Read this article to stay ahead in SEO because it explores the evolving E-E-A-T criteria, essential for Google’s ranking and search quality tests
Download the EEAT checklist template ⬇️
EEAT Checklist Template (File –> Copy to your Google Drive)
In December 2022, Google updated the term E-A-T to include an additional “E” for “experience,” making the acronym E-E-A-T or “Double-E-A-T,” if you prefer. E-A-T plays an integral part in Google’s Search Quality Raters tests. Read the what the E-E-A-T principles are first hand here in the Search Engine Evaluator Guidelines on page 26 you’ll find this simple diagram and breakdown:
Here’s my video version of this checklist too:
Experienced Content Creators
Regarding demonstrating experience, Google says:
Very high E-E-A-T is a distinguishing factor for the Highest quality pages.
“A website or content creator who is the uniquely authoritative, go-to source for a topic has very high E-E-A-T. A content creator with a wealth of experience may be considered to have very high E-E-A-T for topics where experience is the primary factor in trust. A very high level of expertise can justify a very high E-E-A-T assessment. Very high E-E-A-T websites and content creators are the most trusted sources on the internet for a particular topic.”
So we know that EAT has existed for a while. With this new addition and the waves of AI content going out there, without further ado, here’s the E-E-A-T checklist:
Adding in Your First Hand Experience
- Adding in case studies, examples or links to relevant resources you’ve created, you’ve done the work before, show it to the user to qualify why your content should be trusted
- Bring in experts in your field to back up your statements, get commentary from trusted pros to back up your content as as source.
- Videos and images, videos are a great way to supplement content, showing your face and providing that content in a audio and visual way adds diversity to your content, as well as trust through people seeing you’re a real person!
To improve your content through experience will show Google’s algorithm and users your knowledge in your niche.
About Page
Create a very detailed “About” page for yourself if you’re a solo operator, or your company.
If you’re a business with many team members, add in profiles for each one with headshots and biographies about them personally and professionally.
Add organisation or person schema
Schema structured data is useful to have on a website because it communicates important information to Google that can then be used to present an organization’s or a person’s data in the search results in an attractive manner – here’s the link to about page schema:
Contact information
Contact information is needed so people can get directly in touch with you.
- Contact emails for different departments
- Actual phone and address (once traffic is consistent)
Why is this important? Well, you’re confident that people to reach out because your website / content is so awesome.
Although privacy is a concern, think about how Google can qualify your website as legitimate because it may not, and you’re scratching your head as to why. It isn’t a deal breaker but something to consider and test.
Accuracy is important here too for user experience, you need to keep this information updated and consistent with your Google Business Profile too.
Real authorship
Create an author bio page with your credentials and who you are on your blog to show your authority.
Manual assessors / Google raters will go through these pages when assessing EAT, so having a name and a face will add weight to your content.
This will also be connected to your about page bio, with your credentials
On Healthline’s articles they’ve put in the work behind adding in these biographies, to the extend of adding “Medically reviewed”
They’re highly aware that the information they provide is connected to E-EAT being in the medical industry:
Topical Authority
Topical authority is an SEO concept where a website aims to become the go-to authority on one or more topics. Building topical citation is about helping search engines understand a website’s matter so that it has better potential to rank for topically related keywords.
In your keyword research, make sure you’re covering what google wants to see out of authority, if you sell coffee, write about coffee, what it is when it was invented, and all the basic questions you should have the answer to because you’ve got experience
Use Semrush’s keyword magic tool to get an idea of when you select your core keyword and what questions people ask to start building topical authority.
Add Policies to Be Trustworthy
Privacy Policy
I advise creating essential pages on any website in order to boost its trustworthiness and professionalism such as Privacy Policy – legally required in many countries; reassures visitors that their personal information is kept safe.
Terms and Conditions
Another crucial page that you should add is a Terms and Conditions page. Without it, Google may not even approve your site for ads. Similarly to a Privacy Policy, there are places you can generate this online, including Shopify they have their own terms and conditions generator.
Refund Policy (for professional services and ecommerce stores)
If your website sells digital or physical products, a Refund Policy page is also essential. This page should clearly explain your policy for refunds, and it’s important to have it to avoid any potential legal issues.
Copyright Message
Finally, including a Copyright message in the footer of your website is a simple but important step in establishing your website’s authority. It should include your company’s name, the copyright symbol (or the word “Copyright”), and the current year. For example, “© 2023 | Bob’s Plumbing Services”
Fix Technical SEO Issues
Resolve errors in Google Search Console, cover off the basics of good tech SEO as well – address these types of issues first:
Crawl Errors
Occur when Googlebot cannot access your website pages, resulting in 404 errors.
Sitemap Errors
Occur when the sitemap submitted to Search Console is not in the correct format or contains broken links.
- Extra tip get your HTML sitemap in place as well, have hear great results from something this simple.
Security Issues
Occur when Google detects security issues on your website, such as malware or hacking.
Structured Data Errors
These occur when there is an issue with the structured data on your website, such as missing or incorrect information.
Mobile Usability Errors
These occur when there are issues with the mobile version of your website, such as text being too small or tap targets being too close together.
Social Profiles
A simple way to boost your trustworthiness is to have your social profiles, it’s no secret that Google takes into account the social media presence of a business when determining how to rank it in search engine results. This means setting up your company on relevant social profiles is an important step if you want to appear trustworthy and authoritative in the eyes of Google. Setup your Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, to have your foundational backlinks setup, and so when you business or name is searched the SERP will be populated with these.
Time to E-E-A-T!
It’s clear that Google places a high importance on the concept of E-E-A-T, or experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness, in its search results. By demonstrating expertise through first-hand experience, having a clear and professional About page, and building topical authority are just a few ways to improve your website’s E-E-A-T.
In summary, this checklist improve your website’s EEAT score:
- Experience
- Use personal experience examples through videos, case studies, and expert commentary.
- Expertise
- Create a detailed About Page or Company Page
- Create Author bio with experience, credentials, and background.
- Use organization and person schema.
- Authoritativeness
- Map out topical authority and create articles that project your authority in the space.
- Trustworthiness
- Add contact information; business address and phone number so you’re accessible to users.
- Improve website health through fixing technical SEO errors
- Add privacy policy, terms and conditions, refunds, and a copyright message.
