October 26, 2024
Durgesh Prakash
Blog

Understanding E-E-A-T: Building Trust and Authority in Your Content

Table of content

How to Integrate E-E-A-T With in Your Organisation?

It’s hard to comment on what has changed since Google’s inclusion of Experience into the 2014 coinage of its E-A-T framework. But most of us would know by now that E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, & Trustworthiness) is here to enhance the quality of content available on the web.

While Google is still one of the most widely used search engines across the world, if not the single most, the dependency on Google for credible and accurate information is undeniable. Each day millions of users explore Google’s search engine to find answers to their queries. Sometimes they need answers for a medical query, or a complication related to law or for a general view of how the world opines on a certain matter; Google answers them all. The reason there is so much talk about E-E-A-T is because people rely on Google to find answers to some of their critical life questions, and with the increasing number and nature of searches, Google had to find a way.

E-E-A-T was established by Google as a guideline that would evaluate the impact and credibility of the content. Google does this through its Search Quality Rater Guidelines which is a metric where users rate the content for its quality and impact. With this, the perception of how to approach SEO is also set to witness a huge change. With the increase in good quality content, the onus is on SEO teams to drive an effective strategy for better visibility and ranking. In a way Google’s E-E-A-T framework will set the bar for content creators. Organizations who have their presence on the web will need to churn in quality content each time as the end goal is set; to deliver trustworthy and accurate content to the users.

Understanding E-E-A-T

Let us now understand what each element of E-E-A-T truly represents and why do they matter after all.

Experience

“Experience” is the newest and probably Google’s last addition to its E-E-A-T’s model. The very reason why Google took its time to add “Experience” to its E-A-T framework was probably to negate the impact of AI on genuine content. By including “Experience”, what Google is trying to establish is the experience of an individual surrounding a subject. For example, if a person shares his travel experience of a place he visits, it becomes his/her personal moments. The same goes for a food blogger or a person coming out of personal turmoil. AI cannot emulate such personal experiences and even if it does, the lack of genuineness and originality will be evident.

Expertise

This is a factor where the credibility of the author will be crucial on the grounds of grasp on the subject, understanding, and any certifications pertaining to the subject. Apart from authoring the content, a subject matter expert reviewing the content will be crucial. For example, if an article related to medical science is validated and reviewed by a doctor the chances that users will trust the source are higher than someone who is not a professional in that field.

Authoritativeness

Authority is when the source of your content takes the form of a reputation. This can only happen by continually producing quality content that spells accuracy, relevance and credibility. Another way to command authority on your source is to link your articles and web content to reputable websites. This can happen when you collaborate with revered businesses and when the content from your website or source gets featured in their article as backlinks.

Trustworthiness

While this aspect of the framework can be easily aligned to the above three, there still lies a fine line. There is no question that a content needs to be accurate and from a credible source, which definitely helps in building an image of expertise and authority. When it comes to gaining the trust of the user, one needs to do it consistently and repeatedly, keeping in mind high moral and ethical standards. This means your content should not lure into a purchase or should not mislead user as it may involve matters related to life, health or any critical factor.

How To Integrate E-E-A-T Within your Organisation?

If you are an organisation, you can be a step ahead of the rest by integrating E-E-A-T principles into your SEO strategy. Here’s how you can do it –

Understand Your Audience’ Needs

Conduct thorough research to understand the needs of your users and target audience. Make a list of their challenges and obstacles so that you keep track of their evolution. Data analytics tools, ongoing trends, and other relevant technologies will be of great help if you want to create user-centric content.

Create Relevant Content

After all the necessary research make sure you create high-quality content addressing the challenges, trends. Make sure your content offers relevant answers or a solution to their pain points. This can only happen when your content has depth and is well researched.

Credibility

Make sure your content is derived from a credible source. Bring in subject matter expertise to write for you. Make authorities review your articles. Develop an in-house SME and be consistent with outputs.

Trust

The word is honesty. Trust builds through it. So, make sure your content has no blemishes when it comes to ethics and transparency. In a profit mongering era why not differentiate yourself by avoiding deception or any information that misleads the user.

Conclusion

The gold standard to build the trust of users is by incorporating E-E-A-T principles into your SEO strategy. Focus on building trust by consistently delivering content with expertise, experience, and authority. Create backlinks, bring in expertise and demonstrate transparency and honesty, traction will take care of itself.

The key to achieving digital marketing success lies in partnering with Innovkraft, where we leverage our expertise and authority to enhance your brand’s visibility and build trust through transparent and effective SEO strategies.