Here we goooooooooo again! Google JUST updated its Search Quality Guidelines to reflect an added E to the already existing E-A-T. Since E-E-A-T is an update to E-A-T, the original article is updated here: Google’s E-E-A-T.
What does E-E-A-T stand for?
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Google decided E-A-T in itself wasn’t enough 😉 All joking aside, this is a good thing for all of us.
Get Ready for Double E-A-T
In the past, when talking about E-A-T, I have used E for expertise and experience, interchangeably. However, now, Google is going an extra step to differentiate the two to better refine their search results.
Google has also added close to 10 pages to their Search Evaluator Guidelines, so this should be a really good things for the rest of us who were seeking more clarity into the existing E-A-T.
Important Notes About E-E-A-T aka Double E-A-T
Check out this graph in the Search Quality Guidelines where “trust” is perfectly in the center of expertise, experience, and authoritativeness. Establishing trust for your site is the main goal here.
The further give examples of how much “trust” is needed depends on the type of page:
- if it’s an e-commerce page, it must have secure online payment systems and solid customer service
- if it’s a product review page, it must show that it was written with the reader in mind and not for the purpose of solely selling the product
This article is will be updated by tomorrow with a lot more details, so please check back tomorrow to delve deeper into Double E-A-T and what it entails.
Expertise Versus Experience: What’s the Difference?
With E-A-T, Google’s algorithm has become really good at evaluating, determining, and rewarding sites that show expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
However, Google has gone a step further and added an extra E to define experience on its own which stands for experience.
But why? What’s the difference between expertise versus experience?
What is experience? Experience refers to the first hand life experience a person has about that topic. For example, if you are reading a page that talks about some aspect of filling out your tax forms, you would want that advice from someone who is actively experienced in this and does tax preparation! If the creator of the page has never filled out a tax form and is “faking it”, this could result in dire consequences for people using his/her advice on how to do this task.
What is expertise? Expertise refers to the knowledge or the skill to the topic at hand. If you are on a page that explains how to install a sink, would you want that advice from someone who installs sinks all the time or some who does interior decorating?
Google explains in the Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines:
