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I’ve been working on an client’s website & content recently and I’ve found myself mentioning E-T quite a lot – which made me think – perhaps there’s something in this that can help other small businesses, with their own content.
Even though its actually E-TEA – or E-EAT as Google calls it, it's a pretty memorable acronym – but I find ET is easier for me. And as many of us are visual learners, I thought I'd add a cute pic of E-T to help memorise the point!
So what is E-TEA?
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (but with Trustworthiness being the most important, I've moved that to the front), - each play a crucial role in how content is assessed for quality and reliability.
Experience: This aspect focuses on the content creator's personal experience with the topic. Google values content that is informed by direct, personal experience because it is more likely to offer unique insights, practical advice, and authenticity. For instance, a review from someone who has actually used a product or service is considered more valuable than a generic overview.
Expertise: Expertise refers to the creator's knowledge and skill in a specific field or topic. This is determined by their credentials, such as education, training, and professional experience. Expert content should be informed, accurate, and detailed. For example, medical advice should come from healthcare professionals, and financial advice should be written by experts with relevant qualifications.
Authority: This quality assesses the creator's credibility and recognition in their field. It involves considering the reputation among peers, the presence of endorsements or citations from reputable sources, and the overall influence in the industry. Authoritativeness is not just about the individual creator but also about the website hosting the content. High-authority sites are typically well-regarded by experts in their domain.
Trustworthiness: Trust evaluates the reliability and honesty of the content, the creator, and the website. This includes aspects like transparency about authorship, clear sourcing of information, accuracy of content, and the security of the site (e.g., HTTPS). Content that is designed to deceive or mislead users is rated poorly, while content that aims to inform and help users with accurate information is rated highly.
Now, although E-T-E-A isn't a direct ranking factor within Google's search algorithm, it is part of Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines. These guidelines are used by people called "Quality Raters" who are employed by Google to evaluate the level of expertise of content creators and websites.
This means that at any moment in time, your website could be being reviewed by a Google QR, especially if you’re operating in one of the TRUST industries - otherwise known as Your Money or Your Life (YMYL).
Google's "YMYL" refers to content that could potentially impact a person's future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety. Google holds these pages to a higher standard because they have a significant impact on users' lives.
Examples of YMYL content include financial advice, medical information, legal advice, and news articles on important topics. Google expects such content to be authored by credible experts and to provide accurate, trustworthy information.
Together, these components help Google's Quality Raters and algorithms assess the quality of content on the web, ensuring that users are provided with reliable, useful, and relevant information.
So, next time you're creating content for your own, or a client's site - keep E-T in mind - and ensure he's EAT-ing his way through that site content!
If you'd like to find out more on this topic, or are interested in creating good quality content and employing good-quality SEO - then get in touch for a free 30 minute chat..
Sally Fisher - Feb 2024.