In this article, you will find information about what EAT is, what Google expects from site owners and what needs to be done to make your site authoritative, reliable and expert in the field.
Google algorithms evaluate many signals to produce results that match your search intentions. While collecting these signals, it also gives importance to the information it receives from call quality raters.
Search Quality Assessment Guide
People who evaluate search quality are people from many different parts of the world who speak different languages. These evaluators rate sites based on Google's search quality guidelines . Raters' scores do not directly affect rankings, only indirectly help Google's algorithm.
It is worth remembering that the evaluators consist of user groups who meet certain conditions and pass some tests. These people, known as Search Quality Evaluators, perform these tests for a fee. All of them should complete some tasks and analyze them in accordance with this guide.
This guide is equipped with guides on how evaluators can rate sites. While scoring the pages; It is evaluated as the lowest, low, medium, high and highest quality.
While evaluators rate the pages;
The purpose of the page,
EAT assessment,
Content quality and quantity,
It addresses major issues such as information about the creator of the content and its reputation.
Google also asks the evaluators to test the main content (MC) of the page, such as the calculator on the page, playing the game, and watching the video.
What is EAT?
EAT, which is an abbreviation of Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, is a term used in the meaning of Expertise, Authority and Reliability.
The EAT was first leaked in 2011 and has been updated over the years. It was detailed in July 2018 to be more current and useful. EAT is actually defined as an item under the Search Quality Guidelines.
The EAT came to the fore especially after the Google algorithm update, also known as "Medic Update" in the SEO press, published in August 2018 . The main reason behind being called Medic Update is that it often affects healthcare sites.
After the last algorithm changes, the search quality assessment guide is now updated more frequently.
EAT & YMYL Relationship
EAT is closely related to Your Money or Your Life (YMYL). If we will explain what this means, the sites seen as YMYL; They are sites that produce content on health, legal or financial matters. True or false information can directly affect people's lives .
Which Sites Can Be Covered By YMYL?
The site where bill payment transactions are made,
Money transfer or banking transactions pages,
A shopping site where your credit card information is entered,
Mom blog giving parenting advice,
Sites that make recommendations for pregnant women,
News sites (including local or international current events)
Forum sites (must contain information such as forum rules, etc.)
Sites that provide information about people (such as religion, race, nationality)
Automobile security (LPG, vehicle repair, etc.)
Legal advice (lawyer, custody, divorce, enforcement, etc.),
Specialized hobbies (playing guitar, professional photography)
Financial information (loan, investment, money saving, etc.),
Sites that provide information on adoption,
Home renovation & repair (wrong information can cause serious money loss),
Sites that are in the scope of school selection and finding a new job,
A medical health page (medication recommendations, veterinarian, dietician, hospital, medical center, health blogs).
News or portal sites with content covered by YMYL should also pay attention to these. YMYL pages with examples;
We can say that YMYL pages that give the correct answer to the users have a high level of EAT. This is because users feel safe on that site and that the content is created by reliable sources.
The example below shows a high quality shopping site. High amount of user comments, product features, multiple photos of the product, shipping and returns are clearly displayed.
Click for the full picture .
Let's look at another example. The site in the image below uses the logo of the Nike company, and it does not have a physical address.
An example of the lowest quality site;
If you are producing content on hobbies, such as fish feeding, the individual experiences of the people rather than the expertise stand out here. Not all news sites are considered as YMYL, for example, entertainment and daily lifestyle topics are not considered YMYL.
In another example showing very low quality, the site trying to phishing requests the visitors' bank password and information that should not be taken, such as social security number.
Google actually wants to protect people against bad advice and information by looking at such details.
What is Specialization?
A site that wants to be successful should show that it is really expert and talented in its field. The language and information used while producing content should demonstrate expertise, should not make claims that are not evidence-based, or provide false information intentionally or in any other way.
You must ensure that not only you but also the users visiting your site know your expertise.
How can you do that?
For example, when you go to the doctor, details such as the authorization documents with the doctor's name, title and diploma can provide you with the expertise & reliability indicator of that doctor.
When we reflect this situation in life on the internet, it will help to ensure that the same documents are displayed on the website. An example doctor profile;
Adding the author profile to the content created will help users to provide much more detailed information about the person who created the content.
You can also share these quality and expertly created content on social media platforms such as Twitter & LinkedIn. You can also showcase your reputation outside of your site by guest writing on relevant blogs .
If your content is written and controlled by a medical team, not a doctor, you can look at the Acıbadem example below.
For YMYL, EAT may not be important in terms of sites ( gossip or satire etc.)
From user-generated content (UGC) may not always show low EAT; but if it falls under YMYL it may appear as a low EAT. If we look at the example in the guide, the subject is about YMYL, and the respondents have an expertise on the subject, etc. does not exist. Forum etc. sites should especially address this issue.
What is Authority?
Google may want to understand how relevant the author of the content is to his field and whether he has the necessary competence for the subject he is writing.
Let's give an example from real life, for example, you bought a newspaper or a magazine. You are reading the page on a health or economic issue. If there is no information on the author of the news on the page or the identity of the doctor who made recommendations about health is kept, this will raise doubts in you, right? Therefore, the surnames of the authors on the website should be given. These should not be hidden and should be placed in readily available compartments.
Below you can find the example of Hamamingo, which can show its authority to its visitors and received very good ratings and comments.
You may want to consider getting reviews not only from Google My Business, but also from sites such as Google Shopping, Reviews.co.uk, Yelp or Zomato.
However, posting only positive reviews on your site may sound suspicious to your visitors. Be sure to keep that line between positive and negative comments and feel free to explain it.
If the site is affiliated to the association, organization or other reliable sources, it should be shown in the sections clearly visible to the users on the site. If you're selling products, ask your customers to rate you. You can even encourage them for unbiased evaluations with small rewards. Evaluations will work for you locally, especially if you are a smaller business, especially if you work locally.
As shown in the image below, iyzico clearly shows that it is an authorized institution.
If you are a medical service provider, you can get the opinions of your patients before or after the treatment / surgery in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations.
Google also tells its raters how to do reputational research for a site;
You do not need to have a link on every page where the name of your site is mentioned. Google can see mentions as disconnected and perceive them as signals.
For example, when we do the Mediamarkt query, we can see that it is mentioned in many news sites.
What is Reliability?
Let's look at the security issue in this way. If Google sends visitors to a site that engages in fraudulent activities, both the visitor and Google's credibility may be damaged after a while.
As a result, Google will want to make sure that all sites in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) will be as reliable as possible and will fully meet the needs of the visitors.
An example where news sites can show their visitors that they are reliable;
You can fit a lot of information into the concept of " trust ". There is no limit to it.
Designs that make your users feel safe and secure, etc. you can do anything. You can show that your personal data is safe by using HTTPS on your site. Also, on August 6, 2014, Google announced that it used HTTPS as the official ranking signal .
We can demonstrate that we are reliable not only by purchasing and installing a free SSL certificate, but by showing many other information.
Akakçe's demonstration that it uses EV SSL can be regarded as an indicator of reliability.
Some suggestions to show reliability;
About us pages,
Academic studies / titles,
News published in the press about the site,
Displaying any awards won or nominated,
If available, commercials or videos showing success stories,
Location of stores with actual physical location (customers will know they are working with a real organization,
Customer service contact information,
Privacy & return policies,
A page explaining the shipping processes,
HTTPS ( EV SSL if possible ) makes it feel more secure,
Payment methods and logos of banks,
Various site stamp seals,
3D payment options,
Ratings and comments from different rating agencies.
Not all of the above items are expected to be on one site to increase reliability. You can plan to use the reliability indicators that best suit your site in these items. In other words, it would not be right for a site in the health sector to provide information about 3D payment methods.
For example, cargo processes and customer relations are clearly shown in the footer section of Altınbaş.
Google's specifications for pages such as contact;
One of the simplest indicators of expertise is to display the author's biography and social media information on author profiles. You can also refer to this article to create a quality biography .
Sample author profile from the Los Angeles Times;
Another example from the guide is from the Cleveland Clinic site;
Click for the full picture .
Google says you can understand from the Wikipedia article that this site is accepted as one of the top 4 hospitals in the USA. It also appears quite often on Wikipedia Page Quality.
Why Is It So Important For EAT Websites?
Google states that the quality evaluation guidelines ( Google rater guidelines ) do not directly affect the ranking of pages . If you provide services in areas that concern people's lives, economic conditions and health, EAT is an issue that should be considered.
As we mentioned, quality raters' votes for sites do not directly affect the ranking; but the findings can be used by Google to show higher quality sites in the SERP. After the Google update in March 2019 and many other minor or major updates, everyone has a common point: EAT
If you are not expert, authoritative or reliable in the area you serve , your site may appear to be of low quality, according to Google.
How Can EAT Get Better Levels?
Let us briefly explain what you can do to make your site more authoritative and expert in its field. Please note that there are many ranking factors besides what we have mentioned here.
The content you post should serve a specific purpose and provide original and accurate information,
Minimize the use of ads and pop-ups (do not use aggressive ads,
Avoid clickingbait,
Try to get good reviews from other sites (3rd party),
If you have a content-based site like a news site, consider showing all your author information on your imprint page.
You can add your references (the customers you work with),
Consider keeping your site updated. Do not think of this as a new article, replacing old content with new information may be included in this scope.
Use authors with real names and profile pictures, if available.
Various social evidence. For example, users showing and commenting on your brand on different social media platforms.
Feel free to cite. Contact a variety of sources by honestly citing your content (Google News publishers know this well :)) .
Go over whatever your area of competence is. For example, if you have a main content on SEO or data analysis, do not surprise users by producing content about recipes.
Make your articles suitable for natural language, do not bother yourself to use keywords.
Publish original studies or reports,
If you can, tell 20-30 people what they think about your site, etc. Improve your site by asking questions.
And you can think of everything we've touched on in this article, such as reliability & competence.
A page with low EAT content may not directly affect the EAT value of other pages; However, it can have a negative effect on the overall reputation of the site.
In short, Google EAT updates consist of steps to improve the quality of the site.
If you have experiences or questions that you want to add extras, you can send them in the comments section.
Useful Resources;
