E-E-A-T & YMYL: Importance in SEO

Imagine you are creating your homework, a project, thesis, or even just a simple reaction paper and you have to do a lot of online research regarding a certain topic and you let yourself dig in, in a website or a webpage that does not have a proper E-E-A-T and YMYL on it? Would you feel like you just wasted your entire time reading it? Or worst submitted it with no relevant information at all? 

Sounds annoying? Let’s discuss.

Many of us writers were very particular with the so-called E-E-A-T and YMYL on every article that we write. It is always part of our job to research whatever topic we may be writing about. We have to consider if we are making it useful to our readers or are we just about to waste your time with our words. But what does it mean? 

How does optimizing images relate to the E-A-T and YMYL principles in SEO?

Optimizing images for SEO is crucial for E-A-T and YMYL principles. High-quality, relevant images enhance user experience and credibility, aligning with E-A-T. In YMYL topics, optimized images signal expertise and authority. Alt tags and file names should include keywords to further improve SEO.

What is E-E-A-T?

EAT stands for its acronym Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust. Now, what does it do to our SEO?

Experience

The use of “experience” here indicates that not only does knowledge count but so too does the extent to which the author has first-hand experience in the subject. 

Expertise

• expert skill or knowledge in a particular field.

Let’s say you are a medical practitioner writing about the medical history of a disease. Are you an expert on this? Do you have the credentials to write about the topic you have chosen? Yes! Why? Because that exactly is your niche. 

On the other hand, if you feel like you do not have enough knowledge to come up with the topic and to be able to be an expert on what you are writing about you can consider doing research or might as well interview persons who have the appropriate life experience on a specific topic.

And before you call yourself an expert. Please be mindful of the following:

• Be clear with what you are passionate about
• Be specific about your experiences and knowledge about them. Make sure to test your knowledge.
• Be certain of who you are. No one else knows your strengths and weaknesses so be sure you are particular about it.

Authoritativeness 

• having or arising from authority; official: an authoritative decree; authoritative sources. Of acknowledged accuracy or excellence; highly reliable: an authoritative account of the revolution.

Now, this normally happens when you as an Expert, actually recognize by your surroundings. How does it happen? It is when your article was generally able to reach numbers of shares, mentions, reviews, and the like. Although I must say that it takes a lot of courage for you to be able to be an authority. But this one is a good catch when people starting to look up to you as a leader in your chosen niche. For example, you can work on endorsements with influencers you have worked with. If they are impressed with your work they recommend you and by that people perceive that you are an authority.

Also, in some cases website itself can be authoritative depends on what you are looking for? For example, Youtube is the most authoritative website for Vloggers uploading their vlogs. Spotify for those who love to do podcasting. 

Trustworthiness

• the ability to be relied on as honest or truthful.

So, what does it take to be trustworthy? The same goes with the last content that we talked about. It also takes tons of hard work to earn the trust of the readers. I, myself, don’t trust easily a person whether I was able to encounter that person online or offline especially nowadays. 

But relating to writing this refers more likely to the Main Creator (MC), the content itself of the article, and the website. How do we know if we can consider it trustworthy? Some expert or source of people can be able to trust if you provide honesty and integrity with your work. Make sure that you provide what is only necessary with the topic and if it is a piece of legit information and accurate. Now how do you do it? Always fact-check the content. 

You may also let other people validate your claims by checking your resources. There’s nothing that says, “I know I’m right.” 

Another way to gain such trust is never to forget to highlight the sources of your research and/or content. Make sure that you sound appreciative so that your readers will appreciate your work too.

Are you an aspiring writer? Let’s see if you still want to after reading this. Let’s continue.

What is YMYL?

YMYL stands for “Your Money or Your Life” 

This goes to the type of details we presented, this one can have a substantial effect on the reader’s happiness, health either mental, emotional or physical, safety, financial service, and even legal advice. That is why it is very, very important that we treat this accurately since, as mentioned, this may have a severe impact on people’s lives.

Nevertheless, to writers out there it is a gentle reminder to make sure that your content will never cause anyone harm nor hurt. It is your/ our liability to secure that our readers will feel safe and secure all the time. 

Are you being confused right now? Let’s move forward.

How do EEAT & YMYL affect our SEO?

To begin, we’re giving you a list of some topics that need an expert to come up with more accurate data:

• Financial advice particularly with taxes, loans, investments, etc.
• News and current events for example a trending business, an issue about politics, the latest technology, and the like.
• Government embodying voting, social services concerns, legal issues, and any civics-related matters.
• Religion, Nationalism, Gender, Ethnicity, Race, and any other information that might be people-related. 
• Medical advice, hospital guidelines, safety protocols, information about medicine, etc. Let us also not forget about Health and Wellness. This one should be treated seriously and sensitively because not all of us have the strength to understand every single piece of information in the field of medicine. That is why it is very significant that topics about this should be produced by a medical expert or at least people within the organization with accreditation. Many topics about medicine should be frequently reviewed and updated. 
• Parenting, would you like to listen to someone talking about how to properly take good care of a child who hasn’t experienced it? Probably not. Remember the saying, “Experience is the Best Teacher.” You can gain knowledge from someone who didn’t study it but would rather have experienced it. These people perhaps may share some tips that are appropriate for the topic.

As you can see, there are a lot of topics that strictly need compliance with EEAT and YMYL that is almost everything under the sun should be covered by the two.

Also, besides never forget about the favorite content marketing that Google wants to provide the best, most relevant, most user-friendly links possible for every query. They want users to know they can trust its results. Hence, you should give one.

Another thing to be reminded of is that Google’s algorithm constantly changes. There is no way it will be constant. It will continuously evolve and innovate, so you as a content creator should follow. Make sure that you keep yourself updated from time to time to be able not to lose the trend. One characteristic a writer must have is never to be afraid of change. The way you write, your approach to people, the tone of your articles should consistently develop as well. You have to have your writing progress too.

Are we getting there? Sure, let’s proceed.

Have you asked yourself? If I am not used to writing using EAT and YMYL is there any way I can improve?

Absolutely yes! In what way? It’s here to find out how to properly express an E-A-T in your work.

• Create more links but make sure it is a high-quality link because sure Google is so good at finding and understanding which particular link counts so make sure you’re on the right track.
• Aside from the link, it is counted if you get more mentions. This way you will be easier to be well-known. You will boost your authority if you catch the right audience and get positive feedback. Your reputation will increase as more readers will reach out to your work.
• Your contact details should be visible. It should easily be seen so people would get to know you as soon as they start reading your article. Showing them your complete contact information will make you look like not just a legit writer but also a trustworthy one because stating the obvious no one would ever take the risk to show off personal information if you have black propaganda. 

Legitimately, businesses always show off their address, contact person, phone number, email address, and the like.

• Flex your achievements and qualifications most especially your credentials. It will look like you’re bragging, but that’s fine. Fine. You’ve worked hard for it not to keep it a secret but to let people know that they should believe in you, and that you can teach them using your words. Just make sure that you do not go beyond the truth. 
• Look for a specialist, a resource person that will make your work go easy. Not that they’ll do it for you but they will help you understand your niche. Covering YMYL topics is sensitive you have to double-check every word that you will consider as it will again, may affect people’s lives. Now if a free interview no longer works these days, try to consider hiring one don’t go beyond your means. After all, we do not want to get broke to get the work done. It doesn’t work that way.  

Wondering what to do if you’re not working on a YMYL topic? Then good for you, you will more likely to get to finish your job easier because all you need is a good source of internet and there you go research and self-study your topic.

• Get to be included in more reviews. Pretty sure you know that there are websites and or web pages that are designed for reviews. The more you get positive feedback the more chance to build your reputation in your chosen niche. Always be transparent with your reviews it will surely help you learn and develop if there is a need. People who are busy with their schedule don’t want to waste time purchasing an item and then regret it afterward, or going to a place then find out it is reality versus expectation in terms of the experience that is why checking out reviews prior is a must. Let say, Zomato for a restaurant. Thus, if you get to be mentioned on reviews the more audience you’ll be able to get. 
• Fact-check. Now, this one is tricky. Because of all the information on the internet, it’ll sometimes be hard to identify whichever is true, so ensure that you are reliable with your topic. Wikipedia is one great example of a legit resource for information.
• Now, that you almost on it, it is also important that you keep and maintain your statistics, data, and knowledge up to date. Review and edit as much as possible so that your character won’t be affected especially if you are already in authority. Any misleads on the readers can cause you in a bad position so always be mindful of it.

Did I hear about the E-E-A-T ranking score? Is there such a thing?

The complication about E-E-A-T or Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust is that while they certainly make your topic as authentic as possible, there is also a lot of confusion about the “scare factor”. 

In my judgment, that is something that your audience should be touch nor feel. Come to think of it you are helping your readers to fulfill a task but no matter how good the quality of your article is since they are structurally a human idea your computer should be able to interpret and evaluate your work.

Herewith some ratings that we have observed based on analysis:

• Users have fully met the satisfaction of the content you provided. They will no longer visit another website for you have answered all their queries.
• Your content was of help but unfortunately, users were likely to visit another website to search for what they are looking for.
• Users may be able to contain what they needed slightly. Your information may be useful but does not meet the standards of the reader.
• None of the data displayed on your website would greatly benefit the user.

Going back to the problem, you should always think of Google’s algorithm (AKA “the Medic Update”). Google’s research result.   

Does it matter to consider using E-E-A-T in my writing? Is it that important?

Here’s the thing, to make useful content with accurate data on it and easy for readers. 

E-E-A-T is indeed definite about any queries. However, not all of it is necessary. For example, you are just dealing with simple research about how does a certain breed of dog looks like you can search for a breed of dog on Google and there you go, it will show you how beautiful dogs can be. Meanwhile, if you are trying to get the nutrition facts of a recipe, there is no doubt that E-E-A-T is required. It is essential that you need to provide accurate data. Hence, the probability that you will use E-E-A-T is high.

Google also introduce this to the YMYL sort of topic. Why? Because stating true and only true information is crucial. 

Do websites and web pages need to have an E-E-A-T & YMYL?

I would say yes. Why? Because we are dealing here with people who are trying to accomplish work, get research done and websites and web pages are created to be of help. And to be able for the users to maximize the use of websites and web pages, we need to teach them with factual data purposely.

On the other hand, here are some other beneficial a website or a web page with high-quality content includes and but not limited to:

• To be able to authorize your customers to download files.
• To let your customers post a question. So that other users can answer them as well. 
• Selling of products and or services.
• Entertainment
• Forums, blogs are created to communicate or show points of view.
• Be proud of the photos and/or videos you have personally taken by sharing to other social media and online platforms.
• Learn about a particular topic you want to know.

Making your page with the vision of having the best possible user experience. Keep in mind that If you’re trying to enhance an authority site and you don’t pay attention to all those rules given, Google quality raters might give your page a “low quality” rating. And that means a low chance of reaching your target audience. 

It is our job to create content that Google wants and people’s need. Believe me, this vocabulary may be new to you, and you might have no idea how everything works. This may be the first time you have ever heard of it, but shortly, you will get familiar with it and more likely use it just like anyone else. 

Now, just before we summarize our work. Here are a few tips we can provide to boost your E-E-A-T & YMYL:

• Cut content that no longer performs well. Go ahead remove it do not be afraid to change for the better.
• Push your recommendations. One tactic you might consider is to use referral schemes and referral fees. 
• It should always be easy to reach out to you. There is no way people would get a hard time contacting you. No way.
• Try harder to be fast and mobile-friendly. And when I say fast you should by then now implementing regular speed tests to help you stay on top of this.

Summary

Apart from describing what you can offer to your audience. Content has a great ability to be more of your brand. It is whether, like a well-told story, a novel, a poem, a full lyrics of songs, your content must take your readers to the whole journey of your article.

It allows you to showcase your strength in writing. To dominate, delight, and put inspiration to your audience. Great content can induce and influence your audience. Working in companionship with designs, artifacts your platform content can extend your audience to something they can connect with. And when that happens, there is no doubt they are more likely to build rapport with you.

Remember, that good thing takes time.  Understanding good, high-quality content. How does the Google algorithm works? And How it continuously change and improve. And if done right your website will make its way up the Google top ranks. so be sure to stay abreast of these changes and you’ll be sitting on top for a very long time.

Now that you are familiar with the proper use of E-E-A-T and YMYL and other SEO Google search and its ranking factors, we recommend that you work on adapting to user search behavior to be able to stay on top as Google’s is constantly changing and updating its search engine. And with every change, I mean fast-changing. Google aims to become the fastest, most effective, most efficient, and most helpful. Thus, keep on top of your mind to be more competitive and to keep your audience as a priority to serve them better and develop reliable and useful content.