The internet is getting pretty advanced, and to rank well on Google you are going to need a lot more that just great keywords and SEO floating around your site. EAT is the next big thing in Google and is already impacting different wedding photographers websites ranking, and they don’t even know it. Sis, did you even know it?! 😨 Get ahead of the curve are be prepared for this next wave of changes from Google themselves!
EAT
Expertise. Authoritativeness. Trustworthiness.
These three areas are nothing new for website builders and the pros at SEO. However, since 2014 they have been on Google’s radar as a high contributing factor according to their Search Quality Guidelines. In fact, in 2020 EAT was mentioned over 130 times in Google’s Search Quality Guidelines, a document that was only 168 pages long. So I think it is pretty important that we go over what exactly these three areas are and how to improve your website accordingly!
Expertise
Unless you are widely known on the internet, I am talking famous in your niche, Google does not see you as an expert. So you need to establish yourself as an expert throughout your site. And through out the entire internet for that matter!
Great ways to add expertise to your website is to produce informational content regularly (blogging is a great way to do this 😉) and to state your stats. Where did you go to school? What trainings and workshops have your attended? How long have your been in the industry?
Authoritativeness
Adding your authority to your website is a bit more difficult, but is so crucial! The strength of your domain is determined greatly by external signals, such as backlinks to your site and brand mentions. This area of EAT will take a significant amount of work and networking, but will put you ahead of your competitors.
Get on The Knot, have other wedding vendors blog about you. Heck, find a way to get on Wikipedia! By making these efforts you are basically getting an already credible source to back you up on your business. When well-known experts in the wedding industry are talking about you, it looks really good!
Trustworthiness
This final piece of the EAT puzzle is the most simple, in my opinion. Google is basically looking to see if you can be trusted as a domain and business. Do all of your links work? Is your site “secure”? Do you have reviews and respond to reviews? In a way trustworthiness is looking at the content and the domain itself.
How To Improve EAT?
There are tons of way to improve your EAT, but here are a few that won’t take too much of your time as a wedding photographer.
Get mentioned on The Knot and other wedding vendor sites. There are also TONS of credible sites for wedding photography you can submit your work to.
Connect with trustworthy experts and get mentioned!
Acquire more reviews.
Produce valuable content that sets you as an expert in your field.
Add more detail to your “About” page.
Update your Google My Business regularly!
Have a user friendly site with clear CTAs and navigation.
EAT in a nutshell? You got it! There is SOOO much more out there in regards to EAT, so maybe I will have to write another blog on it. But for now, these are the basics that will help you get started in the right direction. And if you need any help, reach out!
