Google E-E-A-T: What It Is & How It Affects SEO

What Is E-E-A-T?

E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is a framework that Google’s human reviewers use to assess content quality.

It’s defined in Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines—the handbook that reviewers (known as Quality Raters) use to provide feedback on search results.

Trustworthiness is the central, most important concept:

Google wants to deliver search results that have strong E-E-A-T. To protect its users from harm and give them the best possible experience.

This is especially important when it comes to Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) topics—i.e., topics that can affect users’ well-being. Such as health and finance.

So, if Quality Raters find that results have low E-E-A-T, Google may try to improve its ranking algorithms. 

What’s the Difference Between E-E-A-T and E-A-T?

In December 2022, Google changed E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).

In other words, it added an “E” for “Experience.”

Google likely did this so that Quality Raters could better evaluate the quality of search results. Because it recognizes the value that first-hand experience can add to content.

For example, product reviews are more trustworthy when the reviewer has used the product themselves.

We’ll talk more about the different elements of E-E-A-T next.

Why Is E-E-A-T Important for SEO?

E-E-A-T is important for search engine optimization (SEO) because it helps you create quality content that performs well in Google results. (And performs well with users.)

To clarify, E-E-A-T is not a confirmed direct factor in Google’s ranking formula. 

But improving your E-E-A-T helps you align with Google’s definition of a good search result. 

Let’s break down the elements of E-E-A-T guidelines and why they matter:

Experience

First-hand experience with the subject matter allows you to provide:

• Tried-and-tested advice
• Authentic insights
• Unique opinions

So, it’s often crucial in creating quality content.

Consider this review for the board game Wingspan.

The author talks about their personal experiences. And provides unique product photos.

This experience allows them to create more insightful, unique content.

If the writer hadn’t played the game, users wouldn’t trust their opinions on it. And Google wouldn’t want to rank their review highly.

Expertise

Expertise refers to your knowledge, skills, and credentials.

For example, this health article is reviewed by an medical doctor:

As a result, users are more likely to trust the information and advice provided. And Google may be more confident in ranking the content higher.

The level of expertise required to create quality content depends on the page’s topic and purpose.

For example, people searching for money-saving tips don’t always want advice from financial advisors (Expertise). Sometimes, they want real-life examples of strategies that worked for their peers (Experience). 

That’s part of why pages like the one below (from Reddit, a popular forum-based social media site) can rank highly:

Authoritativeness

Authoritativeness refers to your reputation as a reliable source.

One way that Google gauges authoritativeness is by looking at your backlinks (links to your site from other sites). The higher the quantity, quality, and relevancy of backlinks, the more authoritative your site is perceived to be.

For example, WebMD is a well-regarded medical site. 

Backlink Analytics data shows it has backlinks from more than 616K domains. Including reputable sites like apple.com and bbc.com:

You can get an idea of your own authoritativeness with Semrush’s Authority Score (AS) metric. The higher the score out of 100, the stronger your backlink profile.

Enter your domain into Backlink Analytics and click “Analyze.”

Then, refer to the Authority Score section:

Note: Backlinks are a key way to assess a website’s perceived authority, but they are not the only way. For example, Quality Raters may be instructed to look at what others say about a website’s authority.

Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness is informed by experience, expertise, and authoritativeness. But it’s also about protecting visitors from potential harm and giving them confidence in your website/content.

So, you should ensure that: 

• Your website is secure
• Your content is accurate, truthful, and up to ****
• Users can get help if required
• You have relevant certifications, credentials, etc.

Take AnnualCreditReport.com.

It’s the only site authorized by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to provide free credit reports. And the site takes many measures to keep users safe.

This helps the website establish a high level of trust.

How to Improve Your E-E-A-T

Here are six practical ways to improve your site’s E-E-A-T for SEO:

Create Helpful Content

Create content that helps target audiences and showcases your brand’s expertise.

That way, you can grow authority in your field.

For example, REI is an outdoor apparel retailer. But it also shares lots of valuable advice about camping, hiking, climbing, etc.

As a result, REI has strengthened its reputation as an outdoors specialist.

You can find content ideas for your site with Semrush’s Topic Research tool.

Enter a topic related to your expertise. Then, select your country and click “Get content ideas.”

The tool will provide a list of content ideas.

Click “Show more” on any idea to see:

• Subtopic Volume: The average number of monthly searches for the subtopic keyword
• Difficulty: How hard the subtopic keyword is to rank for on a percentage scale
• Topic Efficiency: A measure of subtopic volume relative to its difficulty (higher = better)
• Headlines: The titles of popular webpages related to this subtopic
• Questions: Commonly searched questions related to the subtopic

Follow Strict Editorial Standards

Editorial standards are the rules you follow when creating content for your site. And it’s wise to design them with E-E-A-T in mind. So you can consistently create quality content.

For example, here’s a snapshot of our editorial standards for the Semrush blog:

Here are some quick tips for success:

• Ensure content is fact-checked and proofread by someone other than the writer 
• Create a style guide that defines the writing style you want to adopt
• Define how information should be sourced and cited
• Determine how frequently your content should be reviewed and updated
• Make sure creators use available tools to their advantage
• Ensure everyone on your team is aware of your editorial standards

With Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant, you can ensure your content is well-written, well-optimized, and original.

The tool scores your draft based on readability, originality, SEO, and tone of voice. And highlights any issues you might need to address:

If you need help improving your score, the Smart Writer provides a variety of AI-powered features:

Build Your Brand Reputation

Your brand’s reputation impacts the perceived trustworthiness of your content and site overall. So, try to get positive online exposure. 

There are a number of tactics you can try:

• Digital PR: Create stories around your brand and get journalists to cover them
• Influencer marketing: Incentivize influencers to promote your brand to their audiences 
• Guest posting: Write expert articles for other sites in your niche
• Social media management: Build relationships with your audience through social platforms
• Link building: Encourage relevant, high-quality sites to link to your content

For example, Patagonia launched a wetsuit recycling program that led to positive coverage on reputable websites:

This may help users—and Google—view the brand as more trustworthy.

To track perceptions about your brand online, use the Brand Monitoring app. It finds references to your brand name and categorizes them based on sentiment:

Sign up for alerts about new negative mentions. So you can take corrective action quickly.

And read our guide to online reputation management to learn more about protecting your brand’s image.

Credit Your Content Creators

Crediting the people who create your content can be a great way to build trust with readers.

For example, we name the writer and contributors on each blog post:

And these names link through to bio pages with more detailed information.

Like this:

These pages allow us to showcase our team’s credentials and past work. So, their experience and expertise is apparent.

If your writers don’t have the knowledge required to create quality content on your chosen topic, ask other members of your team to contribute. 

Or consider seeking outside help—experts may be willing to share their insights in exchange for exposure on your site.

Use Credible Sources

Get your information from trustworthy sources. Because there’s a lot of misinformation on the internet, and spreading it will damage your E-E-A-T.

It’s also best practice to link to your sources. So readers know you’ve done your research and can verify your claims for themselves.

For example, Healthline cites the academic journals it uses:

Leverage User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) is content created by website/platform users rather than brands. 

For example, Amazon displays videos, photos, reviews, and Q&As from its customers:

UGC can help you build trust because it can prove that you have happy customers. And allow visitors to learn from each other’s experiences.

You can prompt users to create UGC by:

• Building UGC interfaces into your website (e.g., Amazon’s Q&A section)
• Sending review request emails to customers
• Running contests that require users to create content

Start Building Your E-E-A-T

Building E-E-A-T can be a daunting prospect. But there are lots of tools that can help.

With your free Semrush account, you can:

And much more.