What is Google’s EEAT Methodology for SEO?
Demonstrating Google’s EEAT methodology is one way digital marketing agencies and whitelabel local SEO companies bolster SEO outcomes. EEAT, which stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, is a part of the search quality rater guidelines. Google uses EEAT to determine whether its search algorithms are returning quality results for users. Here’s an overview of the EEAT methodology and what it means for SEO:
Personal Experience
Experience is the first component Google instructs its quality raters to assess using EEAT guidelines. When evaluating experience, quality raters seek to determine if the content you publish stems from personal experience. If the content is a product review, Google expects you to have interacted with the product you’re writing about. People often seek proof of personal, customer experiences because they may believe them to be more dependable than what the brand says about itself.
Experienced content creators offer tested suggestions and authentic insights. As a whitelabel local SEO company or national agency, demonstrating experience with your client’s brands includes providing bios for all content creators. Feature references to personal experiences directly in the content when writing product reviews. You can also provide video or other media that give looks into behind-the-scenes aspects of the business. Work with the brand to build genuine experience and knowledge in the subject matter.
Provable Expertise
The second component of the search quality rater guidelines is expertise and deals with topical knowledge, qualifications, and credentials. If your client’s enterprise is in the medical, safety, journalistic, investment, or government sectors, it falls under what Google calls your money or your life topics. These enterprises must provide proof of expertise, such as licenses, degrees, and professional associations.
When demonstrating expertise on your clients’ brands, make sure the credentials are verifiable. Include a hyperlink on the license numbers to redirect readers to the official sites where they can verify the information. If the client doesn’t have degrees and professional credentials, use videos to demonstrate their technical skills and expertise. Other ways to demonstrate expertise include publishing accurate, in-depth content with reputable citations, sources, and studies.
Recognized Authority
Authoritativeness is the third component Google instructs its human quality raters to assess in published content. Unlike expertise, which involves proving your skills and knowledge through credentials and videos, authoritativeness deals with overall reputation among other experts. Peers, influencers, and other experts recognize you as an expert on the subject by citing and linking to your content. Websites with more quality backlinks have more authority.
Quality backlinks refer to links from other high-authority third-party websites, government agencies, research journals, legacy media, and licensed learning institutions. One way your SEO agency can help clients earn quality backlinks is through consistently publishing quality content. Build positive reviews, coverage, and mentions that build the reputation of the client’s brand. Use SEO tools to assess domain and page authorities to find sources with high-quality backlinks.
Trustworthy Content
Google quality raters rank trustworthiness above all other EEAT metrics because it deals with factual accuracy, validity, transparency, and security. Pages with untrustworthy content have low EEAT regardless of how well they exhibit experience, expertise, and authoritativeness. Demonstrating experience involves many aspects, from revealing content authors to providing accessible contact pages and exceptional customer support.
Quality raters see reliable customer support, accessible authors, and transparent about us pages as makers of legitimate and trustworthy businesses. Other core tenets of trustworthiness include secure websites, up-to-date customer protection, and factual, accurate information supported by evidence. Link claims to trusted sources and studies and make sure website terms and policies are accurate and accessible. Represent user reviews accurately, disclose advertising relationships, follow ethical practices, and improve user experience on the website.
Work With a Whitelabel Local SEO Agency
Demonstrating EEAT gives your clients and brands a better chance of ranking higher on search engine result pages. One way to demonstrate EEAT in your clients’ brands is by working with SEO experts who understand the guidelines. Contact a whitelabel local SEO company today to learn more about implementing Google EEAT for better SEO outcomes.