Keep EEAT at the forefront of your mind

Filipa says: “Always have EEAT at the forefront of your mind – every time you are creating a new page or any content that you want to rank on Google or any other search engine.”

How do you demonstrate the new part of EEAT, experience?

“You can demonstrate experience by giving first-hand experiences or personal experiences. That is something that really humanises what you are writing. If you include those kinds of elements, it means that you are writing from experience, of course.

If necessary, you can also provide case studies and give examples of situations you have been through, or something else that is different from all the other content you can find online. If it is very specific and concrete, that is a great way to demonstrate experience.

Of course, you should also be thinking about what search engines will find relevant to you and your brand – and you should consider the users themselves as well. You always need to have the search engines at the back of your mind. It’s not only about your personal experiences.

You can also use other examples such as linking to or citing other sources. You can write something that is not a personal experience, but then use an author bio to explain that there is a person behind what you are writing. It’s not always possible to write from personal experience, so it can be a mix of both.

It is hard to measure, and it is subjective but, in the end, if you have quality content and people go to you when they are looking for answers then search engines will pick up on that. They will see that it’s helpful and that the content is good. As a consequence, you will also rank, and you will gain visibility.”

How do you select the right sources to cite?

“You want to cite websites or sources that already have a lot of authority. It depends on the topic that you are talking about, but a worldwide organisation is usually a good source to look for.

Essentially, you are looking for sources that give you credibility. Typically, that would be organisations that are well known for their expertise, and also mentioning experts in the area that you are talking about.

You can use tools to determine the best sources by looking at metrics like link authority and relevance, but the criteria won’t always be the same. You will find a lot of information online for some industries and not as much for others, so it depends on the industry.

If the content is related to health, for example, you could mention highly-renowned sources like the World Health Organization. If you are talking about an industry like the pet industry, you can mention a veterinary association or you can cite specialists in that field. You’re not necessarily trying to find the most authoritative commerce websites as much as you are looking for reputable trade bodies in the industry that you can refer to.”

What demonstrates that you are producing high-quality content that will appeal to users and search engines?

“Whenever you have an article that you really want to demonstrate experience and expertise, you should always link back to an author bio. That already gives quite a lot of credibility.

In terms of the structure, there isn’t a perfect formula because it varies a lot. You can refer to data, statistics, case studies, and other studies that have been carried out on that subject by trustworthy sources. That’s very important. If it’s possible, you can also use some kind of social proof, reviews from other people, or another form of trustworthy user-generated content. Again, it really depends on the field.

You want to mention examples that really demonstrate what you are talking about, but I wouldn’t say that there is a structure or formula to follow.”

What’s the optimal way of setting up an author bio?

“The content matters. If it’s e-commerce and it’s a product, it obviously doesn’t make sense to refer to the author. Where there is content, the author bio itself should be a URL or a page where you can actually find information about that author, and all the articles that person has written.

I was looking at some articles last week where a lot of people were talking about how the New York Times is structuring their author bios. You can find a lot of information on them – not only about the author but also about what they usually cover, their journalistic ethics, their background, etc. Sometimes you can even contact them. Alongside each article, they have a little description, and then you can click through to visit the full author page and find out more information there.

You can also include links to the author’s other platforms, including their social media profiles. If the author is active, then you can include that social proof – where you can also find an address or phone number for an institution that represents them. For a journalist, that might be a media outlet, and you can refer back to the website for the media outlet itself.”

How and where can you incorporate user-generated content into your pages?

“I wouldn’t recommend having it on all of your pages. Include it in topics where the users might have questions that other people would have the answer for or, if possible, where they can interact with the author.

That gives a lot of authority, and it humanises that content a lot as well. It shows that there’s someone behind it who is actually reading what you are saying and getting back to you. In the case of reviews, have the author reply to the reviews your customers or users are leaving on your website.

If it is possible and it makes sense, it can be like a category of an FAQ section, where you answer users’ questions as a follow-on from a piece of content. That is definitely a great practice. Of course, it has to be monitored to make sure there is no spammy content or anything like that. If it’s really productive or it brings value, though, then it’s a great practice.

It can even give you ideas for something new to write. If you’re writing about a certain topic and a user comes up with a question that you did not answer in that article, it’s probably a good idea of what you should write next or include in the content you are planning in the future.”

In what ways should SEOs incorporate transparency into their content?

“If you work in e-commerce, that could be transparency regarding your relationships with providers and your supplier chains. That would be beneficial because people often want to know where your products come from and who produces them.

However, it also includes being transparent about things like the author, for instance – and making sure that there is a face and a name behind them. It works on both sides. If the user wants to know more information, then that information should be available so that they can really understand what they are consuming. They should be able to identify if the information is biased or if it comes from a certain ideology that they should know about – and be aware of what they are reading.”

Would you ever use AI to produce content, and can AI-produced content demonstrate EEAT?

“It can demonstrate EAT, without the experience – so it can demonstrate the old EAT.

AI cannot have experience. I think AI is great but, of course, Google recommends that we always have a human fact-checking that content. It can be a very helpful tool, but you should always have a human fact-checking and proofreading any content that you produce with it.

What differentiates content that comes from AI and content that comes from a human is the experience. AI content cannot have that experience because AI does not have lived experiences. If you have decided that AI-produced content is too good of an opportunity to miss out on, and you want to use AI-produced content, then improve it with experience to show that an individual is involved.

In that case, it is a human plus AI. You can show a bit of human experience and it becomes a 50/50 article, with the AI part and then also the human side of it. If the article is 100% AI-produced, then it cannot have the experience side.”

If an SEO is struggling for time, what should they stop doing right now so they can spend more time doing what you suggest in 2024?

“AI content does not have experience, so it does not fit within all the EEAT rules. Make content for people and not for robots or the algorithm. Make content for humans. In the end, you will have more visibility and it will be more successful. Your ratings will improve, and you will start to achieve everything else that comes afterwards.

AI is great but, if you really want to differentiate yourself, the human side can play a big part in that. That can be great for your SEO strategy.”

Filipa Serra Gaspar is an SEO Consultant, and you can find her over at SEOlipa.com