With every new update to their algorithm, Google focuses on the quality and helpfulness of content. This has helped to rid their search results of unhelpful and irrelevant content.

If a website wants to appear on the first page of Google’s search rankings, it must abide by the new E-E-A-T guidelines that were first introduced in 2022.

What are the E-E-A-T guidelines, though, and how can following them help your content marketing strategy produce better results?

What is E-E-A-T?

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is a concept introduced by Google that, when followed, can strengthen your online presence and attract high-quality organic traffic to your website.

Google’s algorithm now measures the quality and significance of a website’s content with E-E-A-T elements, ensuring users are only directed to content that offers knowledge and trustworthiness.

What does each pillar of E-E-A-T look at, though?

Experience

Experience was added to Google’s guidelines in December 2022 and aims to decipher whether the writer behind a piece of content has experience of the subject they’re discussing.

For example, for product reviews and travel blogs, does the content have stock imagery or photographs taken at the location by the creator of the content? This tiny difference is now looked at by Google to determine whether a piece of content has ‘Experience’ behind it.

Expertise

Expertise evaluates the writer’s knowledge of the topic they’re covering. This can vary from topic to topic, though. For example, electrical advice could come from a qualified electrician or an enthusiast, but still be helpful.

Either way, if Google deems the content to lack expertise, it will not promote it as highly as other pieces of content.

Authoritativeness

Authoritativeness is a key metric in how Google measures content. Google evaluates a website based on the quality and reach of its online presence. One way to improve your reach would be to collaborate with influencers and engage in meaningful industry discussions on LinkedIn.

For example, a marketing agency who wants to improve their authoritativeness would invite guest blogs from leading names in the industry as well as producing thought-provoking content themselves.

Should the agency consistently produce this type of helpful content to broad audiences, it’s likely to be rewarded by Google.

Trustworthiness

To Google, the most important aspect of their E-E-A-T guidelines is the ‘T’ – Trust.

Google values reliable and knowledgeable content that’s backed by evidence and first-person experience. Trust is key to Google when promoting content, too, so it’s important that a website has plenty of positive reviews from customers and has detailed case studies that explain how they’ve worked with and helped other companies and people.

For instance, an online store can build trust with Google by displaying positive user reviews with real names, publishing unedited customer photos of their products and offering useful product descriptions. Without these factors, Google would deem the e-commerce website untrustworthy.

How to improve your content in line with E-E-A-T guidelines

So, how can you improve your content by following E-E-A-T guidelines? There are a number of steps you can take to radically improve the quality and visibility of your content.

Here’s how:

Holistically approach your content

When creating content, you should always produce something that follows the E-E-A-T guidelines. Ensure your content is helpful and displays a level of expertise or you’re unlikely to rank highly on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs).

Try to include trust indicators like case studies, testimonials and reviews throughout your website’s key pages. Consider writing guides and brochures for readers to download and even links to Trustpilot where your customers have left reviews.

Focusing on a holistic approach to your content will resonate with both search engines and users, giving you the best chance possible to rank highly.

Detailed research

When producing content on any subject, ensure you conduct comprehensive research beforehand. Always use reputable sources and studies to reinforce the credibility of your content.

To Google, well-researched content stands out and has a much better chance of ranking well than other pieces of content without the same level of expertise.

Expert contribution

Another way to improve your website’s expertise and trust is to consider inviting experts to either write guest posts or offer quotes to back up your content.

Whatever industry you work in, try to involve experts or influencers to improve the credibility and authority of your content, showing Google that your content is worthy of a high ranking.

Earn high-quality backlinks

Experts and other websites in your industry can also help improve the credibility and trustworthiness of your content.

Earning backlinks from other websites is a key part of any SEO strategy as it will improve your authority to Google. Backlinks from trusted sources send a signal to search engines that your content is valuable.

Regularly update your content

You will harm your own credibility if your content is outdated, so it’s essential that you update it periodically.

Freshly updating your content shows that your brand is committed to accuracy and relevancy. Regularly updating content should be a priority in your content marketing strategy.

Of course, it can be challenging to go back through all of your content, but ensuring freshly written pieces are evergreen means they’ll always be relevant and will require little updating.

Your audience is important

It is important that you take the time to respond to user comments on all of your content, whether positive or negative. Meaningful interactions show that you’re committed to answering user queries and improving trust with your audience.

Stay consistent

The final tip to staying in line with E-E-A-T guidelines is to ensure all of your content is consistently produced at a high quality. Always produce excellent, informative and accurate content that aligns with Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines to give yourself the best possible chance of ranking highly on search engines.

Excellent content marketing from Paramount Digital

Average content produces average results, and at Paramount Digital, we don’t do average.

We’re a top-rated content marketing agency in the UK and have a proven track record of producing high-quality, helpful and trustworthy content.

If you’d like to improve the search engine ranking of your content, but you’re not sure how – we can help. We’re all about creating memorable content that grabs the attention of your target audience and helps to dominate search engines.

Like what you hear? Get in touch with Paramount Digital today to get the ball rolling on the improvement of your content in line with E-E-A-T guidelines.