E-E-A-T Evaluation Guide: 46-Point Checklist to Guide You

There’s no denying it: E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is crucial for SEO success in 2024 and beyond.

But many struggle to know where to start since E-E-A-T is more of a concept than a checklist.

Understanding E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T is key when Google’s Quality Raters give Page Quality (PQ) ratings.

While it’s not a direct ranking factor, it helps Google benchmark the quality of its results globally.

Google explains, “Raters assess how well content fulfills a search request, evaluating the quality based on expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. These ratings don’t directly impact ranking, but they help us ensure our results meet high standards worldwide.”

Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines mention E-E-A-T 121 times, but they don’t provide a blueprint for SEOs and site owners to follow.

The E-E-A-T Audit Guide

We teamed up with Digitaloft to create a 46-point E-E-A-T guide to audit your site, content, and authors for demonstrating experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

How to Use the Template

While E-E-A-T is a concept used by Quality Raters, rather than a confirmed list of algorithm signals, we can still consider the type of signals that demonstrate experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

The E-E-A-T audit guide is divided into three sections:

1. Brand-level E-E-A-T Signals: Sitewide signals that apply to the website or business publishing content.
2. Content-level E-E-A-T Signals: Specific to individual pages or pieces of content.
3. Author-level E-E-A-T Signals: R related to the author of a piece of content.

Within each section, you’ll find individual signals, a drop down to assign one of four possible E-E-A-T signal ratings, a notes section for further information, and the E-E-A-T concept that the signal relates to.

For content-level and author-level signals, you have two options:

1. Granular Audits: Use the guide for each piece of content and author.
2. Sample Audits: Apply the guide to a sample of 5 to 10 pieces of content and a handful of authors. This can reveal trends and areas for improvement across your site.

Understanding the E-E-A-T Signal Ratings

Assign one of four possible ratings to each signal:

• Signal sufficiently demonstrated: The signal is well-demonstrated and requires periodic reviews or ongoing efforts.
• Signal exists, but more work needed: The signal is present but needs improvement.
• Signal missing: The signal is not demonstrated, making it a high priority for improvement.
• N/A: The signal is not relevant to your site or business.

Frequently Asked Questions

How was this E-E-A-T evaluation guide created? The template is based on insights from Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines and successful sites. It includes factors referenced in the QRGs and signals that demonstrate E-E-A-T.

Do I need to demonstrate all E-E-A-T signals? No, focus on relevant signals for your business. Demonstrate as many as possible, but some may not apply or be feasible for your site.

Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor? E-E-A-T isn’t a direct ranking factor like links or content. Think of it as your site’s reputation. While it may indirectly impact rankings, the goal is to align with signals that users expect to trust your site, content, and authors.

Will improving E-E-A-T signals boost my rankings? Improving E-E-A-T signals aligns with what users expect and can indirectly impact rankings. Google likely feeds sites with high E-E-A-T into its machine learning systems, so demonstrating these signals is beneficial.