[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","author":[{"@type":"Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/bev-1-240x300.png","license":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/terms-conditions\/","name":"Bev Mapes","height":"300","width":"240","acquireLicensePage":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/contact-us\/","@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/bev-1-240x300.png"},"url":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/about-us\/our-team\/beverly\/","name":"Beverly Mapes","description":"Bev founded Top Of The List in 2006 and has over 25 years of experience working with technology. In her free time, she competes in dog agility competitions with her Golden Retrievers, Cosmo and Finn.","sameAs":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beverly.mapes","workLocation":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/#GrandRapids","worksFor":{"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/about-us\/"},"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/about-us\/our-team\/beverly\/#Person"},{"@type":"Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/mandie-allietta.png","license":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/terms-conditions\/","name":"Mandie Allietta","height":"553","width":"452","acquireLicensePage":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/contact-us\/","@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/mandie-allietta.png"},"url":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/about-us\/our-team\/mandie\/","name":"Mandie Allietta","description":"Mandie, is a Communications graduate, also earned an AA Web Development degree. She works at Top Of The List as a Technical SEO Specialist II and combines design, SEO, and tech skills.","sameAs":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mandieallietta","alumniOf":"https:\/\/www.gvsu.edu\/","gender":"Female","workLocation":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/#GrandRapids","worksFor":{"@type":"Organization","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/themes\/totl\/graphics\/totl-logo.png","license":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/themes\/totl\/graphics\/totl-logo.png#WebPage","name":"Top Of The List transparent logo","height":"108","width":"225","creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/about-us\/"},"copyrightNotice":"Copyright 2015 Top Of The List","acquireLicensePage":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/contact-us\/","creditText":"Logo graphic created by Top Of The List","@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/themes\/totl\/graphics\/totl-logo.png"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/themes\/totl\/graphics\/totl-logo.png"},"address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","name":"TOTL Address","addressCountry":"US","addressLocality":"Grand Rapids","addressRegion":"Michigan","postalCode":"49506","streetAddress":"2513 Lake Dr SE","@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/#PostalAddress"},"url":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/","alternateName":"TOTL","name":"Top Of The List","description":"We are a full service digital marketing agency based in Grand Rapids, MI. A complete suite of internet marketing services includes SEO, PPC management, local SEO, consulting, and more to help you reach the top of the list!","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/TopOfTheList\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/TopOfTheListLLC","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TopOfTheListSEO\/"],"contactPoint":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/#ContactPoint","legalName":"Top Of The List","foundingDate":"2006-01-01","areaServed":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q30#Country","numberOfEmployees":"4","@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/about-us\/"},"knowsAbout":["https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q386275",{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q180711","name":"wiki-search-engine-optimization","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q180711"}],"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/about-us\/our-team\/mandie\/#Person"}],"about":[{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q95","name":"wiki-google","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q95"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q180711"},{"@type":"Thing","url":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1323528","name":"wiki-digital-marketing","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1323528"}],"inLanguage":{"@type":"Language","name":"English","sameAs":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/English_language","@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/#English"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/e-e-a-t-768x512.jpg","name":"E-E-A-T","height":"512","width":"768","@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/e-e-a-t-768x512.jpg"},"articleBody":"Improve Your Website\u2019s E-E-A-T  We\u2019ve all been to web pages that contain low-quality content. Some can even be detrimental to us by providing false or misleading information. Worse yet, we might not realize we\u2019re being duped. Here\u2019s the minimum you need to know about E-E-A-T, including Top Of The List\u2019s own checklists to determine if your site meets the guidelines.  E-E-A-T To ensure Google places high-quality sites at the top of their search results, they developed Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines called E-E-A-T.  E stands for Experience, another E for Expertise, A for Authorative, and T for Trustworthiness. If your site meets all of these, you\u2019re in good graces with Google. These guidelines have been around for quite a while. Over the past several years, the guidelines have been working their way into algorithm updates like never before.  Manual Reviewers illustration of people giving the thumbs up Google hires manual reviewers called raters. The raters are armed with instructions and checklists on what to do on your site and what to look for. Their experiences are documented so Google can determine if their desired guidelines are being met.  Reviewing and updating your web page content to meet Google\u2019s guidelines should be a continuous goal to give it the best chances for high placement. While you\u2019ll have to read the guidelines to get all the details (which are updated periodically), we\u2019ve created checklists showing a summary of the guidelines that should be applied to your website.  Raters usually rate individual pages, although a smaller part of the E-E-A-T guidelines applies to the entire site. While raters may visit more pages on your site to accomplish a task, their primary task is to rate the specific page or pages they are assigned. Thus, it\u2019s important to look at all of your pages individually rather than just \u201cdoes the site meet this guideline?\u201d   Note that reviewers cannot possibly review all sites on the web manually. None of the data they collect for a site is directly added to Google\u2019s search algorithms for that site. But collectively, the data is likely used to determine future algorithm changes. As history has shown, when Google wants websites to conform to something and most are not doing so, there\u2019s an algorithm change that pretty much forces the issue.  Understanding Webpages and Websites This section of the guidelines contains information that raters need to complete their jobs and requires them to make decisions on what type of site or page they are reviewing. It includes:  Definitions Determining the purpose of a web page (share content, entertain, sell, etc.) YMYL (see below) Understanding the website \u2013 each piece of content on a page must be classified as Main Content (MC), Supplementary Content (SC), or Ads The reputation of the website or content author(s) \u2013 the rater must look offsite to find this information Of all of the above, YMYL has the greatest effect on sites that are grouped into this bucket. Thus, we\u2019ll go into it in more detail.  logos for money, shopping, medicine, apple, heart, justice and world What is YMYL? YMYL stands for Your Money or Your Life. According to Google, these guidelines apply to \u201cpages that could potentially impact the happiness, health, or wealth of users.\u201d YMYL pages require higher page quality and E-E-A-T ratings. The stricter standards apply to pages representing:  News and current events: International events, business, politics, science, or technology. Sports, entertainment, or lifestyle are generally not YMYL. Civics, government, and law: Information about voting, government agencies, public institutions, social services, and legal issues (divorce, child custody, adoption, creating a will, etc.). Finance: Includes eCommerce, investment, banking, taxes, retirement planning, and more. Shopping: Web pages that allow people to purchase online, or information about or services related to research or purchase. Health and safety: Medical issues, drugs, hospitals, emergency preparedness, or information about dangerous activities. Groups of people: Pages about groups such as race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity. Other: A catch-all category that includes nutrition, fitness, housing information, choosing a college, finding a job, and other topics that could impact YMYL. Page Quality Ratings Page quality ratings can get complex. The guidelines break the ratings into the following types (and in this order):  High-Quality Pages Highest Quality Pages Low-Quality Pages Lowest Quality Pages Medium Quality Pages There are characteristics of each, examples of what a \u201csatisfying\u201d amount of content would deserve a specific rating type, what level of E-E-A-T is required to meet that rating type, reputation to meet that type, and more. All this and you\u2019re still only through part 1.  Part 2 is about understanding mobile user needs, Part 3 goes into Google\u2019s \u201cNeeds Met\u201d rating system (on-site search queries and results), and finally, there\u2019s an Appendix about using the evaluation platform.  Our minimum checklists for E-E-A-T checkmark with blue circle It is not easy to wade through the guidelines, and even more difficult to determine what each individual client website might need. But we tried and came up with some lists from Part 1 that we use to review our clients\u2019 websites. While there are most certainly some items missing from these lists, it is a start and is in a little easier-to-follow format than the Google guidelines.  All websites Terms & Conditions policy \u2013 make sure you have one for your site Privacy Policy \u2013 with the date that it was last updated Cookie Policy \u2013 This can be located within the Privacy Policy Name, address, and phone # on all pages \u2013 hint: make sure it displays exactly as shown in your Google Business Profile listing Is there an \u201cAbout\u201d page? Is your site secure? (https) Can you access the home page from all other pages (link or click on the logo)? Is it clear who is responsible for your site (contact us page)? Are domain email addresses used? ex: name@domain.com Are the authors and posting date listed on your blog posts, advice, and news pages? Do those authors have a profile page that demonstrates their expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness on the subject? Is the blog or other article type written regularly? Overall, are you providing a good amount of quality content? Does supplementary content distract from \u2013 or is it unhelpful to \u2013 the main content \u2013 as in, are there too many ads, call-outs, or overly large navigation areas? Is any of the content \u201cstolen\u201d or borrowed from other sites? Is there a useful 404 page (including links or a search box \u2013 or some way to direct users back to the homepage)?  Is the website accessible to people with disabilities? An HTML sitemap in addition to an XML sitemap YMYL Sites All items in All Websites above Do the site\u2019s blog posts get shared on social media (by other than the business itself)? Are there external links to helpful sources? Number of positive reviews as of (date) Google Business Profile Facebook Tripadvisor Trustpilot Yelp BBB Other Does the site have a good reputation (check reviews; a few can be negative depending on the reason, source, and quantity)? eCommerce Websites All items in All Websites and YMYL Sites above Ease of finding a product intuitively How easy is it to purchase a product Easy to locate policy on payment, exchanges, and returns Ease of checkout policy \u2013 there should be no surprises Is the shipping cost available before purchase? Does the shopping cart store items you plan to buy? Can you create a wishlist? Ability to sort category pages and search results by price, weighted relevance, review score, best sellers, or similar criteria Can the categories and search results be filtered by product features and tags? Responsive design that looks good on mobile and desktop Is there a modern search capable of interpreting queries with misspellings or similar words that are not specifically what is on the description page? Does the site include high-quality content on product pages: ie, manufacturer\u2019s product specs, original product information, shipping and returns information, [and] multiple images of the product? Is the site produced by the manufacturer of the product and is that evident? Does the site contain user reviews of the products? As you can see, getting your website to comply with the guidelines can be a lot of work. But for SEO reasons and the benefit of your users, it\u2019s time to get going. If ensuring your website meets the EEAT guidelines seems a bit overwhelming for you to take on, don\u2019t hesitate to contact Top Of The List for some help. It\u2019s what we do regularly and we enjoy helping other sites do it right!","url":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/googles-e-a-t-guidelines\/","datePublished":"2019-10-16","dateModified":"2024-01-16","wordCount":"1438","isFamilyFriendly":true,"isAccessibleForFree":true,"name":"Google's E-E-A-T Guidlines","headline":"Google's E-E-A-T Guidlines","description":"Google's E-E-A-T guidelines vary with types of sites and their effects on us all. Here are some minimum checklists to help improve your site's E-E-A-T.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/about-us\/"},"subjectOf":{"@type":"Blog","image":{"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/wp-content\/themes\/totl\/graphics\/totl-logo.png"},"url":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/blog\/","name":"Top Of The List Blog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/about-us\/"},"description":"Explore a wealth of information including effective online marketing strategies and tips for improving overall website presence. Check out the latest happenings here at Top Of The List, too!","inLanguage":{"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/#English"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/about-us\/"},"isAccessibleForFree":"true","audience":["https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q6859454","https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/avoiding-scams-senior-citizens\/#Audience1","https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/strategies#smallbusiness"],"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/blog\/"},"@id":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/blog\/google-e-e-a-t-guidelines\/"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Google’s E-E-A-T Guidelines","item":"https:\/\/topofthelist.net\/blog\/google-e-e-a-t-guidelines\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]