Did you know Google contracts with over 10,000 search quality raters worldwide to evaluate its search results?
There is a human touch also involved in the search results that you and I see on our browser.
Here’s how they evaluate.
To rate the website/pages, the Quality Raters are required to adhere to a set of guidelines that outline how to understand the quality of a website.
As a part of their constant tweaks to their algorithms, in 2016 Google had released a 175-page guideline to these Search Quality Raters.
Raters were required to perform actual searches that reflect the real search that happens on Google. They then rate the quality of pages that appear in the top results — hence the name, “Search Quality Rater”.
Google constantly improves its automated search algorithms for on-page ranking by using the data generated by these human raters.
This gives Google an understanding of whether the pages displayed during the search are relevant to the needs of other humans.
In addition to Links and RankBrain, the document also mentions that Content is among the top three page-quality factors.
The acronyms, E-A-T and YMYL are spotlighted frequently in the guidance.
What is E-A-T and why is it important?
Google places a premium on how you nurture your brand for relevancy to the searcher. The way to do it is by building Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness of your website — which is abbreviated as E-A-T.
E-A-T, though not a direct ranking signal for Google is an important criterion on how the Search Quality Raters and Google perceive the Quality of your Page.
Let's dive in with a few more questions to better understand E-A-T.
Does your Website position your Expertise?
A well-written piece of information that satisfies the reader is all that Google cares about.
More so, if this information is written by a person of authority or an experienced person well versed in the subject matter.
So if your website is related to finance, legal, health, child care, or any of the YMYL sites (elaborated later) you will need to show your expertise on the Content.
Pro Tip: Mention the author, a short bio, related articles by the author, his/her social handles or a personal website on the page.
Are you showing Authority with your Content?
Expertise and Authority go hand-in-hand. This requires you to be original with your content.
Well-researched topics, personal experience, and links to other authoritative sites boost your authority on the published content.
The next term in the troika i.e. Trust is what the reader feels about you when they read your content.
Pro Tip: Backlinks, get more of them from well known sites to show Google that you are indeed an authority.
Do you come off being Trustworthy?
Without trust, nothing moves forward. Every website will have its own way of showing trust. User Experience of the site will be the first indicator to know if they stay for long.
Every aspect of your site should make them feel safe throughout their journey on your website
Pro Tip: HTTPS is your starting point followed by your policy on privacy, data and cookies related to your visitors.
Both E-A-T and YMYL are intertwined. This is another indicator of the Quality of the Page.
What is YMYL?
Your Money, Your Life, or YMYL are webpages/sites that could have adverse effects on the reader’s future well-being — happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.
Google maintains very high Page Quality rating standards for YMYL pages because low-quality YMYL pages could potentially have a negative bearing on the reader.
Examples of YMYL sites the Guideline outlines
● News and current events: news about important topics such as international events, business, politics, science, technology, etc. Keep in mind that not all news articles are necessarily considered YMYL (e.g., sports, entertainment, and everyday lifestyle topics are generally not YMYL). Please use your judgment and knowledge of your locale.
● Civics, government, and law: information important to maintaining an informed citizenry, such as information about voting, government agencies, public institutions, social services, and legal issues (e.g., divorce, child custody, adoption, creating a will, etc.).
● Finance: financial advice or information regarding investments, taxes, retirement planning, loans, banking, or insurance, particularly webpages that allow people to make purchases or transfer money online.
● Shopping: information about or services related to research or purchase of goods/services, particularly webpages that allow people to make purchases online.
● Health and safety: advice or information about medical issues, drugs, hospitals, emergency preparedness, how dangerous activity is, etc.
● Groups of people: information about or claims related to groups of people, including but not limited to those grouped on the basis of race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity.
● Other: there are many other topics related to big decisions or important aspects of people’s lives which thus may be considered YMYL, such as fitness and nutrition, housing information, choosing a college, finding a job, etc.
So whether your website is a YMYL site or otherwise, you now have a better understanding of E-A-T and how it contributes to your site’s ranking on Google.
Show Google that you are indeed an Expert, Authority, and Trustworthywith your Content.
In the long run, you will be ranked well by both, humans and machines.