What Does it Mean to Have Good E-A-T?

If you’re a business owner, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the acronyms associated with owning a webpage. SEO, SEM, CTR, it’s enough to make your head spin. Last year, Google introduced a new acronym that has the internet all abuzz – E-A-T. 

E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Essentially, in an effort to provide more valuable and reliable information to its users, with its August 2018 update, Google switched up the algorithm, putting a heavy focus on credibility. These changes have had a big impact on businesses across the board. So it’s important to understand what it means to have good E-A-T and what businesses these changes affect. 

Why E-A-T is so important

We all like to think that we are pretty smart, but the reality is, we rely on the internet a lot. We ask Google if certain foods are safe for our pets, how to change a tire, and even turn to the internet in an attempt to diagnose that mysterious rash. So it 100% makes sense that Google wants to deliver pages with good E-A-T. Just imagine if you asked Google how to determine if your tire has enough tread and the top result was a spammy click-bait site who knew nothing about tires. The consequences could literally be deadly. 

E-A-T is a big deal at Google. It’s not just a minor algorithm update. A quick look at Google’s own Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines shows that the term shows up over and over. When the update was first released last year, many pages with low E-A-T saw their rankings plummet.

Who is most affected by E-A-T?

Unlike most updates at Google, E-A-T doesn’t affect all pages the same way. E-A-T primarily affects YMYL pages (Your Money Your Life). Google classifies these pages as any topic or page that “could potentially impact a person’s future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.” Examples of YMYL sectors include:

• Medical
• Legal
• Finance, including banks, credit cards, and shopping sites
• News
• Government agencies

In other words, any page that has the potential to affect your personal or financial wellness could fall under this umbrella. E-A-T is not as important for industries like celebrity gossip book reviews. 

What is good E-A-T?

How do you let Google know that you are a reputable source? You need to begin by understanding what E-A-T actually means. Sure we told you what it stands for, but what does it mean? When Google looks for expertise, they want someone who has above level knowledge of the topic. A webpage written by someone who has done a quick internet search on “How to treat a cold” is not an expert in medicine. If your writing in the medical field, articles written by an actual healthcare professional usually help establish a higher level of expertise. When it comes to authority, do people consider you a thought leader? Are you a go-to source in the industry? As for trust, is there proof that your audience and your industry trusts you? This may come in the form of awards, reviews, or community recognition. 

How E-A-T can benefit you

E-A-T is not one of those algorithm changes that has everyone scrambling trying to understand the right ratio of external links to internal links and how to gain more backlinks. Not only does having good E-A-T affect how Google sees you, but it also affects how users see you. This is a good change. You want to be seen as a reputable and reliable source. 

Establishing good E-A-T is a process that takes time. There is no quick or instant way to “boost your E-A-T score.” At SocialSEO, our team has the experience in digital marketing to know what it takes to make your brand stand out. If you need help with your E-A-T, we’re here to help. Contact one of our SEO specialists for a free quote today.