What are EEAT factors in Google, and how to improve them

In 2014, the term EAT appeared in Google’s quality rating guidelines. It stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness.

In December 2022, Google added a new “E” (for Experience) to its EAT content quality standards. It is now EEAT or Double-EAT.

You need to demonstrate EEAT in your content strategy to rank high in Google searches.

In this article, we will look in detail at what EEAT factors are, their impact on SEO, and how to improve this indicator to increase your ranking in Google.

What is EEAT?

Imagine this: you are searching for flu treatment advice on the Internet. Which sites would you trust with your health: an amateur blog or an official medical portal? Most of us would probably prefer the second option. This is how the EEAT principle works in Google.

EEAT is an acronym that stands for:

• E (Expertise) — expertise.
• E (Experience) — experience.
• A (Authoritativeness) — authority.
• T (Trustworthiness) — reliability.

Let’s take a closer look at the EEAT factors.

Expertise

This factor shows how competent the author is in the topic he/she is covering. This can be either personal experience or professional knowledge.

Examples of high expertise:

• A cardiologist writes a detailed article about the treatment of coronary heart disease. He has a medical education, many years of practice, and publications in scientific journals.
• The blogger shares a guide to traveling around Europe by car. He has already traveled to 26 countries and gives practical advice from personal experience about routes, hotels, and attractions.
• A lawyer writes an article about the new law on advertising labeling. He specializes in advertising law and has the appropriate education and qualifications.

Experience

Shows that the content is based on the author’s real knowledge and interaction with the topic. This can be either personal observations or professional work with the subject of the content.

Examples of experience:

• The barista runs a coffee blog and publishes detailed instructions on how to make different types of coffee drinks. In his articles, he shares not only brewing techniques, but also personal observations about the effect of different types of beans on the taste of the drink, based on many years of experience working in a coffee shop.
• A professional photographer creates a camera buying guide for beginners. Instead of just listing specs, he shares real photos taken with different models and explains which features of each camera affected the final result.
• A review of the new smartphone from the owner who has been actively using it for a month. The review includes real photos, tests and comparison with the previous model.

Authority

Shows the reputation and importance of the author or site in its industry.

Examples of authoritative sources:

• A PhD-level biologist who publishes research papers on the latest research in microbiology on his personal website or in reputable scientific journals.
• An authoritative financial portal that regularly provides market analysis, news and recommendations from experienced economists and financial consultants.
• A well-known chef or food blogger who has hosted a cooking TV show for many years, published cookbooks, and participated in international culinary festivals.

Reliability

Shows that the site and the author can be trusted, the information on the site is true and verified. Such sites can be referenced in articles. 

Examples of reliable sites:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) is an international website that provides up-to-date and verified information about diseases, their prevention and treatment, as well as recommendations for a healthy lifestyle.
• Rospotrebnadzor is the official website of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing. Provides up-to-date and verified information on healthcare, sanitary rules and safety measures.
• TASS is one of the largest and oldest news agencies in Russia, providing objective news about events in the country and the world.

EEAT parameters are important for all sites, but are especially critical for resources in the YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) category, according to Google’s guidelines for assessing the quality of sites.

YMYL is content that has the potential to impact the health, finances, or well-being of users. Examples of such topics include:

• Medical information.
• Financial advice.
• Legal assistance.
• Recommendations for a healthy lifestyle.

It is vital for such sites to demonstrate a high level of EEAT, otherwise false information can negatively affect people’s lives. 

To ensure high EEAT for YMYL content, sites should:

• Engage experts and specialists to create content.
• Confirm the qualifications of the authors.
• Use only verified and up-to-date sources of information.
• Update content regularly and fix errors.
• Moderate user reviews for authenticity.

High EEAT for YMYL sites is a guarantee that users will receive accurate and useful information from experts. This directly affects the site’s reputation and its position in search.

How EEAT Affects Google SEO?

Google has repeatedly stated that EEAT itself is not a separate ranking factor that is directly used in its algorithms.

Google does not have a specific EEAT metric that automatically influences a site’s ranking. EEAT cannot be measured as easily as loading speed or domain age.

But that doesn’t mean EEAT doesn’t affect rankings. In fact, Google’s 2019 document on combating misinformation notes the importance of EEAT for a site’s ranking.

How exactly does EEAT affect rankings?

Google analyzes various indirect signals that correlate with high EEAT:

• Positive reviews and ratings from users.
• Expertise and authority of content authors.
• Quality and topical backlinks.

Google also employs human assessors to evaluate sites. Their EEAT-based guidelines help Google improve its algorithms.

Thus, EEAT indirectly influences the ranking through signals related to the quality and trust of the site. But it is not a separate factor in itself.

How to improve EEAT?

Here are some tips on how to work through the EEAT factors:

Increase the expertise of content

To show expertise, it is important to indicate the authors of materials on the site. Especially for YMYL topics.

Invite authors who understand your topic to write articles. Indicate the education, experience, and achievements of the authors of the articles. Readers should understand why this person can be trusted.

For example, an article about raising children is best written together with a psychologist or teacher who has experience working with children. This will be much more useful than advice from a random author.

But you can’t cheat – sign articles with someone else’s name. This is a violation of copyright. It can seriously damage the site’s reputation.

How to Highlight an Author for Google?

To help Google understand who the author of the content is, you can use special Schema.org markup:

• For experts and employees – Person markup.
• For the author of a specific article – Author.
• For experts who checked the material – reviewed.
• For quotations – citation with the author indicated.

This markup is needed to identify people with the same name. You can add links to Wikipedia.

For medical texts, there is a separate markup, MedicalEntity.

By using such markup, we emphasize the authorship and expertise of the content to Google. This is important for increasing the EEAT of the site.

Demonstrate expertise in content

It is especially important to show personal experience in user reviews of products, articles with tips and life hacks. 

Provide specific situations and cases from the author’s personal experience. For example, in the article 

“How to start traveling by car with children” the author indicated that she had taken children from St. Petersburg to the Black Sea several times and shares her experience:

To confirm the experience, it is worth adding photos, screenshots, and videos. For example, show things that will be useful for the child to comfortably endure the journey.

Google tries to determine how familiar the author is with the topic from personal experience. And ranks such content higher. 

The more detailed and visual you can be about the author’s experience, the better. This will build trust with users and improve Google’s perception of the content.

Add authoritative links

Why it is important to cite authoritative sources:

• Links to trusted resources increase trust in your content. They confirm the correctness and reliability of the information in the article.
• Having references shows that you have done in-depth research on the topic, relying on expert opinions and data from reputable publications.
• Links are useful for readers to learn more about the topic, and most will return to your material.
• Google takes quality external links into account when evaluating content for search results, which has a positive impact on EEAT.

What links to add:

• Links to research, statistics, expert opinions on the topic of the article.
• Links to reputable media and publications that support your facts.
• Links from Wikipedia pages that cover the topic in detail.
• Links to government resources, data from ministries and departments.
• Links to specialized portals and communities known in this field.

For example, in the article “Can Children Be Given Sweets?” the author refers to materials from the WHO (World Health Organization) website.

Show achievements

If your company has certificates or awards, create a separate page for them. The more such confirmations of your professionalism you have, the better.

Highlight your participation in significant industry events: conferences, exhibitions, round tables.

You can also create personal pages for the site’s authors and experts and list their achievements, experience, and awards there.

Keep content up to date

Regularly add new content to your site and update the old one. This is especially important for health and finance sites, where outdated data can mislead users and cause harm. 

It’s also worth reviewing materials related to a certain time period or trends. It’s important not just to change the date in the title, but to actually supplement the information.

New articles show Google that the resource is actively developing. And updating outdated information makes the content more useful for users.

Collect feedback

Reviews from clients or partners can significantly strengthen your reputation.

Positive reviews and recommendations, especially if they appear on profiles associated with your site (such as your Google business page), can improve the overall perception of your business and site.

Check the technical part of the site

The main technical aspects to check to improve EEAT are:

• Page loading speed – it should be high, optimally up to 3 seconds. A fast site inspires more trust
• Correctness and relevance of meta tags – they must correspond to the content of the pages.
• UX/UI design – the site should be easy to use, with clear navigation.
• Security – use “>HTTPS protocol and SSL certificate.
• Responsive design – the site should be displayed correctly on mobile devices.
• Code correctness – HTML/CSS code must comply with standards and contain no errors.
• Correct alt texts for images are important for website accessibility.

The better the technical parameters and usability of the site, the higher the user trust and Google’s EEAT score.

Conclusion about EEAT

EEAT—Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trustworthiness—is an integral part of modern SEO. Assessing the expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness of content plays a key role in how Google determines which sites deserve top rankings. For the best SEO agency, focusing on these EEAT factors is essential. To improve your site’s ranking, you need to pay attention to EEAT elements. This requires a systematic approach and constant work on enhancing the quality of content to align with the highest standards of SEO excellence.