How to Improve Your Search Ranking With E-A-T

How can I improve my website’s search ranking?

The three key factors Google uses to evaluate website quality are Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness,
otherwise known as E-A-T.

Expertise - A website’s level of demonstrated knowledge on a topic. Websites that are considered to have expertise in a specific area are more likely to rank higher in search results for related queries.

Authoritativeness - When a website is considered an authoritative source of information on a specific topic, it improves its ranking for related search queries. This is largely an extension of the inbound links to your content from other relevant sources within the same niche; These are viewed by Google as votes of confidence in what you say. 

Trustworthiness - The level of trust that users have in a website’s content measured by how users ultimately engage with your content. A website that is considered trustworthy has a better chance of ranking highly in search results, as users are more likely to click through to and engage with its content.

As you can see, improving your website's E-A-T is an important aspect of SEO that can help you rank higher in search results and attract more relevant traffic to your site.

Here are four key tactics you can use to better signal these factors to Google:

1. Produce high-quality, relevant content. One of the best ways to demonstrate expertise and authority on a particular subject is to produce well-written, informative content that is relevant to your audience.

Content tips:

• Know your audience. Understanding who you are writing for will help you tailor your content and tone to their interests and needs.
• Write with a clear purpose. Decide what you want to achieve with your content and keep that goal in mind as you write.
• Use an active voice to make your writing more engaging and easier to read.
• Keep paragraphs and sentences short. Long blocks of text can be intimidating and hard to read. Short paragraphs and sentences make your content easier to skim and understand.
• Use images and videos to break up text and add interest.
• Incorporate storytelling elements into your content to make it more engaging.
• Ask questions and use calls to action to better engage your readers and encourage them to take a desired action.

2. Earn high-quality backlinks. Backlinks are hyperlinks on one website that point to another. Earning high-quality backlinks for your website from reputable sources signals to Google that you have authority on that subject.

Backlink tips:

• Create high-quality, original content. One of the most effective ways to earn backlinks is to create valuable, unique content related to websites that will want to link to.
• Promote your content in order to attract backlinks. You can do this through social media, email marketing, and other channels to stimulate engagement.
• Regularly re-syndicate your best content. Over time, your best content will naturally start to attract backlinks, which you can boost by re-promoting it periodically. This can help keep your content top-of-mind and encourage more backlinks.
• Use data and research. Data-driven, research-based content is often seen as more trustworthy and credible than other types of content, making it highly effective at attracting backlinks.
• Participate in relevant communities and forums. By becoming part of the conversation, you can build relationships with other industry professionals and potentially earn backlinks from them.
• Author posts for other websites to earn backlinks. Just be sure to choose websites that are relevant to your industry and have high domain authority.
• Be a source for journalists and bloggers. If you are an expert in your field, you may be able to earn backlinks by being quoted as a source in articles or blog posts.

3. Use structured data. This helps search engines understand the content on your pages and display it in more useful and visually appealing ways in search results. This can include using schemas, which are vocabulary tags you can add to articles, events, products, and more.

Schema types:

• Product schemas are used to mark up product pages with information such as name, price, availability, and rating. This can provide users with more information before they click through to your website.
• Review schemas are used to mark up customer reviews on your website. This can help search engines understand the sentiment of your reviews and will help your website take advantage of rich results like review stars.
• Event schemas can be used if your website hosts events, such as product demonstrations or workshops.
• Recipe schemas are specific to sites containing recipes or step-by-step instructions. You can use them to mark up the ingredients, cooking time, and other relevant information.
• Video schemas are used to mark up a video's title, description, and duration for display in search results.
   

4. Maintain a professional and user-friendly website. A website that is well-designed, with easy-to-use navigation can help improve the user experience and increase trust. 

Website tips:

• Use a clean and organized visual approach to help visitors find what they are looking for quickly and easily.
• Make your site mobile-friendly. With more people using their smartphones to browse the web than ever before, it's important to make sure your site experience is just as helpful and easy to navigate on mobile devices as it is on a desktop computer.
• Use high-quality product images to give visitors a clear idea of your offerings, and increase the chances of a sale.
• Include detailed product descriptions to give users an understanding of the features and benefits of the services you provide.
• Offer multiple payment options to make it easier for visitors to complete their purchases.
• Include customer reviews to build trust and credibility with potential customers
• Ensure the site is secure (HTTPS) to protect the personal and financial information of your customers.
• Keep your site up-to-date by regularly updating it with new products and/or promotions that will keep visitors engaged and give them a reason to come back.
• Ensure you have a clear return policy to help build trust with customers and make them feel more comfortable when making a purchase.

Ready to get started?

As we’ve just discussed, improving your website’s Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust is key when it comes to your Google search rankings and brand exposure. But the path to the front page will be unique for every organization. 

Our in-house experts here at Northern have a deep understanding of SEO best practices, trustworthy ranking factors, and an array of auditing tools at their disposal to help your brand find its way faster. 

Fill out the form below to get in contact with us and find out more about our personalized approach to web development.