High-quality content builds trust with your audience and can improve your search engine ranking. In industries that impact your money or your life (YMYL), content must show expertise, experience, authority and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
Google weighs E-E-A-T heavily for health, finances, legal advice and many lifestyle topics. By looking at each factor of the acronym, Google can determine a website’s quality and reliability, ranking it higher or lower. The standards impact key categories more greatly, but website owners should focus on the core concepts for any topic.
How to Enhance E-E-A-T
Edelman’s Trust Barometer shows that 79% of Generation Z feel it is crucial to trust the brands they purchase products from. When you improve the accuracy of your content, you can gain the trust of consumers. People may bookmark your site, knowing they can rely on you for well-researched advice. Here are some actions you can take to ensure your business enhances E-E-A-T in YMYL content.
Cite Current and Trustworthy Sources
The sites you link to matter. When you share a statistic or fact in your articles, the reader may click on links to check accuracy. If you misinterpret facts or quote the wrong numbers, this will reflect poorly on your brand.
Whenever possible, choose the most recent statistics. Go with a study conducted in the last year instead of one from a decade ago. In healthcare, for example, knowledge changes rapidly. It is crucial to remain current if you want to be the go-to source in your industry. Credible sources include peer-reviewed journals, government sites and respected industry publications.
Get Personal
Studies show that 81% of consumers want personalized experiences over generic ones. People are more likely to relate to your content when it is unique and tied to your personal experience. Your expertise also lends authority to what you are saying.
Show users where key information came from. Share case studies of patients or clients and add testimonials highlighting a specific solution on your home page.
Highlight a Professional Byline and Biography
You need more than a biography that says you are an expert in the industry — you have to show where you gained your experience. Short videos showing a doctor at work, a dentist consulting with a new patient, a financial advisor studying the stock market or some other hands-on approach go a long way toward experience-driven content.
You should also avoid using a blanket pen name for all the articles on your site. Add a custom author page for each person who writes for your blog. It is far more powerful to share the credentials of a real person the reader can look up than to create a mock persona. Users who suspect a fake profile may wonder if the article was AI-generated or fabricated.
Hone Your Website Design
The aesthetics of your site matter more than you might think. Excellent user experience (UX) affects whether your brand looks authoritative and professional. If your pages are hard to navigate and cluttered with unnecessary content or outdated stats, your YMYL content is unreliable. A strong visual design influences how your audience perceives your knowledge.
Research shows that 88% of consumers are unlikely to return to a site due to poor UX. When you focus on refining your website’s content, layout and UX, you increase the likelihood of being seen as professional and authoritative. If your blog looks like a 1995 relic, people will doubt whether you have the judgment to give them next-gen crypto advice.
Prove Your Words
One of the concerns writers have with AI becoming more prevalent is that computers are often incorrect. One way to stand out from AI’s massive infiltration of content online is to ensure your thoughts are clear and you back them up with relevant research.
A financial advisor might share a few successful case studies to demonstrate the efficacy of the tips they are offering. A doctor could share research and give it a spin with their own interpretation based on what they see while working with patients. Make sure claims are believable. Visitors may see dramatic statements as an exaggeration. Verify data with respected sources and use evidence from research studies to show why your content is reliable.
Write to Humans
Ranking in Google’s search results drives traffic to your site. However, you must write to your audience. Pieces created for a person rather than an algorithm will sit better with users and increase the chances someone will link to your site or share your articles. Invest time in creating real stories and solid facts to show your years of experience and ability to present valid facts. Your users will thank you, and your site will perform better.
