Content creation is a source of stress for many marketers. The pressure to create fresh, engaging content your clients and their families want to read is daunting. Most marketers agree that the biggest challenges1 of content marketing are producing innovative ideas, generating leads, and increasing online engagement. Not to mention the intense competition in this field—90% of marketers have a content marketing plan.
So what can you do? You know you need content marketing to attract new patients and their families, but that work is only worth doing when done correctly. Fortunately, there’s a simple answer. In fact, the answer is just one word: E.A.T.
What is E.A.T.?
E.A.T. is the standard Google uses to evaluate page quality. This acronym stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. According to Google, online content needs to demonstrate all three to be considered high-quality material.
As Google crawls websites, quality raters assess expertise, authority, and trustworthiness to decide if a website’s content is of sufficient quality or not. If the crawlers determine the website does have quality, the page value increases, and the site is considered to have a high level of E.A.T.
Although mentioned in Google’s Search Quality Guidelines2 in 2014, Google didn’t formally incorporate E.A.T. into the search algorithm until an update that rolled out in August 2018.3 And just because Google added E.A.T., doesn’t necessarily mean this concept is a ranking factor. In fact, experts agree that E.A.T. doesn’t directly increase page rank.
But many aspects of E.A.T. are known to affect how likely users are to interact with your content, which does impact page rank. Not to mention that the tenets of E.A.T. overlap with several known ranking factors, making the expertise, authority, and trustworthiness of your content an important contribution.
Considered a modern-day gatekeeper for much of the world’s information, Google is responsible for filtering through data and providing the best possible search results. For this reason, the search giant aims to return the most relevant, accurate, and helpful results for every search, every time. And evaluating E.A.T. is a big part of that.
1. Expertise
While it’s important to demonstrate your expertise in providing care to your current and prospective patients and their families, it’s critical that you content demonstrate expertise for Google as well.
You can demonstrate your expertise in a few ways. First, organize your content with thoughtful subheadings that ask common questions about the focus of the article. This shows that you have the expertise to cover the topic thoroughly.
Also, lean into using quotes from other experts in your field and backlinking to scholarly articles or high-quality journalism. Third-party verification and referencing outside research show that you value and recognize the expertise of others.
2. Authority
Authority is another important aspect of quality content. You need to show Google that you not only have valuable information to share, but that you also have the credentials to back up your claims.
You can do this by adding an “About Us” or “Author Page” to your website, and keeping it up to date. Google isn’t just looking for authority on individual pages. The algorithm will also search for proof that you are who your articles say you are. And that’s a person with the credentials to offer expert opinions on autism care topics.
3. Trustworthiness
There is nothing more important than trust in autism treatment. Your patients and their families need to trust you, and so does Google. Ensure you include SSL encryption, your privacy policy, and an “About Us” page to send the right trust signals to Google.
As a provider of autism treatment, demonstrating expertise, authority, and trustworthiness is necessary. And regardless of how Google views these quality markers, they are core elements of building successful relationships with your patients and their families.
A Good Website Makes a Great First Impression
Ready to begin establishing E.A.T. in your content but not sure where to start? Dreamscape Marketing can help. Schedule a strategy session with our marketing experts today by calling 888.307.7304 to get started.
For a list of references, please contact us.