Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust (E-E-A-T) form the bedrock of Google’s search engine algorithm updates. An intricate understanding of E-E-A-T is essential in developing an effective SEO strategy.
E-E-A-T is the driving force behind Google’s algorithm updates since it first surfaced in 2014. It was introduced as a critical factor in Google’s Search Quality Guidelines, under the section named “high-quality pages.” The evolution of E-A-T shows Google’s commitment to ensuring the reliability, relevance, and usefulness of every search-result portal that it anchors on a SERP ladder.
E-E-A-T plays a crucial role in shaping the SEO landscape. Content creators and SEO professionals need to pay attention to this shift, given that it has a significant impact on rankings and web traffic. It’s an essential measure adopted by Google to keep quality control check on the content it presents amid the inundation of digital information.
The Google Medic Update rolled out in August 2018 highlighted the importance of E-E-A-T immeasurably. Notably, it targeted sites with low E-E-A-T scores, affecting their rankings, particularly those falling in the Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) category.
For YMYL websites, the cost of low E-E-A-T is considerable. Google’s emphasis on E-E-A-T in such websites has compelled site owners to ensure their content is accurate and comes from trustworthy sources, or otherwise risk being de-prioritized.
An example of this was seen through the ketodash.com case. This website, dedicated to ketogenic diets and low-carb lifestyle choices, saw a significant traffic decline following the Google Medic Update due to its low E-A-T score.
Therefore, E-E-A-T is not just a ranking factor; it’s a protective layer that Google uses against content that, on the surface, appears high-quality but comes from unreliable sources. It’s a defense mechanism ensuring users get information that is beneficial and worth trusting.
Ranking well on Google’s SERPs, then, rests on optimizing E-E-A-T. This strategy should start with boosting one’s perceived expertise and authoritativeness, improving the user experience, and gaining audience trust.
Once these foundational steps are in place, it’s a matter of continually refining and updating content to stay aligned with the ongoing evolution of E-E-A-T and Google’s search engine algorithms.
Reflecting on the aftermath of the Google Medic Update, it emerged that health and medical websites constituted the majority of the top 30 traffic losers. This further underscores the weight Google places on E-E-A-T in an attempt to protect users from potentially harmful or misleading information.
In conclusion, mastering E-E-A-T for optimal SEO is a task that requires strategic insight and a deep understanding of Google’s ranking guidelines. It’s a long-term obstacle course that rewards every right move with higher SERP rankings and, by extension, increased traffic. Therefore, understanding and leveraging E-E-A-T should be the priority of every content creator and SEO professional. Keep in mind, while the road to mastering E-E-A-T may seem arduous, the results make the journey worthwhile.
In the age of digital information, quality and trust reign supreme, and Google ensures these tenets are upheld through its E-E-A-T guidelines. To excel in this arena, content creators and SEO professionals should continuously evolve along with the paradigm shifts in Google’s algorithms, thus reaping the rewards of web traffic and visibility.
Up until working with Casey, we had only had poor to mediocre experiences outsourcing work to agencies. Casey & the team at CJ&CO are the exception to the rule.
Communication was beyond great, his understanding of our vision was phenomenal, and instead of needing babysitting like the other agencies we worked with, he was not only completely dependable but also gave us sound suggestions on how to get better results, at the risk of us not needing him for the initial job we requested (absolute gem).
This has truly been the first time we worked with someone outside of our business that quickly grasped our vision, and that I could completely forget about and would still deliver above expectations.
I honestly can't wait to work in many more projects together!
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