EEAT in SEO stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, which are principles Google uses to evaluate content quality, especially for Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) topics. While not a direct ranking factor itself, Google uses these human-assessed criteria to train its algorithms, meaning content that scores well on EEAT is more likely to rank highly. Optimizing for EEAT involves demonstrating firsthand knowledge, showcasing expert credentials, citing credible sources, and providing a trustworthy user experience.
What EEAT means
- Experience: Content created by someone with direct, first-hand experience with the topic.
- Expertise: The author possesses the necessary knowledge, skills, or credentials for the subject matter.
- Authoritativeness: The website, author, or content is recognized as a go-to source in its field.
- Trustworthiness: The content is accurate, reliable, and the website is secure and transparent, with clear contact information and positive reviews.
Why it’s important for SEO
- Improves content quality: EEAT helps ensure that content is accurate, reliable, and valuable to users.
- Reduces misinformation: It is particularly critical for sensitive YMYL topics like health, finance, and legal advice to protect users from harm.
- Impacts rankings: Google’s algorithms are trained on the Quality Rater Guidelines, which are based on EEAT. High EEAT signals can indirectly lead to higher rankings.
- Boosts AI Overviews: The EEAT score helps determine which content Google’s AI will use to generate summaries at the top of search results.
How to improve EEAT
- Highlight experience: Have authors write from their lived experience and include bios that showcase their relevant background.
- Showcase expertise: Ensure content is accurate, well-researched, and written by subject matter experts.
- Build authority: Aim to become a recognized source in your niche through relevant backlinks and mentions.
- Increase trustworthiness: Include clear contact information, a secure HTTPS connection, positive reviews, and cite credible sources to build user confidence.
- Emphasize user experience: Create easy-to-navigate, high-quality content that meets user needs and encourages reviews and engagement.