Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, shortly followed by many other language learning models, the internet has been filled with AI-generated content. Unfortunately, this content is usually poor in quality or even spammy. To fight this, Google introduced a new concept called E-E-A-T, which aims to reward high-quality content instead.
What does E-E-A-T stand for?
The letters E-E-A-T stand for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Each of these components play an important role in Google’s SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) guidelines:
- Experience – Refers to the first-hand experience that the author has on the topic. For example, if it’s a product review, the author should be personally using the product.
- Expertise – Similarly, the author behind the content should hold a level of knowledge or skill in the specific area (e.g. if it’s medical advice, it should be written by someone who has a medical background).
- Authoritativeness – Measures the reputation and reliability of the site in that particular field. One of the ways Google does that is through backlinks, however, these must come from authoritative sites too.
- Trustworthiness – Looks at the security of the website, as well as how accurate and truthful the content within it is. Things like credentials or certifications can help with this but, ultimately, the information should be well-informed and fact-checked.
As a whole, the E-E-A-T concept aims to stop poor-quality content from making it to the top of our Google searches. Instead, it rewards content that is reliable and helpful to the users, ranking it higher on the search engines.
Why is E-E-A-T important in link building?
Link building has always been an important part of SEO, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. However, for it to make a positive impact on your website’s rankings, the backlinks must come from a site that follows the core E-E-A-T principles too.
For instance, if your company specialises in organising guided tours in Europe, the backlink cannot come from an IT-focused news site, since that would be obviously irrelevant. Instead, it should come from a reputable travel blog that regularly reviews different locations in Europe specifically. Not just that, the blog should have high-quality articles, with a clear author and experience in the field. It must also be a clean and secure site that search engines can trust.
Finding such a site can be challenging and time-consuming. If you are not sure where to start, check this tool to get EEAT quality backlinks. Not only does it offer thousands of international news sites and blogs, all of them have been checked for trustworthiness and reliability. What’s more, this tool takes care of the writing side of things, with a network of professional writers producing SEO-friendly content with a natural inclusion of links to your website.
The future of SEO
The era when sheer backlink volume guaranteed SEO success is over. However, link-building remains crucial, especially as AI-driven search evolves. Google prioritizes a people-first approach, where high-quality, relevant links—alongside strong E-E-A-T principles—play a key role in boosting website performance.