A 6-minute process to diagnose E-E-A-T issues

by adminSEO

In a future filled with E-E-A-T and AI, SEO will be less about doing and (possibly) more about directing. Here’s why.

E-E-A-T is the buzzword on the streets of SEO.

We talk about it, repeat it, say it to clients.

But even though we know what it is, do we really understand how to both diagnose and fix E-E-A-T issues?

Let’s find out.

Common E-E-A-T issues

Where do you start to diagnose issues relating to experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness?

The first thing is to take a deep gulp and head to Google Trends.

E-E-A-T is a brand thing

Once you’ve recovered from that sting, head to the SERP and type in your brand name.

What shows up?

A knowledge panel?

Don’t choke on what you E-E-A-T

The thing with E-E-A-T. It’s genuinely hard to fake and almost certainly goes beyond pure SEO.

It’s Google asking you to demonstrate your E-E-A-T.

It wants you to help it figure out what you are and where to place you in its vast knowledge base.

I like to think of this as an expert witness on a stand giving evidence to a court.

Diagnosing E-E-A-T issues

Now let’s go a little deeper.

You can visit your client’s website for a 5-minute E-E-A-T audit.

Step 1: Check Google Trends.

Step 2: Check the Brand SERP.

Step 3: Can you find any evidence on their website of:

  • Qualifications
  • Awards
  • Policies
  • Testimonials
  • Career history
  • Case studies
  • Published papers
  • Media mentions
  • Location
  • Contact information

This will give you either plenty to get on with fixing or equally allow you to move deeper.

Deeper E-E-A-T diagnosis

There’s no doubt that E-E-A-T isn’t just about how legit you are. It goes beyond this.

I like to use another simple framework.

Eeat Evidence Past Present

Evidence from the past + evidence for the present = E-E-A-T.

The evidence from the past is everything you’ve done so far for your brand or business to be classed as “authoritative.”

It’s the list we discussed earlier, but the evidence for the present is different.

This is the marketing you’re doing to show the world you’re an expert.

This list includes:

  • Creative advertising.
  • Helpful content for search.
  • Helpful content, not for search.
  • New insights and data creation.
  • Publicity.
  • Book writing.
  • Guest posts (on real sites with real traffic).
  • Developing your authorship profiles.
  • Podcast production.
  • Podcast appearances.
  • Links.
  • Media mentions.
  • Social media content.
  • Social media perspectives (others talking about you).

Budget dictates what you can do, but budget typically revolves a lot around time.

And that’s the thing with E-E-A-T. It’s not really about ROI. It’s about brand marketing; very often, brand marketing won’t fall into your remit.

For an SEO, you can give a client a list of things to do, but much will be out of your control.

And so, what you can control will tend to be:

  • Links.
  • Publicity.
  • Media mentions.
  • Content.

Digital PR takes care of links, media mentions and publicity in one nice and tidy package.

Content is the other thing you can control.

But creating helpful content is a whole other subject area.

To conclude

All businesses should naturally do E-E-A-T as part of their marketing.

But some do it more than others.

And this is the general direction SEO is heading.