What is E-E-A-T, and how to show it on your website
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. These are the qualities Google's quality guidelines use to describe good, reliable content, and they matter most for topics that affect people's money, health, or wellbeing. It is less a ranking dial than a description of what a credible business looks like to a person and to a search engine. The practical question is how to show it.
The four parts
- Experience: first-hand knowledge of the topic. Someone who has actually done the thing, not just read about it.
- Expertise: genuine skill and depth in the subject.
- Authoritativeness: being recognised as a go-to source by others, through links, mentions, and reputation.
- Trustworthiness: accuracy, honesty, and transparency. Of the four, this is the one the others serve.
Show, do not tell
Everyone says they are experienced and expert, so saying it achieves little. Demonstrating it, through what you show and share, earns trust from customers and search engines alike. The businesses that win trust prove it so clearly that the visitor concludes it themselves.
- Publish genuinely helpful content that answers real questions, from your own experience.
- Show your work: case studies, a portfolio, and real results you can stand behind.
- Explain your process and how you think. Specifics are hard to fake.
- Include credentials, licences, and relevant experience where they apply.
- Earn and display genuine reviews, and respond to them.
- Be easy to verify: a real address or service area, real contact details, and the names of real people.
Be honest about what you can and cannot claim
Trust is lost faster than it is built, and it is lost most reliably by overclaiming.
- Do not invent credentials, awards, client numbers, or results.
- Where a statistic is not yours, say where it came from.
- State limits plainly. A page that says what you do not do reads as more credible than one that claims to do everything.
- Date your content, and update it when facts change.
Put a real person on the page
People like to know who they are dealing with, particularly with a small business, and a named, real person strengthens several E-E-A-T signals at once.
A good founder or owner bio does four things:
- States genuine experience and relevant background.
- Says why you do what you do, in a sentence or two.
- Includes a real photo, which makes you relatable.
- Has enough personality to feel human, not like a résumé.
Keep it honest and focused on what reassures a customer: your experience and your commitment to them. Link the bio from your articles, and use the same name and description wherever you appear online.
Where it shows up
- An About page that names the people behind the business and what they have done.
- Bylines on articles, linking to a short author bio.
- Case studies with real detail, and permission from the client.
- Clear policies, such as privacy, terms, and refunds, written for people.
- Consistent business details across the site and every listing.
E-E-A-T is not a trick or a tag you add. It is simply being a credible business that deserves to be trusted, and making that easy for a stranger to see.