Google’s EEAT algorithm update: Experience

Google has issued an update to their EAT (expertise, authority & trust) algorithm to include a new element: Experience. The move is designed to enhance the user experience and improve the quality of content, especially high-stakes YMYL (your money or your life) content.

If you want your website to be found online, you’ll need to improve your Seach Engine Optimisation, so it’s important that you understand Google’s content standards and have at least a basic understanding of the main algorithm changes that might affect your ability to rank your website.

Google’s EEAT update replaces their EAT algorithm, and it’s fairly fundamental to getting your website ranked on google. Read on if you want to know what’s changed, why and how to create content for the new EEAT algorithm.

What is the EEAT Algorithm

Google’s EEAT algorithm is an updated version of their EAT algorithm. It stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority & Trust. It is used to assess how accurate and reliable website content is based on the experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness of the website owner and content author.

Trust is the most important factor within Google’s framework and it considers how accurate, honest, safe, and reliable a web page is.

How to create content for Google’s EEAT Algorithm

As with all google algorithm updates, Google advises you to create helpful content for people, not algorithms. This is always a great starting point. That said, if you want to improve the reader/user experience by showcasing your experience, here are some useful ways to do it:

• Include Authenticated Customer reviews
• Add in Case Studies/ User cases
• Interview past and existing clients
• Update your about page with details of past experience
• Include photos/ videos of your work
• Include expert opinions based on your experiences

Good SEO practice for EAAT

Whilst Experience is a new addition to the Google EEAT algorithm, the original elements of Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust remain just as important when it comes to good SEO practice; in fact, Google has stated that Trust is the most important element for any website.

Trust considers the extent to which your page is accurate, honest, safe, and reliable.

Trust markers you should include on your website include:

• A valid SSL certificate (HTTPS)
• Links to any relevant research or authoritative sources of information
• Online stores need secure online payment systems and reliable customer service.
• Reviews & testimonials
• Honest product reviews that help others make informed purchasing decisions.

It’s also worth reviewing your About page and updating it with details of your experience, qualifications, training, clients, press mentions and anything else that helps position you as an expert.

Your brand is also important for SEO as Google is interested in what other people say about you and your business – they’re looking for independent reviews, references, news articles, and other sources of credible information about your website or you as a content creator.

Google wants to see independent, reliable evidence that you are experienced, have relevant expertise, are authoritative and are considered trustworthy.

It’s worth trying to gain backlinks to your site from reputable sources. Whilst I don’t recommend spending loads of time on a backlink strategy, it’s worth investing at least some time to show that your content has credibility.

Read more: Building backlinks for SEO

EEAT and YMYL: The impact for Health & Wellness professionals & finance coaches

If you’re a wellness professional, integrative medicine doctor, health coach or finance professional, the EEAT algorithm is going to affect you because you already come under the YMYL algorithm.

YMYL stands for Your Money or Your Life, and it was created by Google to recognise that when it comes to matters that affect health, well-being and finances, a higher bar of credibility must apply. 

Google defines YMYL as:

Topics that can directly and significantly impact people’s health, financial stability or safety, or the welfare or well-being of society because of the following reasons: 

The topic itself is harmful or dangerous. For example, there is clear and present harm directly associated with topics related to self-harm, criminal acts, or violent extremism. 

The topic could cause harm if the content is not accurate and trustworthy. e.g., mild inaccuracies or content from less reliable sources could significantly impact someone’s health, financial stability, or safety, or impact society, for topics like: symptoms of a heart attack, how to invest money, what to do if there is an earthquake etc.

YMYL is applied to topics that require a high level of accuracy or trust to prevent harm. So if you’re creating content that discusses high-stakes YMYL topics like health treatments, investment advice or societal well-being, it’s more important than ever to share the experiences that qualify you as an expert in this area.

Read more about YMYL for Health and Wellness brands

Why Experience matters to Google

Let’s be honest; experience matters. There are plenty of so-called experts who have made a name for themselves online coaching or teaching a subject that they have only just learned themselves. What value are they really adding?

Anyone can claim to be an expert by completing an online course, reading a book, or even watching a webinar, but lived experience adds a depth of understanding, skills and knowledge that surpasses simply remembering something you read once.

The addition of experience to the EEAT algorithm means that content created by people/companies who can prove they’ve actually got experience of a topic will fare better than those simply create content

Why Experience matters to your clients

I could share a million examples that highlight why experience matters to your clients, but here are just two; one where choosing the experienced coach led to successful results and one where the lack of experience caused actual harm. It’s the latter that Google is mostly concerned about but both highlight the importance of experience.

A near miss leads to a successful launch.

Whilst speaking to a coach friend of mine, they mentioned that they were just about to hire a business coach to help them with the launch of their group programme. The ‘coach’ in question had no experience of launch coaching, in fact, I’d been burnt hiring them for funnel creation a few months earlier and had just spent hundreds of pounds fixing the work that they’d done.

I recommended my friend speak to our old coach, who is a launching expert with years of experience helping entrepreneurs launch new group programmes. Her clients consistently achieve high 5-figure launches. My friend hired the launch expert and went on to have multiple 5-figure launch successes. Experience matters!

A poor decision leads to disastrous health implications

A nutritionist client came to me wanting to create a standout brand that would easily differentiate her from the local competition. 

As a nutritionist with a background in psychology and nearly 20 years of experience as a clinical nutritionist, she had found a niche working with children with complex disordered eating and eating disorders. Through years of in-clinic experience and working hand-in-hand with psychologists, she had created a successful way of helping these clients.

A newly qualified local nutritionist was taking advantage of having a similar name and accidentally receiving referrals and was naively sending these highly vulnerable clients for food allergy testing, exacerbating their already disordered eating. 

Whilst both individuals were qualified nutritionists, only one had the experience and understanding that qualified her to work in a highly sensitive area.

The moral of the story is if you need a specialist, make sure the person you find has the experience to back it up!

 The Experience Opportunity 

Experiences are how humans bond. Shared experiences create shared emotions, so as a business owner, sharing your experiences gives you an ideal opportunity to show your clients that you:

• Understand their problems or
• Share their goals 
• Empathise with their situation
• Know how to solve their problems or 
• Can get them to where they want to be

The new Google Algorithm encourages a more personalised expression of your knowledge and skills, inviting you to bring more of yourself into your content – which is music to my ears – I didn’t call my business Be More You by chance! 

You’ve probably heard that people need to ‘know, like and trust’ you before they’ll buy. If you’re creating content with EEAT in mind, you’re baking the know, like and trust factor straight into your content.

EEAT is an opportunity to connect on a deeper level, build trust and express your expertise in ways you previously might not have.

Google EEAT Algorithm in summary 

The latest EEAT algorithm release is simply an evolution of Google’s former EAT algorithm that prioritises lived human experience over theoretical advice. It effectively puts the real experts in charge – I wonder, is this Google’s answer to the AI craze gripping the content creation world right now?

In terms of creating content for Google, nothing much has changed. Google has always been very clear about its standards for content creators – create high-quality, high-value content, and it will rank highly.

Consistently deliver high-quality, high-value content across your entire website, and Google will recognise that too.

This is an ideal opportunity to showcase your expertise to your audience, so include those personal experiences and examples and watch your rankings (and enquiries) increase.

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