Google updates can completely alter how websites rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). This can make navigating the digital landscape difficult for businesses that want to get a stronger online presence. A strong understanding of the newest Google updates can help companies overcome this difficulty.
The E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) and YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) are two updates that changed the SERP rankings. These original updates happened in 2018, with E-A-T transforming into E-E-A-T in 2022 as ‘Experience’ was also added to the algorithm.
This article will explore Google’s guidelines for SEO and how it has developed since the introduction of E-E-A-T and YMYL. In addition to this, we will investigate how to create content that successfully meets these new guidelines and why it’ll make you rank higher with SEO.
The E-E-A-T Update
Quality content was at the forefront of the E-E-A-T update, as it made sure that the better the quality of content that was on a page, the better the chance of ranking on SERPs. While it’s not been confirmed by Google that it affects rankings, the guidelines from the update can help businesses align with the definition of what makes a good search result.
Each element of the E-E-A-T update has a different way that it can impact search engine rankings.
Experience
Added to the update in 2022, after it was originally released in 2018, the experience part of the update focuses on first-hand experience with a specific subject matter. This allows you to provide tried-and-tested advice, authentic insights and unique opinions that relate and show your experience in the topic. These can be in the form of case studies from successful projects or content about awards that have been won, as these will promote authenticity.
Expertise
The knowledge, skills and credentials will be taken into account with this part of the update, so having information that can be trusted will be beneficial for Google rankings. While the experience part of the update relates more to real-life strategy examples, expertise revolves more around advice from experienced advisors. For example, SEO Manchester companies will have content on their site that specifically showcases their expertise on the subject of SEO.
Authority
Ensuring that your website is a reliable source of information can help with improving the reputation and authoritativeness of your business. After the update, this has significantly helped with Google rankings. Backlinks can be a good way of giving your website better authority, as better relevancy and higher quality backlinks will make it more likely to rank. Authority score metrics can be checked on a variety of apps, with the higher scores out of 100 being the best for authoritativeness.
Trustworthy
The trustworthiness aspect of this Google update is about protecting visitors from potential harm when accessing your website. If your customers have faith in your website, the higher chance it has to rank well on Google. Making sure that your website is secure, content is accurate, everything is updated, there is help on demand and you have relevant certifications can all be good for this ranking factor.
The YMYL Update
Creating content that has a direct impact on your readers’ happiness, health, safety or financial security is the main factor of the YMYL update. These types of pages are taken very seriously by Google, since what you have on your website can either positively or negatively affect someone's life. Negatively impactful content or providing deceitful information on your site will have bad effects on your rankings. Therefore, it’s crucial to have honest and positively impactful content on your pages.
YMYL is very broad and covers various topics and industries, so it can be difficult to spot whether a page falls under this category or not. However, most websites will have YMYL pages so it’s important to optimise these to work well with E-E-A-T. This will help make your website more beneficial for readers, which can increase the chances of it ranking higher on Google.
How to Create Content that Meets E-E-A-T and YMYL Guidelines
Knowing exactly what content to create for your website that complies with new Google guidelines can be rather confusing, as the updates have been so drastic. However, there are ways that you can aid yourself with creating better ranking content:
Understand Your Audience and Topic: Keep content updated, relevant and accurate to make your website a credible source.
Show Expertise and Credibility: Being able to show that you know what you’re talking about and that you’re an expert will make readers have more trust in your website.
Consistent Schedule: High-quality content should be posted regularly to keep up with the high demands of the new guidelines.
Encourage Reviews: Having more positive Google reviews about your business or website will help with building trust.
Optimise for SEO: Understanding and utilising the best SEO practices can help your website’s content rank higher on SERPs.
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