Why You Need To Add E-A-T To Your Website

E-A-T is an acronym that stands for expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness and it relates to how Google values a website and how it ranks webpages in its search engine results pages.

Google introduced its E-A-T website quality standards concept in 2018, and it is just as important today as it was then.

Why E-A-T Is Crucial To Your Website

This article explores why E-A-T is crucial and gives you some insider tips on how you can build these vital elements into your website and improve your ranking.

Firstly, let’s look at the individual components of E-A-T.

Expertise 

Expertise establishes the credentials of the author of the content and demonstrates that they are an expert in their field.  Expertise is a particularly important factor for websites that offer advice that is professional in nature and which could potentially have an impact on a person’s finances, their health and wellbeing or their safety.  Such websites are commonly called YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) sites and the scope of their influence includes things like investment planning, financial, legal and medical advice.

Authority

Authority demonstrates that the author is highly regarded in their industry and enjoys respect and status.

Trust

This is about establishing the trustworthiness and authenticity of your business and of your website.  Users need to feel safe and secure when using a site and interacting with a particular business.

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

When Google itself says that E-A-T is one of its top three considerations in terms of Page Quality, you know they mean business.  If your website takes itself seriously, it needs to E-A-T!

Basically, Google rewards high quality, authoritative and reliable content with good rankings.  The better your ability to demonstrate E-A-T, the more likely you will appear higher up in the search pages.  It’s that’s simple.

Now for some smart ways of building expertise, authority and trust into your website.

Demonstrating ‘Expertise’

Basically, you want to show that the author of the content is legitimately a leader in their field.  You can demonstrate this in a number of ways, including:

• A carefully constructed ‘About Us’ page. You should mention any qualifications and experience which elevate your standing in your industry.  Where appropriate, include details of key team members to demonstrate their skill set, their expertise and experience.
• Profiles or biographies of the authors of your blogs/articles etc. Include a summary of their qualifications, experience and professional and specialist skills to demonstrate expertise.  A high quality photograph accompanying this bio is also helpful.
• Have a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. A list of relevant questions with detailed answers is another good way of demonstrating expertise.

Demonstrating ‘Authority’

The goal is to show that the creator of the content commands respect in their industry.  Do this by:

• Customer Testimonials. Genuine testimonials from customers are a good way of establishing authority.  The author’s full name and the name of their business will add another level of impact.
• Reviews.  You should aim for a steady stream of reviews across multiple platforms including Google My Business and social media.  Five-star reviews are the ultimate stamp of approval, so you should highlight these where possible.
• Membership of professional bodies. List the names of industry organisations/professional bodies that you or your company belong to.
• Professional Accreditations. Industry accreditations will enhance your reputation.
• Industry awards. Recognition by your peers in the industry will strengthen your authoritativeness credentials.  If possible, include a photo of your company representative receiving the award plus a brief description of the reasons leading to the accolade.
• Case studies. Including case studies on your website is a great way of demonstrating that you are an authority and a leader in your field.   Here are some of the important things to include if possible – how you were able to meet objectives, overcome challenges, stay within budget, hoe you added value for the client etc.
• Inbound and outbound links. Links to your website from other sites (eg when another site shares your blog) and from your site to other authoritative sites will give your site credibility.

Demonstrating ‘Trust’

Trust is probably the factor which has the greatest influence over whether people buy from your site.  Are your visitors comfortable buying from you?  How do they feel about making an enquiry?

Here’s how you can inspire trust:

• Prove your site security. An SSL certificate is an absolute must.
• Provide details of your physical address, preferably with a Google Maps location. Showing that you have a bricks-and-mortar premises will reassure your site visitors that you actually exist!
• Display your contact details prominently. Ideally, your visitors should be able to click on your contact button to get in touch with you.  Having both a landline and a mobile number is an added advantage.
• Offer a ‘Live Chat’ option. Customers will feel far more confident about their purchasing decision if they’re able to have a conversation with an expert beforehand.

Why I Recommend E-a-T to All My Clients as an ‘Seo Non-negotiable’.

I’ve been in the SEO and digital marketing industry for nearly two decades and have experienced many changes to Google’s algorithms over the years as it strengthens its focus on delivering the best possible search results and search experience to its users.  I’ve learnt that for a website to have the best chance of climbing up the rankings, it has to do what Google wants.  And Google wants websites to E-A-T!

E-A-T is one of the key focus areas of my new self-managed SEO course, The SEO School, which I designed specially to help business owners take charge of their own search engine optimisation.  The course is modular, easy to understand and enables you to implement the key elements of SEO into your own website as you progress through the course.  Plus you’ll get some of my tried and tested insider tips and tricks that I’ve gained over the years as an SEO expert in Perth.

If your website could benefit from improved online visibility and increased sales, check out my new online, self-managed course, The SEO School, which takes you through all the key tools and techniques of a successful SEO strategy.  The course is great for business owners, website managers and anyone who wants hands-on learning about all the essentials of SEO from an industry expert.  Find out more about The SEO School here.

Check out these posts for more info: Six Off-Page SEO Tactics Every Website Should Use and How Businesses Can Improve Their Online User Experience

Karen Dauncey

Karen Dauncey has been working in SEO since 2003. She specialises in helping businesses get found online through Google using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) She is the founder and creator of The SEO School an online SEO Course to help teach business owners how to do their own SEO. She regularly delivers educational programs for both Local, State and Federal Government and is an advisor for the ASBAS Digital Solutions Program. Karen’s passion and commitment to help small business owners get found online is the driving force behind her online school, making SEO advice accessible to all with free resources and online courses.

Karen's wealth of SEO knowledge and practical digital marketing experience comes from running her own SEO and Google Ads agency, Blue Cherry Online Marketing since 2008. Karen has optimised over 1000 websites, managed millions of dollars' worth of spend on Google Ads and has a solid understanding of the constantly shifting industry of digital marketing and SEO. This gives her a unique advantage when it comes to being able to recommend the right online marketing strategies for your business. This gives her a unique advantage when it comes to being able to recommend the right online marketing strategies for your business. She was recently recognised as an SEO Expert for the popular course creation platform, Kajabi as well as appearing on ABC Radio
for her expert opinion on the ACCC's investigation into search engines.

Karen has attended search engine conferences in London, Stockholm, Adelaide and Sydney, and was also invited to attend a pilot Business Coaching Course at Google’s Head Office. She has 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 serviced-based businesses to promote their business (with a great backlink for SEO).

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.