Improving the E in EAT - For humans its the about link, for Google?

[graeme_p]

I have a site that used to get a lot of traffic, collapsed some years ago, and has always got some traffic but never the levels it used to (not enough to make decent income from Adsense as it used to - I gave up on ads). The content (at least as it now is) is entirely written by myself.

I have been wondering about EAT, especially the expertise bit.

For humans its a link to a page that has some basic info links to a page about me, another that lists people who have used content elsewhere, and some quotes endorsing the site with links to sources.

I am wondering whether I can make any of this look better to Google. For example should I have author markup to make it clear who wrote each page, even if its the same across the site?

[goodroi]

I personally feel it is wiser approaching EAT more as a mindset & less as a SEO checklist. Focus on providing real value & communicating that value. EAT is just a single part of Google's algo. If an SEO figured out how to trick an EAT signal they probably still won't rank because Google is looking at 100 other ranking signals & 1 fake signal isn't good enough. Providing real value & communicating that value will turn into better backlinks, user metrics/conversions, and all the other good things a webmaster wants.

To get into the right mindset we should each ask ourselves some hard questions or better yet have unbiased strangers judge us.

What value does the site provide that isn't on 100 other sites?
How does the site perform in usability testing? What did they dislike?
Why aren't users staying on the site longer/looking at more content/returning more often?
Is the site using best practices for speed, security, mobile users, etc?

We all think our own site is the best but that is like every parent thinks their baby is cute. Analytics & outside usability testing tends to be a more accurate assessment of our websites.

[graeme_p]

Its a fairly simple content site.

I am not trying to fake anything, I am thinking more on the lines of how I can make sure the algo picks up on something that a quality rater would probably look at if they were looking at the site.

[engine]

I'd probably do some research into what my competitors are doing differently. Sometimes it can give ideas, especially in a niche sector.

Writing natural content for users is the way forward, and there may be ways that the content can be improved.

One other thing to look at might be how "new" the content might be: We all know Google loves new content.

[goodroi]

I was speaking more in general terms.

Some people claim EAT is basically PageRank links. I don't 100% agree but every site that gains strong relevant links does tend to perform very well in the search results.
Other people claim that EAT is based on user metrics. I don't know about that but I do know a site that makes user's very happy end up gaining a bunch of direct traffic, organic link drops and other indirect benefits that boost it in Google.

[EditorialGuy]

One other thing to look at might be how "new" the content might be: We all know Google loves new content.

On our long-established editorial site (which consists mostly of "evergreen" content), it can take quite a while for Google to give new pages the attention they deserve. The oldies but goodies are perennial winners.

[graeme_p]

This site does have old content, but it is evergreen. I am planning to add new content.

The successful competitors are much bigger. In many cases its a section of a much larger site.

Some people claim EAT is basically PageRank links. I don't 100% agree but every site that gains strong relevant links does tend to perform very well in the search results.
Other people claim that EAT is based on user metrics.

I thought it is whatever effect its application by quality raters have on the ML. That is hard to predict beforehand, but now its been around a while I was hoping there are on-site ways on improving it.

[goodroi]

You don't need to be big to prevail but you do need to be the best in your niche. Here are some things I do for my own sites...

Make sure all content is reviewed & updated at least once every 6 months. Even evergreen content needs to be updated on a regularly basis. There are new resources/ideas/suggestions that can be added to evergreen content that was written a year ago. Visitors & Google like fresh content.

Regularly monitor the entire site for errors. You want to fix broken links immediately. You want to to make sure all logos & images are up to date & displaying correctly. Fix your 404s & other errors. A large amount of errors can really hurt your Google rankings. A small amount can drive away frustrated users and dry up backlinks & traffic from social channels which indirectly hurts your SEO prospects.

Stay ahead of the competition. Maybe your small evergreen content site created a useful infographic years ago but last year your competition came out with a video that is now much more useful than your infographic. To master a niche you need to constantly be on the lookout for fresh ideas & brainstorm improvements to the current state.

PS Remember EAT is part of Google's internal quality control. Google's algo does not assign a specific EAT score like it did with PageRank. Rather the Google algo is looking at many different metrics that it hopes will result in EAT sites ranking high.The metrics have become more complicated but they are generally the same concepts that Google has always tried to measure (good content & good popularity). For a site to perform better in the EAT world it should focus on good content & generating strong popularity signals.