What is the EEAT algorithm and how does it affect search results

EEAT is Google's algorithm for evaluating the quality of content that affects the position of sites in search results. In this article, I will describe its main elements, as well as tell you what the new letter in the name means and how to get a high EEAT rating from the search engine.

The main elements of EEAT
In March 2013, Google officially published SQR (Search Quality Rater), a guide for evaluating search quality. It is updated about once a year. 

In 2014, the SQR introduced the concept of EAT: Expertise + Authoritativeness + Trustworthiness. At the end of 2022, it was supplemented with another E (Experience) and turned into EEAT.

The concept of EEAT is an important aspect of SEO. This became especially noticeable in August 2018 after the Google Medic update. According to Moz, in just seven days after the update, the visibility of some sites on the first page of the search results increased or decreased by up to 70%.

Most often, the search engine uses the EEAT concept to evaluate online stores, news resources and sites related to medicine, security, finance and legal information.

I'll tell you what each of the EEAT factors means.

Factor 1. Experience
Google ranks articles from authors with real-world experience of using products higher. Such content can include, for example, a review of a product that the author has been using for some time. If he spoke in detail about his experience, noted the strengths and weaknesses of the product, the material will be highly appreciated by the EEA. 

Factor 2. Expertise (expertise)
The authors of articles must have specialized knowledge or personal experience in order to provide readers with reliable information.

Google defines two types of themes. 

General topics. They do not require highly qualified authors. They can be created by people with personal experience in the field they write about. For example, a travel blogger can write an article about his hitchhiking trip.
Themes from the YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) concept. They can affect the health, safety, and financial well-being of users. They should be written by experts. For example, medical materials should be written to doctors.
To position himself as an expert, the author of the article must have specialized education, work experience, the necessary qualifications and articles published under his authorship on several resources. 

Factor 3. Authoritativeness
The author of the content and the site on which it is published must have a good reputation in the niche. Forbes is considered one of the most authoritative publications in the world on finance and economics, because the authors of the articles have extensive knowledge and rich experience. 

The higher the authority of the author and the site, the more likely Google is to recognize the content as high-quality. Credibility can be measured by:

the number and quality of backlinks;
references in reliable sources;
the author's personal brand as an expert.
Factor 4. Trustworthiness (reliability)
Reliability is the most important factor for Google. I will list the main points that indicate the reliability of the site.

The accuracy of the information and the reliability of the sources.
Security (secure HTTPS connection). This is especially important for ecommerce. Users need to be sure that their transactions will be processed correctly and that they will not become victims of fraudsters.
High usability indicators. It should be intuitively clear how to find the necessary information on the site.
Informative pages of the site: "Authors of the project", "About us", "Contacts", "Privacy Policy", "Terms of Use", etc.
EEAT-levels
In the updated SQR guide, Google divides the EEAT concept into levels: from the lowest to the highest. There are also intermediate values on the scale, which can be used to give a more accurate assessment:

N/A (Absence);
Lowest (Lowest);
Lowest + (Lowest+);
Low (Low);
Low + (Low+);
Medium (Medium);
Medium + (Medium+);
High (High);
High + (High+);
Highest (The highest).
I will tell you more about the main ones.

N/A (No) EEAT
EEAT is most often absent due to the authors' zero or insufficient experience in the field they write about. For example, a review of a restaurant where the author has never had dinner.

Lowest (Lowest) EEAT
This rating is given to pages that, in Google's opinion, cannot provide a positive user experience and are not trustworthy. Especially if there is information on them that can be harmful. These are the pages:

calling for violence; 
with false information; 
spam and fraudulent content.
Low (Low) EEAT
A low level means that the main content of the site was created "in a hurry", just to fill the space. There may be inaccuracies and useless information on such pages. 

Articles on such sites do not achieve their goal, but at least they do not harm readers.

Medium (Medium) EEAT
The pages on the site of average quality are beneficial or at least not harmful. They usually have an adequate title and the necessary minimum of information about the authors of the materials.

Such articles achieve their goal and do not contain signs of spam or calls for violence.

High (High) EEAT
Pages with a high level of EEAT demonstrate significant experience, reliability and reliability. The main markers that Google pays attention to:

useful information that does not harm readers;
The headings briefly describe the content of the pages;
advertising and additional content do not interfere with the perception of the main content;
there is information about the site and the authors. 
Highest (Highest) EEAT
The highest level of EEAT is assigned to the most reliable and reliable sources. 

There is a direct relationship between meeting user needs and evaluating quality. A user-friendly website with reliable information, without signs of violence, spam or fraud, will receive high levels of EEAT. 

How can I improve the site's EEAT?
Increasing the EEAT indicators will improve the site's visibility in search results and strengthen the audience's trust in the brand. To achieve this, take a few steps. 

Step 1. Create high-quality content and update it regularly
Constantly write new articles.
In the content, focus on people: answer their questions, give advice, be useful and original. Leave readers feeling satisfied. 
Periodically check the materials for usefulness and relevance. Over time, the information becomes outdated, so do not forget to update it. 
Delete low-quality content. At first, this may reduce resource traffic, but in the long run it will improve the EEAT score. 
Step 2. Add information about the author
Google expects that reliable and trusted experts will write important articles. For example, certified pharmacists will become the authors of instructions for the use of medicines.

The sites must be publicly accessible: 

team information; 
individual pages of authors' biographies, their certification, experience and academic degrees;
links to the authors' social networks and their publications.
To inform search engines about the competence and authority of the authors, use the Person micro-markup on the biography pages.

Step 3. Use reliable sources
When creating content, refer to official verified sources: research, scientific articles, tweets and blog posts by experts. For example, for an article about obtaining a passport for traveling abroad, it is worth referring to the page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. 

Step 4. Demonstrate your experience in the content
The author of an article about clothes for hiking in the mountains should have personal experience to confirm his advice with practical recommendations. 

Demonstrate your experience in product and service reviews, articles with tips, recommendations, and life hacks. You should add photos, videos and screenshots to them.

Google's quality assessment guide indicates that in some cases, the user experience may be more useful than information from experts:

"Sometimes pages on YMYL topics are created to share personal experiences related to difficult life problems. In difficult times, people turn to each other to share their stories, find solace or inspiration, and learn from others. Factual information from experts and reputable sources cannot satisfy this need."

Step 5. Create a positive brand reputation
Manage the reputation of an online resource, because it is crucial to the concept of EEAT. This is a long and thorough job that needs to be done throughout the entire business lifecycle. 

Monitor the reviews

How to work with the reputation of a medical brand on the Internet — Synevo case
Keep track of all reviews about the company in order to respond to them quickly and professionally. Respond to both bad and good reviews — positive customer interaction will improve the brand's reputation in the long run.

Encourage customer engagement
Motivate customers to share photos and videos of the product through contests, sweepstakes on social networks, email newsletters and advertising campaigns. Ask users to add hashtags and tag the brand. User-generated content increases brand loyalty.

Add micro markup
Micro—markup is a way to convey additional information about a site to search robots and users. It is created by embedding tags and attributes in the HTML code of the page. 

Micro-markup will allow you to show the site's rating, customer reviews and the company's pricing policy in Google search results.

Use high-quality and relevant backlinks
Get backlinks from sites with similar topics. The closer the link is to the source resource, the more authority it will convey. Backlinks help Google classify pages and site domain on a macro level. 

The screenshot shows that the company has received several excellent links from sites with good domain authority (DR) indicators

Step 6. Add important pages to the site
Create informative pages on the site to prove its reliability and credibility.

About Us page
Post links to publications about the company, its social networks and ratings on it. This page may also contain the mission, history, certificates, diplomas, awards and licenses of the company.

On the "Contacts" page
, place an email, phone number and a feedback form on it so that users can contact the company. 

Product exchange and return page
It gives customers a sense of reliability, because products from online stores often do not fit in size or do not meet expectations. Customers are pleased to know that in this case they will have the opportunity to return or exchange the product. 

Step 7. Secure the site using HTTPS
Site security is one of the most important factors for evaluating the EEAT rating. HTTP sites in the Google Chrome browser are shown with the tag "Unsafe". Thus, Google is pushing resource owners to switch to the HTTPS protocol.

EEAT vs. AI

Using AI in SEO: how to save time and money
Google has not yet developed an algorithm for evaluating the quality of content generated using artificial intelligence, for example, Chat GPT. According to the company, AI does not yet know how to create high-quality content, so Google does not recommend publishing it without prior human verification. 

Search algorithms attach more importance to content written by experts with rich personal experience or fundamental knowledge in the field. 

Danny Sullivan, a Google search engine specialist, confirms this: 

"We are not saying that the content generated by artificial intelligence is bad. The problem is with content written primarily for search engines, not for people. That's what we're focusing on. If someone hires a hundred people to write content just for ranking, or hires a spinner, or artificial intelligence, it's the same problem."

EEAT checklist for the site
Google's recommendations for improving the performance of the EEAT concept can be summarized in a simple checklist.

Create high-quality content and update it regularly.
If the articles on the site directly affect the health and safety of readers, the authors should be people with appropriate education and work experience.
It is better to write to authors with practical experience on ordinary topics.
Articles written by artificial intelligence should be checked by a human. 
Post information about the authors on the website. Create a "Our Team" page, author biography pages and content search results so that you can find the publications you need.
Use the HTTPS protocol.
Post on the company's website:
a feedback page with a phone number and an email address;
a page with customer reviews;
the exchange and refund page;
the About Us page with the company's accreditations and awards.
It will also be useful to publish:

Privacy policy;
company ethics;
a reference to copyright;
Complaint handling policy; 
editorial policy;
terms of use;
disclaimer of responsibility for specific actions/events.
Conclusions
Understanding the principles of EEAT will improve the visibility of the site in search results, increase the trust of visitors and, ultimately, increase the conversion rate and revenue of the company.

The EEAT algorithm plays a key role in Google's assessment of the quality of content on the site. 
Initially, the concept was based on three components — Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, but at the end of 2022, another letter was added to the abbreviation, meaning Experience. Now Google is paying attention to the real experience of authors in the fields they write about.
The EEAT concept evaluates the quality of content by levels: from the lowest (pages with malicious content that are not trustworthy) to the highest (the most reliable and reliable sources of information).
Google has not yet developed an algorithm for evaluating content generated by artificial intelligence. ChatGPT and other chatbots are not yet able to create high-quality materials based on specific experience.
To improve the site's position, create high-quality content, update it regularly and update it. Also demonstrate your experience, add information about the authors of the materials and use reliable sources. 
Google will continue to remove irrelevant content and highlight those written by experts.