seo best practices

Google is anything but transparent. As such, the inner workings of its algorithms have never been easy to interpret. This is especially true of Google’s search guidelines. So how do we properly interpret “SEO” (Search Engine Optimization) if that’s the case? SEO experts dedicate themselves to a sort of “algorithm watch.” They spend countless hours pouring over search metrics. They write novel-length blogs analyzing the changes they can only guess happened and how these changes may or may not affect search rankings. In the SEO world, Google’s “Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines” give us a glimpse into what Google’s algorithms choose to prioritize. This large-scale document offers clarity on what Google looks for in their ranking algorithms. It’s where the SEO acronyms EAT and YMYL (Your Money and Your Life) come from. However, in late 2022, Google added another E to its guidelines turning EAT into EEAT. While the Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines don’t lay out exactly what we need to know to jump to the top of the rankings, they do provide some valuable information: What kind of pages are viewed as high quality. Which factors influence high- and low-quality ratings (Important since these factors may be similar to how Google measures page quality for SERP rankings). We’ve taken an inside look at the guidelines to understand how they relate to your SEO and on-page site content, including the most recent updates. Read on to learn more about the crucial points from the Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines for your online content marketing and writing needs. What Are Google’s Search Guidelines All About? Google’s search guidelines document is over 170 pages long and broken into an overview, an introduction, three parts, and an appendix. The major parts are as follows: General Guidelines Overview Introduction to Search Quality Rating Part 1: Page Quality Rating Guideline Part 2: Understanding Search User Needs Part 3: Needs Met Rating Guideline Appendix 1: Using the Evaluation Platform Appendix 2: Guideline Change Log In addition to focusing heavily on mobile search, Google’s search guidelines focus on the importance of building trust and a good reputation for websites and/or content creators. This isn’t hugely surprising – it’s simply a variation on what Google has been saying for years – the best websites deliver relevant, trustworthy, quality information to users. Google focuses heavily on experimentation and continual algorithm improvements to improve web quality. These guidelines provide specific instructions on what Google engineers want people to do to improve individual site quality. These guidelines are dense. They cover everything from important definitions to duplicate landing pages and all the places in between. Google’s E-E-A-T Update In recent years, Google has put more emphasis on who is creating the content. This is emphasized with the addition of Experience as a factor in quality. Experience: This new word adds another layer of quality to its search results assessments. As far as experience is concerned, Google is looking for content that “demonstrate[s] that it was produced with some degree of experience, such as with actual use of a product, having actually visited a place, or communicating what a person experienced.” There are many times when a searcher would benefit from content produced by someone with real-world experience. For example, if someone is looking for information about traveling to Paris, a blog written by someone with a lot of Parisian travel experience would be more beneficial than a blog written by someone who has never been there. Expertise: The expertise criteria considers how much relevant knowledge or skill the creator seems to have on the topic. For example, if someone was searching for advice for filing their taxes, an accountant with 20 years of experience would have more expertise than someone with a mild interest in tax laws. Authoritativeness: There are some creators or websites that have established themselves as a “go-to source” in their area. While there may not always be one official, authoritative source for every topic, if there is, Google will prioritize that site over all others for relevant searches. For example, if someone is looking for information on how to renew their passport, the official government site is going to have the most authority. Trustworthiness: Google views trustworthiness as the most important factor in E-E-A-T. All other attributes contribute to a page being “accurate, honest, safe, and reliable.” The amount of trust a page needs depends on what kind of site it is. For example, social media sites on entertainment topics don’t need as must trust as informational pages on YMYL topics. When used together Experience, Expertise, and Authoritativeness all contribute to the overall Trustworthiness of a page. Source: Google Search Guidelines 10 Key SEO Content Factors in the Google Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines This document offers an expansive guide to Google’s preferences and the future of SEO. The guidelines lay out specifics about Google’s algorithms and how SEO experts can better predict changes to them in the future. Beneficial Purpose  In 2018, Google updated its guidelines with the concept of “beneficial purpose.” This term defines websites that are created, first and foremost, for the user’s benefit. On the other hand, there are many pages created solely for the purpose of ranking on Google or created with no intention of helping users. Sometimes these pages are designed to defraud users. From Google’s perspective, these pages have zero beneficial purpose. According to the guidelines, Part 1 Section 3.0, pages that provide no benefit may earn the lowest Page Quality (PQ) rating. Source: Google Search Guidelines In stark contrast, pages that fulfill their intended purpose will receive a higher PQ rating. So if your content does not help your readers in some way, your content will have little to no value to Google. 2. Page Quality (E-E-A-T) Page quality has always been somewhat of a mystery. Google uses hundreds of ranking factors, and it’s often unclear how they all related to one another. We’ve always known unique, relevant, well-written content is crucial to producing a high-quality page. However, the guidelines have … Read more