Google E-A-T aims to give its users the best experience as possible by promoting websites that they truly trust. Therefore, Google is training the algorithm to determine whether a website can be trusted. In order to achieve this, they created a set of publicly available guidelines called the “Search Quality Raters” to help them measure the quality of a websites main content (MC).
What Is Google E-A-T?
E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authority and Trust. According to Google, E-A-T is considered one of the “most important factors” when considering the overall Page Quality Rating of a websites MC.
Expertise: expert skill or knowledge in a particular field.
This means the content creator should be an expert in the given domain. This is particularly important for those creating content on topics such as medical, financial or legal advice, otherwise known as ‘Your Money or Your Life’ (YMYL).
Authority: the power or right to give orders and make decisions.
The creator of the content must be trusted and the information must be accurate. Therefore, when users search the internet they are given the best person to go to as well as “factually accurate content”.
Trust: the ability to be relied on as honest or truthful.
The main content needs to show users that they can trust the website. For example, if a deal is too good to be true, it usually is. This is particularly important with eCommerce sites that ask users for their credit card details.
What Are The Google E-A-T Characteristics Of High-Quality Page?
As stated by Google’s Search Quality Raters Guidelines in section 4.1, a high-quality page should have “a beneficial purpose and achieve that purpose well”.
In addition, a high-quality page should have the following characteristics:
- A high level of expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness.
- A satisfying amount of high-quality main content, including a descriptive or helpful title.
- Satisfying website information and/or information about who is responsible for the website. For example, an eCommerce site should have satisfying customer service information.
- Positive website reputation for a website that is responsible for the MC on the page.
On the other hand, the characteristics of Low-Quality Page include:
- An inadequate level of Expertise, Authoritativeness & Trustworthiness (E-A-T)
- The quality of the main content is low
- There is an unsatisfying amount of main content for the purpose of the page
- There is an unsatisfying amount of website information or information about the creator of the main content for the purpose of the page
- A mildly negative reputation for a website or creator of MC, based on extensive reputation research
For example, The Iconic is one of Australia’s best online clothing and footwear store. It is a secure and trustworthy site, that ensures free returns, has a clear, purposeful and extensive customer service section.
On the other hand, the website ShoesBuyEasy is not owned by Nike, yet displays the Nike logo. Unlike The Iconic, this site lacks credibility because it does not offer an official company name, location or verified badges.
How Can You Improve Your Google E-A-T Score?
1. The Name Of The Author
“understanding who is responsible for a website is a critical part of assessing E-A-T”
2. Personal Branding
“You should expect to find reputation information for the large business and websites of large organisations, as well as known content creators”
3. Remove or Edit Low E-A-T Content
For example, if the main content is offering medical advice there should always “evidence that the author has medical expertise”. However “for some topics, most expert sources of information are ordinary people sharing their life experiences on personal blogs, forums, reviews, discussions etc.”
4. Security
Ensure your site is secure. For example, a “shopping checkout that has an insecure connection” would be considered a “low quality” page. In order to earn a high-quality rating, get verifiable badges and certificates.
What Else Is Google Looking For In “High-Quality” E-A-T Pages?
For more information check out their the entire version of Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. If you want to learn more about how website content characteristics can impact search rankings, watch our video below:
At SEO Sydney, we pride ourselves on our authentic approach to ranking strategies. If you are looking for an SEO provider that will provide your pages with expertise, trust and authority, contact us today.
One thought on "What Exactly Is A Google E-A-T Score?"
Really informative article. Looking forward to similar articles. I have learned a lot about the importance of E.A.T from your blog.