Google constantly tells us to produce “high-quality content” for our websites, but what does this mean exactly? Back in August 2018, Google rolled out a broad core algorithm update name the Google E-A-T update. Its purpose was primarily about Google’s ability to determine E-A-T for a website which lead to businesses refreshing their content and seeking new ways to boost the quality of their pages.
In light of this, Google made its Search Quality Rater Guidelines available to the public, introducing new ways for businesses and digital agencies to produce content that would rank in the SERPS. Whilst they were first made public in 2015, they have been revised a number of times since, boosting their significance in the SEO industry.
Absolute Digital Media often refers to these guidelines within their work, and they’ve compiled their very own guide to help businesses excel at ranking in the SERPs.
Key Content Indicators You Can’t Afford To Miss
We’ve all heard the phrase “content is King” and in many cases, this is true. The significance of high-quality site content is second to none, helping you to create a positive experience for your audience, encouraging them to come back for more.
You need the content on your website to capture your audience’s attention while ensuring it reinforces a positive impression of your brand. Essentially, in order to ensure Google Raters can check off their ranking factors, you need to make sure that your content is written for humans, not just search engines.
Google states that, in order for a page to achieve a high E-A-T rating, it must contain “a satisfying amount of high quality MC, including a descriptive or helpful title” and “Satisfying website information and/or information about who is responsible for the website”.
To achieve this, consider:
- optimising your existing content,
- utilising Google Search Console to identify pages that need to be optimised first,
- reassessing your pages H1s, H2s, and H3s to ensure that each title targets the relevant keywords,
- interlinking the page you are optimising to other pages within your site,
- ensuring meta titles have been optimised for your desired keyword(s),
- removing duplicate content by analysing your website,
- refreshing old content to improve readability and increase engagement,
- considering adding more content to each page on your site,
- considering adding more images, videos, and other forms of content to make your pages more engaging.
For a more in-depth overview of Google’s guidelines, E-A-T, and how it may impact your search ranking, Absolute Digital Media have produced a step-by-step guide covering:
- what E-A-T is,
- the purpose of Google’s Rater Guidelines,
- the Page Quality Slide Scale,
- the relationship between E-A-T and YMYL pages,
- user generated content,
- high-quality page characteristics,
- the direction the Google algorithm is heading in.
Check out the full guide, here.