Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness Can Effect Your PageRank

Google relies on PageRank to prioritize the results of web searches. While the algorithm is shrouded in secrecy they do throw the SEO community a bone every once in a while shining light on what variables do what and also what changes we can expect in the future. You can also try and test new methods while comparing and contrasting them with other SEO experts. As a business owner you don’t have time to do this – You just need to find a digital marketing company who can do this for you.

There is sometimes a disconnect between an SEO company and a client, as there is a lack of true understanding of what goes on behind the scenes. As a business owner you just want immediate and lasting results.

To top it all off, SEO has changed and will continue to do so as Google adjusts and maneuvers to combat spam and improve their search results.

At the end of the day it’s all about people. People are the ones entering search queries into the search box. They are the ones who are interacting with the world around them through Google. SEO veered off its path for a while when black hat SEO tricks once ruled. Around 2011 is when the playing field leveled off creating a much more white hat environment for businesses to thrive.

This gives us a powerful clue as to how to best craft your digital marketing plan. A big part of PageRank is E-A-T, which stands for EXPERTISE, AUTHORITY and TRUSTWORTHINESS.

In past articles I’ve mentioned how the early iteration of Google was easily exploitable by hackers and automated bots. The search ranking system was flawed but has since been adjusted to create a much more powerful user experience for the everyday person.

So how does one figure out how to trust one result over the other? Using E-A-T, Google does this for you. Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness are important in the algorithm but no one knows for sure how much. When Google scans your web pages this is one of the things it looks for that also packs a powerful search engine optimization punch. While they haven’t come out and openly said this variable directly effects their rankings as an SEO community it is up to us to follow the clues and come to a conclusion. Anticipation is a big part of SEO success and even if it isn’t a big piece of the puzzle it they could be testing for ways to work it in.

With each new Google update search becomes more and more about people and creating a positive search experience. If you carry expertise, authority and trustworthiness in your everyday life that should carry over in search as well.

If you’re a doctor in the Denver area one of the biggest selling points can be your reputation. No one wants to go to a bad doctor. That sounds like a horror story of some sort but it still does happen at times.

In the past it was much harder to research and discover a great doctor. You’d have to use word of mouth advertising and the phone book to make a decision. There were no reviews and most of our info was taken from a local news paper or city magazine.

You couldn’t go online and type in the doctor’s name and pull up articles on that doctor, reviews, videos or anything else that could be posted online.

Now we can type ‘Family Doctor Denver” and it will pull up a list of the most relevant family doctor’s in Denver. We can also now watch and measure word of mouth through Twitter and also organic search. All these different areas your business can be found generate social proof. Social proof is a powerful way to provide trust in people looking for your business.

If you’re an expert doctor who treats others well, then your patients may have gone online to write about their positive experience! Maybe they also ‘Tweet’ about you to their friends and family on Twitter.

Lets say your family doctor in Denver also did a YouTube video for the local news station and an article online for CNN.

The Google bots are scanning all of these areas and your family doctor’s expertise, authority and trustworthiness increases. It’s like in real life if you took the time to establish relationships with friends, family and the local community and did positive things.

That would raise your reputation among the people that matter the most. With a major emphasis on the relevance in local search, Google puts a lot of weight in your website getting backlinks from reputable online publications. This creates a back link to your website and a signal to Google that you’re also reputable. It’s how it differentiates where to index your business and also pull it when someone searches for you.

If you’re on helpful websites providing helpful information that also have high PageRank that will have a positive effect on your own website.

If you’re a spam or scam based websites providing information that doesn’t make sense it will hurt your page rank.

More and more real life activites carry weight in the SEO world. When Google has people implementing their manual page rank system the primary thing they look for is how effectively a web page accomplishes it’s purpose. Even if it’s a simple blog about laser cat memes does it get that information across to other people well? Is the web page laid out and are there lots of pictures depicting cats with laser beams?

If there are multiple pictures of Steve Jobs scattered around with no mention of Steve Jobs then this will get a low page rank. If there are relatable images, like dogs with laser beams coming out of their eyes in a section labeled as such then this will get a high page rank.

If the author of the blog is in various humorous online publications as well as highly ranked vetrinary based forums providing sound information then he is developing E-A-T.

Do you want a doctor website and a laser cat website with the same PageRank ranking system? Probably not and Google takes this into account. Google takes websites that have YMYL stuff on them and creates a higher standard of page rank for their manual ranking system. The manual ranking system doesn’t yet factor into Google’s algorithm 100% but why would they have people doing this unless they were going to utilize it down the road? Anticipation is a big part of establishing a successful SEO plan and because Google just released their page rank factors to the public you have to think they will utilize it in somewhat down the line.

What does YMYL stand for? It stands for your money or your life! These are websites that can “impact your current or future well being (physical, financial, safety, etc.). YMYL pages should come from reputable websites and the content should be created with a high level of expertise and authority.”

This reinforces Google’s never ending crusade to not only identify expert, authoritative content, but also rank it higher when it does.  Some examples of YMYL pages are:

-Ones that ask for personal information, bank account numbers, and drivers license numbers.

-Pages that are used to exchange money or make purchases.

-Pages that offer medical information that could impact your well being.

-Pages that give advice on major life decisions such as buying a home, car or parenting issues.

-Anything with legal or financial advice that could impact your future happiness.

When assessing these pages it asks it’s manual page rank system to carefully inspect main content quality, contact information, reputation and maintained and updated website information.

For example, high-quality family doctor websites should be endorsed by a highly respected real world physician group. The website should be updated regularly. There should be very helpful and easy to find contact information. The main content should be written by people who have strong expertise in the area.

There is also a section that specifically says to default to what independent third party websites have to say about that specific business when you can’t find enough information on them. This is why online reputation management is so important as if you get too many negative reviews on websites such as the BBB it could hurt your page rank.

Site design also effects page rank and is less acceptable for YMYL websites. A clean website design that is easily navigated carries more weight in the SEO world then something that is confusing and hard to understand.

When deciding to hire an SEO company it’s important to see if they can implement this aspect into your digital marketing plan. Search marketing is exploding and becoming the preferred way of generating revenue for your business. Establishing relationships in your business environment and figuring out how to utilize them online can pack a powerful 1-2 SEO punch.

If you go at it alone focus on establishing a strong local presence in your city and/or community. Word of mouth is a real marketing phenomena and thanks to search engines, social media and other tools can be measured fully in real time. As Google tweaks it’s algorithm more and more getting a head start while anticipating important changes such as this can go a long way in maintaining your business presence online.