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The E-E-A-T principle: a must-have for every online marketer.

In the world of online marketing and SEO optimization, the E-E-A-T principle cannot be missing. By applying this principle, you can ensure that your SEO activities are more effective and that you reach your goals faster.

In other words, if you apply this principle of Google smartly for your website and pages, your website will appear higher in search results. This is because Google wants to show search results and content that follow these principles.

Since it's such an important part of SEO optimization, we'll go into more detail about it in this blog. We'll tell you what the principle stands for and give you handy tips on how to apply it effectively for your website.

Let's get started!

What is the E-E-A-T principle?

The E-E-A-T principle is a way to assess the quality of websites and pages. Not only for Google, but you can also use it yourself to check your own quality and SEO optimization. Thanks to these pillars, it becomes clear whether a website or page is relevant and trustworthy for users - and that's what Google is all about.

That is why it is so important to focus on the end user when writing content for Google. This way, you always make sure that you won't get any big surprises in Google updates. Why not? Because you focus on valuable and relevant content for the user, and not purely on SEO optimization.

And that's what it does: it ensures that content is as valuable and relevant to the user as possible.

The E-E-A-T principle stands for the following pillars.

Experience

The more personal experience the content writer has, the better. This is because it shows that the writer knows what he or she is talking about. For example, are there personal opinions or authentic insights added to the story?

Expertise

Expertise is about the knowledge and expertise the writer has on a particular topic. Although expertise is similar to experience, it is not the same thing. When you write from personal experience, you cannot answer readers' questions when they are looking for expert advice, for example. Think of someone with training in this area, such as a doctor.

Authority

Authority is about the overall reputation of the website and not the individual content. Think of the domain authority (DA), which is determined by backlinks from relevant websites to your site, among other things. Authority is about your website or author being seen as a good source of information.

Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness is extremely important and is about the reliability of the website. This includes the link profile, whether your website has an SSL certificate (extra security), whether there is a contact page, whether reviews have been received, and whether there is a return policy.

What is the difference between E-A-T and E-E-A-T?

In 2014, Google first explained the E-A-T principle in a blog post. It stands for expertise, authority and trustworthiness. Meanwhile, since 2022, a fourth pillar has been added: experience. In order to apply the principle successfully, it is important to include this fourth pillar. Therefore, in this blog we also focus on the E-E-A-T principle.

Tips to apply the E-E-A-T principle in SEO optimization

Now that you know what the principle stands for and why it is so important, we now give you some tips on how to apply it successfully for your website and/or pages.

This way, the user is happy and you score higher in Google. A win-win!

Establish your own expertise

How exactly do you tell Google that you have expertise in a particular field?

Website with reviews

First of all, it is obviously important to have a website. Preferably a website with external reviews. Don't have one yet? Then try to get them soon and put them on your website. This shows Google that you are good at what you do.

Biography

"In addition, you can show your biography to your audience as much as possible. When there is a biography of the author next to a blog post that shows that person has expertise, it ensures that the content will rank better. In it, tell people why you are an expert on that topic and be honest. It shows that you are the right person writing this content.

You can also integrate the biography into an 'About Us' page that lists the team or the different writers. For example, include work experience, knowledge, or educational background that are relevant about the topic. This helps with the authority you need.

Many users want people who are experts. Suppose you are looking for advice on a medical condition. Then you are less likely to take advice from a freelance writer who talks about medical conditions. You are more likely to take this advice from a doctor because of the expertise.

Guest articles and podcasts

Another tip is to write guest articles - preferably within the same niche. This will ensure that your name will also appear on other websites. Of course, you can also do this with writers to build their authority and reliability, from which the authority of your website also benefits.

In addition, you can think about joining other people's podcasts. Because did you know that Google can also "crawl" podcasts?

Use reliable sources

When you substantiate your content with reliable sources, you show Google that you didn't make up important information yourself but that it has actually been researched. This is especially important with claims from scientific research, or certain statistics or studies. By backing up your claims, your content will be seen as more reliable.

Another tip for appearing trustworthy is to have a contact page. This tells people how to get in touch with you, which provides extra accessibility, transparency, and trust.

Provide relevant content

In the beginning of this blog we already mentioned that Google is all about the end user. So don't worry too much about SEO optimization, but focus on the user first by creating relevant content, and then make sure it is SEO optimized. This will help you perform better.

Of course, SEO optimization should not impair the readability of the user. To give an example, keywords are important in SEO, but too many of them significantly weakens the quality of the content.

There are a handy questions you can ask yourself to check if you are creating relevant content. Here are some examples:

What is my specific goal to help others (does the page have a useful purpose)?
What do people want to achieve by reading my content?
How to optimize the page for Google?

When you provide a good user experience, you show Google the right signals. People will come back to your website more often and Google will send more visitors to your website thanks to higher positions.

Do a content audit

It is wise to conduct a content audit at least once a year. This is a process in which you analyze the content of a website, blog or other online platform to assess and improve its effectiveness. Look at your old pages of content. How well are these performing? Are they performing better this year? Or are they not working as well as before? Do they need an update? Is this piece of content following the E-E-A-T principle? How do we make sure it does?

Which pages are most affected by the E-E-A-T principle?

You can imagine that for certain niches it is extra important to comply with the E-E-A-T principle. Think about pages that deal with medical or financial advice. But pages about government or news are also most affected by this principle. Google wants some form of security to ensure the ultimate goal: content that is as relevant and valuable to the end user as possible.

Need help applying it?

Do you think that after reading this blog you could use some (extra) help to apply the E-E-A-T principle correctly for your website? We can help you with that. Our experienced online specialists are aware of the latest developments and work with the smartest tools. For almost 20 years, we have provided both nationally and internationally for more sales, more leads and maximum online return. Request a free Quickscan here and receive no-obligation advice.