How to use Google E-E-A-T to boost your website’s SEO

‍What is SEO and why is it important for my business?

Great SEO (search engine optimization) is a key success factor for any business that relies on a website for bringing in new customers. The better your website ranks in search engines, the more visibility, traffic and, ultimately, leads you will win. Sites that rank well are those that make it easy for customers to browse and buy, whether that’s through case studies, testimonials, helpful FAQ content or expert product guides.

What is Google’s E-E-A-T?

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust and is a key part of how Google evaluates the quality of content. As a result, these are the key components your online content should demonstrate if you want to appear higher in Google’s search rankings.

But what do the qualities actually mean?

·        Experience: first-hand experience of the topic

·        Expertise: knowledge or skill with the topic

·        Authoritativeness: a reputation as a go-to, respected authority on the topic

·        Trustworthiness: you’re legitimate, transparent and accurate

Digital PR is used to increase awareness of your brand through online channels and can play an important role in enhancing E-E-A-T qualities, as it is perfectly placed to build trust and authority in the eyes of Google, the media and, therefore, potential customers.

How does Google rank using E-E-A-T?

In order to present the best, most relevant search results, Google seeks to replicate how a human would judge a business, also known as ‘reputation’. They do this by asking questions like: does their website look legitimate, knowledgeable, and transparent? How are other people talking about them e.g., industry news, national media titles or influencers? Google is designed to reward quality content with a good SEO ranking, enabling more potential customers to find your website.

With that in mind, these are five tips for utilising E-E-A-T to improve SEO.

1.      Offer clear, accurate contact details

Google pays attention to the way that businesses display their contact information. Ensuring contact information is clear, easy to find and up to date assures Google that it is a trustworthy and transparent site.

2.      Create a company ‘About Us’ page

The ‘About Us’ page can play a crucial role in Google’s E-E-A-T. It should be a synopsis of a company’s history, purpose, culture and team, whilst also outlining why the company exists, what it does, how it creates value and who is behind the day-to-day. Ensuring an ‘About Us’ page covers these key elements will help to optimise it and, in Google’s eyes, establishes business credentials.

 3.      Secure brand mentions from authoritative websites

Backlinks and brand mentions are enduring signs of authority and carry significant weight when it comes to SEO. The most effective tactic to achieve them is Digital PR, which is a  combination of PR tactics and SEO strategy. In Google’s opinion, featuring in publications which are relevant and authoritative means that the website is more trustworthy, and it therefore rewards it as such. This has a considerable positive impact on SEO.

4.      Write detailed bios

Each member of the team should have an in-depth profile of themselves, which is not only useful for those enquiring through your website but is also equally critical to SEO. The bios should include information detailing career history, industry knowledge, key skills and even link to their social media accounts. Then anything written should be linked to these profiles, indicating their expertise and experience to Google.

5.      Become known as a subject matter expert

To help establish an employee’s expertise, consider capitalising on external opportunities such as interviews, guest posts and thought leadership articles in order to build a digital profile across relevant, authoritative media. This means that when future pieces are written by the same individual, it will identify them as a topical expert and rank them as such in search engine results.

Find out more about how Digital PR helps boost SEO through E-E-A-T.