Google’s new SEO quality guidelines (E-A-T)
Have you heard about Google’s new quality guidelines? Have you heard of E-A-T? Today we will try to explain what the terms expertise, authority and trust mean for SEO.
Google’s duty of care
Search engines make information available to a broad mass of people, but this can also be bad information, which is where E-A-T comes into play. Bad or even dangerous information should of course not be disseminated by search engines, but how can this be guaranteed? The abbreviation E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authority and Trust and, according to our experts, should help Google to avoid these sources of danger.
Google and all other search engines are looking for strategies to ensure the truthfulness and trustworthiness of pages and content so as not to make themselves vulnerable. In the worst case, the dissemination of false information in a “super disaster” would mean the end of the respective search engine. According to SEO criteria, changes to the algorithm or the way the search engine works must be related to quality optimization, but there is much more to it than that. This is why Google relies on quality raters who rate websites according to quality guidelines. The data entered in the database is then used to improve the algorithm. These “Search Quality Rating Guidelines” contain a lot of input, but if you reduce the whole thing, you come across three terms that occur very frequently, namely expertise, authority and trust (credibility).
Examples of sources of danger:
- General false or incorrect information (so-called fake news)
- Mass dissemination by extremists
- Extreme diseases, currently the coronavirus
- Country-specific information e.g. Brexit
Who is at risk or needs to be protected?
Over the years, we as experts have realized that many subject areas are already exposed to these dangers. Google categorizes by the term YMYL “Your Money or Your Life” or GOL index “Money or Life”. The subject areas are constantly expanding and almost anyone can slip into this subject area at any time. Of course, some are more and others less potentially at risk. For a better understanding of who should be protected, we explain in more detail who E-A-T applies to and what the individual terms mean for SEO viewers.
Not everyone is affected by E-A-T, it is mainly about websites that contain a certain amount of important information. Any website that offers or recommends something for sale or provides advice is also at risk. Because everything in the GOL index relates to the influence on mental well-being, health well-being or financial well-being.
Potentially endangered subject areas:
- Medicine
- Finances
- Travel
- E-Commerce
- Law
- News
- Real estate
- Science
- And many more
Clarification of E-A-T for SEO
At E-A-T, Google’s quality guidelines always refer to three groups at the same time: the content of the page, the authors and the organization behind it, including publications. So what can SEOsdo? Let’s first clarify the terminology for E-A-T.
- Expertise stands for the competence of a website, from research to the communication and dissemination of information and content. It presupposes that you have sufficient knowledge and experience in your field and are well versed in the respective subject area. In principle, expertise must be demonstrated, this must then also be substantiated and must be verifiable. Through e.g: Studies, title, degree, practical experience, studies, case reports, editorials, expert opinions or even certifications.
However, not all expertise is the same.
Your goal is to achieve a high level of expertise? Then follow the evidence pyramid, for example. Where are you right now? Climb the steps of the pyramid if this suits you. However, please note that the highest quality of your expertise does not necessarily have to be the highest in the pyramid. Because the following applies here: not every website content requires the highest degree of expertise through the highest verifiability, it must be suitable. For a simple recipe, a simple test or good reviews are also sufficient, a kind of lay expertise, Google calls this “Everyday Expertise”.
- Authority has to be earned. This cannot be demonstrated in comparison to the expertise. Outsiders have to give you this title and recognize your achievements. This can be realized by e.g. links from other website providers, which simply link. But it is also enough to confirm your expert status by getting references. It is also good if you are mentioned by other websites.
We as experts have our website certified by the Cert-EU e.g. according to ESEOL “European Search Engine Optimization Licence”, according to clear guidelines and standards for websites that comply with Google. We are also a partner of the certification body. For example, we have covered both areas. On the one hand, the expertise confirmed by the examination of our acquired Gold certificate and the authority through links and contributions on the Cert-EU website.
The ESEOL certificate is for website operators to ensure that the website is customer-oriented and can be found. Cert-EU checks the website and, in addition to the certificate, issues a test report and a seal for the website. The SEO optimization, content and technology of the website are checked for certification. Priority is given to performance in Google and other search engines. The certificates are only valid for 12 months and therefore guarantee a constant. The test is carried out by Cert-EU with a defined test system. The certificate is available in 3 levels (bronze, silver, gold) and offers us as website operators the following benefits: Quality assurance, the chance of a high PageRank, confirmation of SEO work, certificate seal/badge for the website, listing of the company with Cert-EU with a further increase in awareness, regular reports on the performance of our website, measured against the current evaluation guidelines of the search engine providers.
- Trust/credibility can only be achieved through trust. You have to earn this trust by providing good information, good service and always doing so consistently, simply put, through optimum customer orientation.
Reasons for loss of trust:
- old, incorrect or contradictory information
- Poor service
- bad ratings
- Missing operator information (imprint)
- Missing certifications e.g. HTTPS
- Incorrect spelling due to lack of proofreading
- No return information (stores)
- intrusive selling (stores)
For Google, the aim of all this is probably clear: to be able to recognize all these things as accurately as possible, because the search engines are ultimately responsible for this.
Expert opinion:
We are of the opinion that, according to the apparently new quality guidelines of Google, there can be an improvement in the meaningful quality of a website.
In future, Google will incorporate more and more checking mechanisms into the algorithm. These will help to ensure that the search engines actually strive for behavior in which conscientious research is carried out, content is questioned and checked, methods are applied correctly and external information is credibly confirmed.
We believe that all users and website operators who comply with E-A-T will benefit from this.