How great to rank well with your own content?
You create content that is as comprehensive as possible that fits the search intent of the target group and delivers qualitatively valuable contributions. It’s easy, isn’t it? If only it were so clear what is meant by quality in this context. Fortunately, Google tells us what is important in a website. And this is where the EAT principle comes into play…
Because the EAT principle is the core factor when it comes to the qualitative evaluation of a website by Google. If you’re doing content marketing, then it’s imperative that you get to grips with it. You only have a lasting chance of achieving relevant rankings with your content if you orientate yourself on this. What is it all about? We’ll be happy to explain that to you.
What does the EAT principle mean?
First of all: The EAT principle is not based on a score. So there is no number that is calculated by a program and can then be optimized until it is as high as possible and lights up green. After all, this is not about a quantitative factor, but solely about quality.
EAT stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. So the principle is about three factors that together have a major impact on the ranking of your content. Together they summarize what makes a good website for Google.
Google revealed all of this itself. Because as part of a transparency strategy, the so-called Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines have been published regularly since 2013. This is a set of rules that are used to properly prepare so-called quality raters.
It is assumed that there are well over 10,000 quality rating factors. This helps Google to categorize information correctly and to understand what is good content for people – and what is not.
The aim of Google EAT is to be able to offer the best possible user experience. The search via Google should be as pleasant, fast, and successful as possible. In these guidelines, the EAT principle is explicitly mentioned as a core factor for assessing quality. This fits with the focus on user experience because all three factors – expertise, authority, and trustworthiness – ultimately contribute to improving the usage behavior of Google and the respective website.
Expertise: Prove you know your stuff
The expertise describes the level of content of a text. This is both about the content itself and about the person who wrote the content. Ultimately, in short, Google wants to find real expertise from proven experts on your website.
Especially for blogs, this means that it makes sense to identify authors. They should write content about topics that they really know and where their knowledge can shine.
If you take a closer look, it’s not really a big surprise. Because, of course, a supplier of handicraft supplies does not write any content about make-up tips, just as a professor of English studies would not publish any content about higher mathematics in his blog.
So concentrate on your specialist area and provide here extensive and all-encompassing content that underpins your status as an expert.
Authority: Earn a Standing
The authority of a source plays an immense role, especially in times of fake news. Accordingly, it is important to Google that your website is to be regarded as absolutely serious.
Here, too, the reputation of the website or of the authors plays a role. Frequent backlinks from other websites dealing with similar topics are a sign that your content and website have authority.
In addition, it is about independent evaluations and assessments. These can be submitted on a wide variety of platforms and help to give your website a certain status.
In addition, overall brand awareness includes this factor. When people know your brand, they’re more likely to search for a product related to your brand name (e.g., Nike running shoes). As a result, Google understands that the brand enjoys some authority in the industry.
So, if you really want to build authority, you need to use every means of PR to publicize your brand and position yourself as a reputable professional anytime, anywhere.
Trustworthiness: Gain trust
How trustworthy a website is can be determined at various points. First of all, it’s about the content. This can be classified as trustworthy if you have adhered to the previous points of the EAT principle.
In addition, you should legal and technical necessities of any modern fulfillment site. That means:
- Complete Imprint that is easy to find
- Extensive Privacy Policy and corresponding consent request (Cookie Consent)
- No spam and ads
- Security measures such as an SSL Certificate
When providing this information, always ensure completeness and correctness. This is the only way to show that you have nothing to hide and that you take the security and rights of your website visitors seriously, and deserve their trust.
15 tips to optimize your website according to the EAT principle
- Let content only be written by real experts
- Bring as much expertise as possible into your content
- Where appropriate, identify the authors
- Deal with the subject of search intention
- Create all-encompassing content that fits the target group
- Edit and correct
- Regularly check the content for accuracy and check the facts
- Integrate if necessary reputable sources who themselves are an authority
- Creating content that is potentially shareable
- Build your business as knowledgeable on all channels
- Make website information easily accessible and ready
- Keep your website free from spam and ads
- Don’t make empty promises
- Maintain terms and conditions, imprint, and data protection
- Ensure website security through SSL certificate etc.
- The EAT principle will also be important for your ranking in the future
The trend of the last Google updates shows a clear direction: The user experience is the focus of all innovations. The search engine aims to ensure that the search is successful as quickly and easily as possible. People should type in keywords, click on a search result and be happy with it.
It is accordingly clear that the EAT principle will continue to play an important role in the future will play in SEO. For companies that do content marketing, this means that you have to implement this part of the marketing as seriously and seriously as possible. Do you understand content marketing as conveying content that builds and strengthens your brand in the long term?
Anyone who expects content to be a quick solution for more traffic and sales will sooner or later fail with their strategy. Because the EAT principle clearly points in a different direction and towards high-quality content that conveys real knowledge. Only in this way will you have lasting success with your content.
