EAT is an acronym for three English words: “Expertise,” “Authoritativeness,” and “Trustworthiness.” This is also stipulated in Google’s official guidelines.
In recent years, “kotatsu articles” that are only summaries of the content that are displayed at the top of search results have been mass-produced, and there are fewer and fewer articles that are essentially useful to users.
Based on this, Google’s measure to display more useful articles in search results is EAT. In this article, we will explain a specific overview of EAT, why it is said to be important, and the basics of SEO measures based on EAT.
What is EAT?
EAT refers to one of the website evaluation criteria in the “Search Quality Evaluation Guidelines” published by Google. E stands for “Expertise,” A stands for “Authoritativeness,” and T stands for “Trustworthiness.”The word EAT was created by taking the initials of these.
When implementing
SEO
measures, with Google’s algorithm up until now, if you list a large number of search keywords or paste a large number of links, your search results will rise to the top.
However, recently, Google has developed a new algorithm. That was an algorithm based on EAT. With the advent of EAT, conventional SEO measures that were based on quantity have become ineffective.
From here, we will explain the basics of EAT and the SEO measures you should take to respond to it.
Expertise
EAT’s “Expertise” is an indicator of whether a site is professional or not.
If the content of your website is unprofessional and the content is scattered and disorganized, it will not be considered professional. For example, it means that you need to specialize in one thing, such as “for psychology, go for psychology, for economics, go for economics.” That way, your site will be ranked higher by Google.
A site will also be appreciated if the person who built it is an expert in the field. This is because it will be more professional if the site is built by someone who is familiar with the field. For example, when it comes to articles about politics, content written by people with the title of politician is displayed higher than articles written by ordinary people.
However, you may sometimes see summary sites that are neither specialized nor have comprehensive content displayed at the top of the search results. This is because the added value of consolidating useful information on one site is that it saves users time and effort.
However, this is just an exception. In order to rank high on Google, be aware of your expertise.
Authoritativeness
EAT’s “Authoritativeness” is an indicator of whether a site is authoritative.
In other words, it evaluates whether the site is recognized by many people. If a site has many backlinks from other sites, it can be said to be authoritative.
However, there is no point in just collecting links. In order to be considered authoritative, you need to receive links from high-quality sites. It goes without saying that it is easier to rank higher if you have links from a small number of high-quality sites than from a large number of low-quality sites.
In order for your website to be highly evaluated, build a site that has authority and is recognized by many people.
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Trustworthiness
EAT’s “Trustworthiness” is an indicator that shows whether users who visit a site can trust the information posted there.
For example, in the case of a new product review article, it can be said that the article is more reliable if it is written by someone who has actually used the product, or by someone who has not.
You can also increase the credibility of your site by listing who built it and the name of the site’s creator or company.
Make efforts to ensure reliability to show that you are providing reliable information.
Why EAT is said to be important
From here, I will explain why EAT is said to be important.
As stipulated in Google’s official guidelines
The main reason why EAT is so important is that it is listed as one of the criteria for evaluating websites in Google’s “Search Quality Evaluation Guidelines”.
For Google, which is now “user-first,” EAT has become an important evaluation axis when evaluating content.
You can’t ignore the ratings that are given importance by Google, the world’s number one search engine.
Articles without credibility or authority cannot meet user needs.
So, why does Google consider EAT so important? This is because content that is not professional, reliable, and authoritative will not satisfy users. This would be fatal for “user-first” Google.
Also, not only Google but also general users will judge articles that are not reliable or authoritative as not worth reading.
In today’s highly information society, where we are flooded with a variety of information, it is becoming difficult to find reliable articles. With so much false information such as fake news out there, people are becoming nervous about what kind of content they can trust.
Under these circumstances, it is inevitable that articles that completely ignore credibility and authority will be weeded out.
Satisfying EAT will be advantageous for SEO.
Meeting the EAT also has an advantage for SEO.
In the past, it was possible to display at the top of search results by stuffing search keywords and posting a large number of links. However, they did not lead to satisfying user satisfaction.
Therefore, they switched to EAT, an evaluation algorithm that can increase user satisfaction. In other words, small techniques such as writing a large number of keywords and pasting links are no longer applicable to Google, which means that such websites will be at a disadvantage rather than an advantage for SEO.
You can probably understand that meeting EAT is directly connected to SEO measures.
SEO measures based on EAT
There are six main SEO measures based on EAT. Here, we will explain six SEO measures.
①: Include a valid citation source/operator.
The first is to quote from well-founded quotation sources and management sources, and to clearly state the sources and management sources.
Naturally, having evidence means that it is highly specialized and reliable. Citing professional or reliable sources will improve your website’s reputation. For example, quoting a blog written by an ordinary person is more professional and reliable than quoting an article written by an expert.
Examples of valid sources include government information such as the Cabinet Office or the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and information from sites operated by listed companies.
②: URL SSL conversion (https:// conversion)
SSL-enabled URLs are also an SEO measure.
SSL-enabled URLs start with “https://” instead of “http://”. SSL reduces the probability that user information will be hacked. However, it is important to note that just because a URL is SSL-enabled does not necessarily mean it is secure.
Think of this as a prerequisite for increasing EAT rather than increasing it.
③: Registration and operation with Google My Business
Registering with Google My Business is also an SEO measure. Google My Business is a free service that publishes information about companies and stores.
By publishing information on Google My Business, you can improve your company’s credibility and authority.
④: Enter primary information
For SEO measures, you also need to be careful about citation sources. As a general rule, please quote from primary information.
For example, when quoting from Yahoo! News, be sure to trace back the original source. It might be Kyodo News or Asahi Shimbun.
It is important to cite primary information from newspaper companies and world-famous news agencies, which are known as quality papers, rather than articles written by ordinary bloggers.
⑤: Acquire highly authoritative backlinks
Having links from highly authoritative sites also improves the authority of your own website, which is one of the SEO measures.
If a link is posted from a highly authoritative site, that is, a site that is supported by users, it means that the linked site is also highly authoritative, and Google rates it highly.
However, it is not very meaningful just to be posted from one site, and you will probably need a certain amount.
⑥: Operate specialized in one genre
Specializing in one genre also leads to SEO measures. This is because specializing in one thing means that you have a higher level of expertise than having a dispersed theme.
In order to increase your expertise, you need to build content focused on specific genres and increase the amount of specialized knowledge compared to competing sites.
When running a professional website, it will be difficult to keep looking for new material, so it is important to choose a sustainable theme.
Also, clarifying who the author is is effective in increasing the evaluation of your expertise, so if possible, try to clarify who the author is.
Summary: Increase EAT and run reliable media operations
In this article, we have explained what EAT is. What do you think?
EAT is one of the indicators of Google’s quality evaluation standards, and I hope you understand that increasing your expertise, authority, and credibility will lead to SEO measures.
Google, which is a user-first company, has been updating its website evaluation algorithm in recent years, increasing its accuracy year by year. The tricks that have been used up until now, such as using a large number of keywords and pasting links, will no longer work.
As explained in this article, let’s take SEO measures based on EAT and try to make the media more reliable.