What is E-E-A-T?

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. It is a framework from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines for assessing the credibility of content and its creators. The stronger your E-E-A-T, the more trust Google has in your content, especially on sensitive topics.

The four parts of E-E-A-T

Experience is about practical, first-hand experience with the topic. Expertise is about knowledge and skill. Authoritativeness is about your reputation and recognition in the market. Trustworthiness is about reliability, honesty and safety. Together they determine how credible your content comes across.

Why is E-E-A-T important?

E-E-A-T carries a lot of weight for topics that affect health, money or safety. Google only wants to show reliable sources there. You build strong E-E-A-T with expert authors, source citations and relevant backlinks, among other things.

Strengthening E-E-A-T

Show who the author is and why they are an expert, back up claims with sources, keep content up to date and build authority through off-page SEO. It is not a separate ranking factor, but a guideline that brings many quality signals together.

Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?

Not as a separate score, but Google uses it as a framework. The underlying signals do affect how findable you are.

What does the extra E stand for?

Experience: the creator’s own, practical experience with the topic.