranking.
How does E-A-T relate to YMYL pages?
YMYL refers to “Your Money Your Life.”
The YMYL pages are heavily monitored by Google, as it has a significant impact on the visitors to your site. As the name implies, YMYL pages are those that offer health, financial, legal advice or other similar information to the general public. As a general rule, any content that can affect a user negatively or positively and indirectly affects their health, wealth, and happiness belongs to what is commonly known as the YMYL category of web pages. Taking a more straightforward approach:
- A page asking for bank information on an eCommerce site
- A medical page providing information about a rare disease
- The provision of financial products and legal advice through a financial website
As a result, high-ranking YMYL pages will have a high level of E-A-T, which means they are of high quality. It is because your content meets the needs of the user, which meets the purpose of E-A-T. In this way, sites that make use of Google’s system readily slay the game.
Conclusion:
A well-written and engaging piece of content can make your page or site as useful as possible. You should take steps to meet Google’s criteria for your site or page if it meets the requirements of the YMYL pages. Last but not least, if you implement E-A-T correctly every time, you will enhance the quality of your content and provide value to your users. It is one of the things that Google wants you to do, so you better follow their lead!