E-A-Ting Through Content: Quality Matters as Much as Velocity

Marketers, content creators and anyone doing much business on the internet to this point in the Digital Age knows that standing out can be challenging. Search engine algorithms bury non-optimized sites, and even optimized entities face a battle to grab and hold eyeballs.?

Gone are the days when quantity matters more than quality. Shoppers, readers and internet users writ large are seeking places they can trust. Google and search engine optimization experts are using an acronym -- “E-A-T,” for expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness -- to describe how content can stand out in a saturated space.?

As Brent Csutoras of Search Engine Journal writes, “The concept of E-A-T originated in the 2014 version of the Google Search Quality Guidelines, a 160-page document that explicitly defines what Google considers to be high- or low-quality content.”

Since then, the best content creators have used those guidelines to consistently stand out and build a brand.?

Delving deeper into E-A-T reveals several commonalities among the best content. First, that which is helpful and comprehensive -- that reflects a certain expertise in one or more fields -- stands out.

Authoritativeness builds off expertise. Consistent excellence will bring users back to your site or network, and you will build a reputation for trustworthiness over time. Trust, both online and off, is earned, not given.

It is important to consider intent when one creates content or designs web pages to grab and hold a reader’s attention. The critical step that many fail to take into account is intent -- i.e., their intent does not mirror that which searchers might have when coming to the website.?

For example, users that are seeking information and education might want to subscribe to content that is relevant and authoritative. The best content creators realize this. They will add a subscription service or mine emails, so they can alert users to their new content — and not have to rely on people simply stumbling again across their site.

Google’s algorithm does not analyze site structure, but the ease with which a user can access your content makes a big difference in how often and how long they will engage. The length someone is on a page or site will make a significant difference in how Google ranks it. More eyeballs over a longer time conveys E-A-T to the artificial intelligence.

Research or content that is properly cited, links back to other authoritative work, and is backed up by data also stands out in an increasingly busy space. As noted on the site BKA Content :

Rather than just telling someone to believe a certain way, high-quality SEO content has the ability to show them as well. Take the time to search out relevant studies and statistics that help back up your points and make them really hit home.

As an example, think about an American going online to research medical symptoms they are having, in hopes of self-diagnosing. Google knows that not every source is trustworthy when it comes to such information, so it tries to deliver that which is best and most authoritative.

The bottom line is, times have changed from the days when speed or quantity trumped quality. Because search engines know users are looking for trustworthiness and authenticity, they have changed their algorithms to seek and find sites delivering just that. Today and every day going forward, we will all want to remember that.