E-E-A-T (or Double-E-A-T) is a concept used by human quality raters to evaluate Google’s search ranking system. Initially, it consists of only three factors (E-A-T). But in December 2022, Google added the standard of “experience” to the concept.
therefore, according to Google, some types of content need to be produced with first-hand experience and are trustworthy. Here’s what this means for SEO. Is the
hidden
E-E-A-T is a ranking signal?
No, at least not directly. Nothing has changed here since the original concept of E-A-T:
serves as a reminder that these guidelines are used by our search raters to help evaluate the performance of our various search ranking systems, and they do not directly affect rankings (source).
Google’s overall idea here is to reward (higher ranking) quality content from trusted sources. Therefore, messengers are at least as important as information.
how Google understands the experience of
experience in Double-E-A-T refers to the subject of firsthand or life experience.
means that Google is committed to “rewarding” web pages where authors have actually experienced the themes they have written. For example:
- ‘s comments on iPhone, the author must have actually used the product.
- ‘s guide to the best jazz bars in San Francisco, the author must actually visit them.
- for an overnight oatmeal recipe, the author must actually cook this dish.
- for an article on how to help people cope with mental illness, the author must have personally experienced and / or helped others.
- ‘s guide on how to succeed in business. You’ll understand.
experience and other standards
regardless of the theme of the page, the most important of all standards is “T”, that is, credibility. Other criteria, such as expertise, authority and experience, are used to help determine whether the page is trustworthy (QRG, p. 26).
you can think of other standards as pillars of trust-building.
then plays a role depending on the theme. For some topics, experience may be more important than others.
you should consider the purpose, type, and theme of the page, and then ask yourself what makes the content creator a trusted source in this case (QRG, p. 26).
for example, personal travel blogs don’t have to be written by experts to be trusted. On the contrary, a guide to DIY car repair is more trustworthy if it is written by an auto mechanic. What is noteworthy about
is the difference between experience and expertise. Professional knowledge refers to knowledge and skills. Naturally, to get these, you also need experience. But:
- , it’s not the other way around. Experience alone won’t make you an expert.
- experience does not have to come from expertise. What are the themes involved in
‘s new “E”? The original concept of
E-A-T was confirmed to cover all topics. As experience increases, Google seems to reiterate this point, saying that “experience is valuable for almost all topics” (QRG, p. 62).
experience also counts for the topic of YMYL (your money or your life). But this kind of topic that Google pays special attention to is not reserved for experts.
in other words, if personal experience is fundamental to building trust in the subject, then the author is not necessarily an expert. Google provides a convenient list of examples to better understand this nuance (QRG, page 28): how
presents experience
here are some ideas on how to present first-hand experience in your content. Keep in mind that these are based on an interpretation of Google Guide; you may also find other ways.
shows evidence of personal experience on the subject
lets us take product reviews as an example. Google recently used this document to solve the problem of hosting low-quality product reviews on alliance websites. It basically says that if comments are created by subject matter experts, that’s best.
, however, it is not enough to prove that you are an expert. You need to show evidence of your first-hand experience with the product being reviewed.
provides evidence, such as visual, audio, or other links, of your own experience of the product to support your expertise and enhance the authenticity of your comments (source).
, here’s an example. Thomas Sanladerer is well known in the 3D printing industry for its product reviews. But as long as he stops doing field reviews, he will become an unreliable source of product information. This will be due to the lack of first-hand experience of the product. Instead of
, Thomas kept hitting on every 3D printer being commented on. What better proof of your own experience than a picture like this?
explains how you created the
of this content, and even before E-A-T became E-E-A-T, Wirecutter made an extra effort to prove why people can trust its comments. Similarly, you can add a description of how the content is created in front of your content. A section like this is the perfect place to showcase first-hand experience.
presents your experience on a dedicated page.
theoretically says that you don’t have to show your experience every time you write this topic. This is because Google advises quality assessors to take a look at what the author thinks of himself.
Therefore, consider explaining your personal experience on the subject on the “about” page and even linking to your social media profiles if they provide additional evidence. Of course, you can do it with other ways to demonstrate your experience.
page for the author of a blog post about helping with cancer (the theme of YMYL). The author’s resume shows a reference to the personal experience of the disease.
your reputation is important
we also encourage quality rates to look for signs of experience (and general trust) outside your site.
looks for independent comments, references, news articles and other credible sources of information about the creators of the site or content (QRG, p. 27).
for example, the website Best Wallet Hacks is characterized by an actual directory for the media to mention. Imagine which is more trustworthy compared to a brand new blog on the same topic that no one has ever heard of. One of the ways that
search engines can infer this information is by tracking links to websites. After all, Gary Illyes confirms that links and references are substantial to the original concept of E-A-T. This may not change with the introduction of experience.
if you are inexperienced, please invite experienced people the author of the
page needs to show experience, but this does not mean that the owner of the site must do so. This means that you can still show your experience on topics you don’t have by inviting guest authors or guest speakers.
suggests that experience is only one part of the puzzle. Learn how to demonstrate and improve other aspects in our guide on how to improve and demonstrate E-A-T.
makes your site trustworthy with the addition of
experience to open up a YMYL theme category for creators with personal experience. On the other hand, it raises the standard that this experience is a basic topic.
in any case, this is another attempt by Google to provide more helpful results by filtering out untrusted pages. It’s still about trust:
finally, there are many aspects of trust, some of which cannot be covered by experience, expertise, and authority. Please consider other aspects in your overall trust assessment, such as customer service information in the online store or peer-reviewed publications by academic authors. If a web page is not trusted for any reason, its E-E-A-T is very low (QRG, p. 27).
if QRG is trained to identify other signs of trust, the same is true of the ranking system. So if you can think of other ways to prove your credibility, go ahead.
this is also a warning to websites trying to play with the system: one empirical evidence does not mask other untrustworthy signals.
Summary
finally, with the introduction of E-E-A-T, Google has updated its self-assessment guidelines for content quality. SEO and content creators can use it as a resource to align content with E-E-A-T.
for example, for publishers that use artificial intelligence to generate content, Google recommends disclosing the use of automation to readers (Google is not opposed to artificial intelligence content). But before you do that, you need to ask yourself whether it is reasonable for users to use artificial intelligence to produce content. (via ahrefs)
