Once upon a time, about a decade ago, Google noticed that the top pages in their search engine results pages, or SERPs, weren’t very helpful. These pages consisted of unreadable copy that didn’t tell readers what they needed to know. The reason they dominated Google’s results pages anyway? Keywords.
Keywords are still a critical part of SEO. However, Google reworked their algorithm so that you need to work smart, not hard, with keywords. Your overall copy counts for more. Here’s what Google is looking for on your page and how you can incorporate it.
Expertise, authoritativeness,and trustworthiness
That spells E-A-T. Google’s new algorithms crawl your page for these three elements. If Google determines you have these elements, it will move your page up relevant SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). This not only puts more eyes on your page. It also makes it likelier that other web pages and blogs will link to your page as a source or share it on social media. This will in turn get more eyes on your page and move your page up the SERPs. The added engagement is also more likely to drive business to your page.
Think of it as the gift that keeps on giving. All you have to do is prove three things:
- You’re an expert in your field,
- You have the authority to talk about what you’re talking about, and
- You’re a trustworthy source for your viewers.
Concerned that you don’t fit the bill? Don’t worry – you do! And you can prove it. Here’s how.
You already know your stuff
Why and how could you survive in business if you didn’t? You may not be an expert in a hard science or have an advanced degree, but as far as your business is concerned, that’s your area of expertise. As a business specializing in something, you also have authority to tell your audience about what you do, and what you know. The scope of which is broader than you’d think.
Say you do home repair. You’re an expert in what signs your customers need to look out for to know if they have a problem. You can also tell them about home maintenance and repair, so you can give your customers pointers for maintaining their home hardware, roof, doors, and windows, including cleaning, decorating, and more. While they’re cleaning and decorating, if they see cracks, dents, water damage, or other signs of a big problem, direct them to give you a call.
By providing your audience with some information that’s relevant to what you do, and helping them help themselves a little bit, you’re positioning yourself as a trusted advisor. Even if your audience isn’t ready to do business with you (and that’s part of the process – studies show that it takes several points of contact for someone to decide to buy from you or sign up for your services), they’ll be more likely to keep you in mind if you’re already bringing them value through good information.
So how do you bring E-A-T to your content?
First, make a list of everything your business touches. If you own a bakery, that means you can tell your customers about the history of cupcakes, give them tips about bringing treats to parties, hosting themed events, and more. You can even tell them about the history of certain baked goods in your blogs. Then, make a list of good topics to cover. You can even make a schedule. If you’re still struggling for material, you can do some quick Google searches, pay attention to autofill, and see what your customers are asking about.
Don’t just limit yourself to blogs though. Targeted landing pages also factor into Google’s E-A-T system. Targeted landing pages are landing pages designed to get eyes on your page from surrounding towns. Since you do business in and around said towns, why not gear these pages towards where your customers are?
For example, if you live in Plymouth and a lot of your customers visit your bakery from Novi, talk about your location in small, picturesque downtown Plymouth and how it’s only a short drive down I-275 from Novi. Establishing yourself as a knowledgeable member of the community is a way to impress customers who are searching for you, and let them know that you’re only a short drive (or click if you run an e-commerce business) away.
Struggling to put great content on your site? Don’t have time to update your blogs or implement landing pages? Give us a call and we’ll be more than happy to help you!