For any affiliates hoping to boost their ranking and drive traffic in 2021, E-A-T is something that needs to be considered carefully. There has been a lot of debate over recent years with some suggesting that E-A-T is a ranking factor used by Google and others not so sure. Regardless of whether it directly affects ranking, E-A-T is something that affiliates must be leveraging in their content strategies. Below, we look at this concept in more detail and offer some advice.
What is E-A-T?
If you are unfamiliar with E-A-T, you should know that it stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. The concept originally came from Google’s Search Quality Rate Guidelines which are used to assess the quality of search results from Google.
While this document was first published in 2013, it has become notable a lot more recently with hints from Google suggesting that E-A-T is an important ranking factor.
It is important to note that E-A-T is important for some queries more so than others. For example, those which require factual information such as topics in the Your Money or Your Life category rely on expertise.
How is it evaluated?
While the three aspects of E-A-T are similar, they are evaluated in different ways by Google. For any affiliates, it is important to understand how these factors are evaluated in order to create content that works.
Expertise
This factor refers to content that has a high level of skill or knowledge in that particular field. This is not based on the website or the organisation that is offering the content but simply on the content itself. So, Google looks for experts who have written content and favours them above those don’t show expertise.
Authoritativeness
When it comes to authoritativeness, Google looks at the reputation of the writer. If the website hosting the content is a go-to source of information about this particular topic, it will rank it higher on this factor. Of course, authority is a relative concept, so this is something to consider.
Trustworthiness
Finally, this factor is related to the accuracy, transparency and legitimacy of the website and the content on it. Google will look at who posted the content, how transparent this is and checks any contact details. Often, citing trustworthy sources can be useful here.
How can affiliates leverage E-A-T in content strategies?
Now that you know a bit more about E-A-T, it is important that you understand how to leverage it as an affiliate marketer. Learning more about each aspect is crucial in the beginning so that you can spot any issues with your existing content.
First things first, you’ll need to keep your content up to date. When was the last time you updated your offers? If these are out of date, then you could affect your ranking. Check the facts and remove anything that is no longer accurate.
You might also benefit from hiring some experts to help you develop content. If you are an expert in iGaming, you need to showcase this for Google to see. Hiding behind the brand can result in you missing out on that expertise boost.
Finally, you should aim to build your links. If you can get your brand out there on authoritative sites – do it! This won’t come cheap but if you can build it into your content strategy and budget for 2021, you can see some real change soon. Think big iGaming publications and build those links!
Leverage E-A-T
Leveraging E-A-T is something that requires practice, but you’ll start to learn more as you go along. SEO is complicated and this element is something that you really need to get the hang of as an affiliate marketer.
In next week’s episode of The Affiliate Marketing Podcast, Lee-Ann speaks to Judith Lewis who is an SEO expert. Judith discusses the importance of E-A-T so make sure to tune in! You can subscribe here.
