Google E-A-T

Google E-A-T is an acronym that stands for the top three considerations Google uses for determining the page quality of online content: expertise, authority and trustworthiness. A high E-A-T rating means the author has demonstrated command of the subject they are writing about, the content has received endorsements through inbound links or positive comments and the web page has security mechanisms, such as HTTPS, to keep visitors safe. 

E-A-T was first seen in a leak of the detail of Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines in 2014. The guidelines, which are periodically updated, are used by the human contractors that Google hires worldwide to assess changes in algorithms and ensure the continued usefulness of search results. According to Google, the company uses the human-assigned scores as a training tool for the company’s search algorithms.

Although E-A-T doesn’t directly affect Google search engine results pages (SERPs), many search engine optimization (SEO) experts believe that poor E-A-T scores inevitably influence rankings indirectly -- simply because a poor score reflects poor quality. This consideration alone makes E-A-T scores an important search engine optimization (SEO) consideration.