Semalt: E-A-T in SEO

Semalt is a full-service SEO and marketing service offering businesses tools such as website SEO promotion, web development, analytics, explainer videos, and more. They have been in business since 2013 and have helped countless customers improve their SEO and skyrocket their visitor numbers. 

E-A-T is a concept in SEO that can help you improve the Google rankings for your business. 

E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

These three elements make up a quality writer with reliable content. By following the E-A-T guidelines when crafting your SEO content, you are likely to see improved rankings, greater traffic, and a better reputation with your customers. 

Google itself has stated that E-A-T is an important factor for your SEO performance. The search engine prioritizes content that is reliable and provides a real benefit to its target audience, and by following the E-A-T guidelines, you can ensure your content is the best it can be.

Google also prioritizes websites that have already built trustworthiness and authority with their target audience. By creating content that is not only relevant but is also correct, you’ll stand a better chance of reaching the first page of search results. 

When a page is used to give advice on big life decisions, provide medical or health information, or allow the user to buy something, it’s considered YMYL. As you can probably guess, this makes up a majority of the websites on the internet. 

YMYL pages are held to a particularly high standard by Google. The search engine is constantly looking for authoritative content, especially in these cases where the user’s well-being is at stake. When these websites use the E-A-T guidelines, they can more easily solidify themselves as an authority in their industry.  

The first section of E-A-T is Expertise. This one is pretty self-explanatory, but you need to be an expert on whatever topic you’re writing about. If your business sells ballpoint pens but you’re writing content about swimsuits, there isn’t much argument that you’re lacking expertise.

In this case, it doesn’t matter how good of a writer the author is. If the content isn’t delivered in a thorough manner that shows the author knows what they’re talking about, you’ll be lacking here. 

Even if your author is an expert in the field, Google needs to be able to find proof. If no one is mentioning the author online or they haven’t published much content on the topic, Google will assume that they aren’t an expert.

To improve expertise, include author bios on your website that explain why these people are qualified to speak on the subject at hand. Search for your authors on Google and Google News to see what appears, and if there aren’t many results, work to build online authority. 

If you can afford it, consider hiring experts to create content for your website. This might not be in your budget, but you could also contact experts to write guest posts for you or to participate in an interview. 

Authoritativeness shows that your business and your authors are an authority on a certain subject. You’re not only knowledgeable, but you are a resource that many people would consider one of the best in your field. 

Being featured in other publications is a great way to prove your authoritativeness. Getting mentioned by a big account’s social media page or having another website link to your content will certainly boost your reputation as well.

Google is very good at knowing what links and articles to value and which ones to ignore, so prioritize those high-quality links. If you feel you’re a true authority in your business, try to get a Wikipedia page, or at the very least, try to get cited on an existing page. 

On your website and your authors’ bio pages, be sure to include any relevant credentials such as degrees and awards. However, always be honest. Don’t embellish anything just to make your company look better, or you may impact the next E-A-T pillar: trustworthiness.

Finally, we come to trustworthiness. This concept essentially means that your audience knows they can turn to you for relevant and correct information within your industry. You take pride in giving thorough content that has been fact-checked and is provided in a concise manner.

If your audience feels they can’t trust you, why would they purchase from you or listen to your advice? Trustworthiness can help you build authoritativeness, so it’s one of the most important parts of your overall SEO strategy.

One of the biggest parts of trustworthiness is putting out accurate content. Do as much fact-checking as you can to ensure you’re providing true and up-to-date information from reliable sources, and always cite any resources you use.

We’re all only human, so if you do make a mistake, own up to it and correct your content as soon as possible instead of ignoring it or sweeping it under the rug. As your business grows, try to get reviews from your customers that will help display your trustworthiness to others. 

Customers (and Google) will find you more trustworthy as you provide more information about your company. Showcase your business’s address, phone number, email, customer support lines, and other forms of contact you might have. 

When it comes to improving your E-A-T, Semalt can help. They have been assisting clients with all aspects of SEO performance for years and pride themselves on their affordable prices and talented professionals. 

Some of Semalt’s most popular services include AutoSEO, FullSEO, Analytics, E-Commerce SEO, SSL, and more. Contact Semalt today for a complimentary SEO consultation or a free website performance report.