Through research on Google’s ranking factors and update recoveries, you may have come across mentions of Google’s “E-A-T”. E-A-T stands for expertise, authority and trustworthiness. These are the guidelines Google uses to assess the quality of an article or content. Announced in 2018, Google now uses E-A-T to ensure that sites that seem to have better quality content rank higher on search engines. So, how do your make sure your firm’s site follows E-A-T?

Expertise

Being an expert means demonstrating knowledge on a particular topic. As an attorney, the content you post on your site should show that you are an expert in your area(s) of law. Not only should you share your knowledge, you should also communicate it in a way that your audience can understand. Knowing what your audience needs to know and how to present the information is part of being an expert.

Authority

Demonstrating your authority of the subject goes hand in hand with expertise. Things like your law degree, credentials, reviews, and client testimonials all contribute to your authority on the subject.

Trustworthiness

Having a trustworthy site for your firm means taking things like site security (having a secure socket layer certificate), back links, and content quality into consideration. You need to be able to show visitors that they can trust your site.

So, how do I improve my firm’s E-A-T rating?

1. There are multiple things you can do to help increase your firm’s E-A-T rating. When you post new content, add an author bio. Include why the author has expertise or some authority on the subject. If the author is a lawyer, where did he or she get their degree? How long have they been practicing law? Is there a significant number of claimants they’ve helped get approved for disability or have they won a high number of employment law claims?

2. You can also edit your content. If you find a page on your firm’s site has minimal traffic, low conversions and/or low E-A-T, try to edit the page. Adding to the content based on keywords, adding the author bio, and making sure the information is presented in a manner your audience can understand can help boost the page’s E-A-T as well your site’s E-A-T as a whole.

3. Consider your site’s security. You should by now have a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate. If not, reach out to your firm’s website host to see if one is available to purchase through them. This certificate is what will make sure your site doesn’t say “not secure,” and instead of HTTP, it will display HTTPS. Plus, Google also considers this a ranking factor.

Take a look at your firm's site as a whole and make sure it meets the E-A-T requirements. As attorneys, you should be experts in your field. Taking the time to make sure that your site presents that you are experts, an authority on the subject as well as trustworthy can help increase your rankings in search engine results as well as convert visitors into potential clients.