E-E-A-T Guidelines + AI: How We Enhance Our Content Marketing Strategy

While E-A-T is crucial, expertise,  authoritativeness, and trust do not guarantee captivating or relatable content. To captivate and relate to readers, content creators must infuse their content with their personal experiences to create exceptional and memorable pieces. Why AI-generated content in copy/paste format cannot deliver this experience anytime soon. Should you use AI to create your content at all?

What is E-A-T?

E-A-T (for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is not a one-size-fits-all approach to producing great content. While expertise and authoritativeness are valuable, they don't guarantee engaging or relatable content. Firsthand experience is a vitally important element.

If we want our content to resonate with readers, we must be willing to get our hands dirty and immerse ourselves in the subject matter. Whether testing a new product, delving into a new hobby, or exploring a new location, the insights we gain from firsthand experience can add depth and nuance to our content, making it more insightful and valuable to our readers.

By incorporating firsthand experience into our content, we establish ourselves as trustworthy sources of information. We trust content creators with hands-on experience with a product, service, or location. This trust leads to greater engagement, higher click-through rates, and a more successful blog. So, while expertise and authoritativeness are essential, they must be balanced with data, insights, and experience to create amazing content. Listening to Warren Buffet talk about the stock market differs from listening to an MBA graduate. 

Incorporating firsthand experience into our content allows us to inject our unique perspective into the mix. No two people will have the same experience with a product, service, or location, so our insights can add authenticity and relatability to our content that can't be found elsewhere. By sharing our experiences and perspectives, we can create expert and approachable content, making it more appealing to a broader audience.

So go out there, get your hands dirty, and start creating content that reflects expertise and experience!

• When it comes to tax returns, accuracy is of the utmost importance. That's why seeking guidance from accounting experts who can offer reliable advice on navigating the often-confusing tax landscape is crucial.

• However, when choosing the right tax preparation software, the opinions of everyday individuals who have used the software can be just as valuable. These reviews can offer insights into each software option's user experience, common pitfalls, and unexpected benefits, helping readers decide which option is best. By incorporating both expert advice and real-world experience, content creators can provide their readers with a comprehensive view of the tax preparation process from start to finish.

With the increased uses of initial Generative AI and Large Language Models designed to simulate human conversation and provide users with information, assistance, or entertainment, it appears tempting to "have AI do your work."

While certainly possible, Copy/Paste AI work won't be work that we, humans, value as it has several downsides. The AI model itself articulates its limitations rather well:

"Although AI can generate coherent and insightful responses at times, there are drawbacks to relying solely on its generated content.

• • Lack of originality: Responses are based on patterns found in its training data, so the responses it generates may lack originality and creativity.

  • Limited understanding of context: AI may struggle to understand the context of a conversation or topic, leading to irrelevant or inaccurate responses.

  • Lack of empathy:  AI does not have emotions so it may generate insensitive or inappropriate responses in certain situations.

  • Bias: AIs are often trained on a large text dataset, which can contain biases and stereotypes that may be reflected in its generated content.

  • Inability to understand non-textual cues: AIs are often limited to processing text, so they may miss non-textual cues such as tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language, which are important for understanding the nuances of a conversation."

With search engines looking to provide the most relevant content to their users, Google, while not discarding the value of AI, doubles down on "E" with the E-E-A-T update to the search quality rater guidelines.

What is E-E-A-T?

The "Double-E-A-T" concept reinforces that expertise and authoritativeness alone do not suffice to create valuable content. Adding firsthand Experience to the mix can elevate the quality of the content and make it more relatable to the audience.

Content marketers must provide their target audience with exceptional, original, and helpful content that resonates with them. This can be achieved by incorporating diverse formats such as images, videos, and infographics; making information more engaging and accessible.

Additionally, sourcing information from various individuals can add depth and nuance to the content, making it more comprehensive and insightful. By keeping these guidelines in mind and continually striving to improve the quality of our content, we will establish our insights as trusted sources of information and provide value to our readers.

While the principles of E-A-T and E-E-A-T may not be revolutionary concepts, they are essential for content creators to consider to provide valuable and reliable information for their audience.

Google's emphasis on these guidelines demonstrates the search engine's commitment to prioritizing quality content over irrelevant or misleading material.

Google does not forbid the use of AI, it raises the bar for content quality (above what AI is currently capable of delivering).

By showcasing a diverse range of quality content that reflects both expertise and firsthand experience, Search can better serve its users and improve their overall search experience. 

While these guidelines don't directly impact the search ranking, by following these guidelines, content creators who take the time to assess their work and ensure that it aligns with these guidelines positively impact bounce rates, time spent on the page, and overall visitor engagement and return rates and indirectly increase their chances of success in Google Search.

As reinforced by Search Engine Journal, the top factors for ranking on Google are:

• High-quality content;
• Mobile-first;
• Page Experience;
• Page speed;
• On-page optimization;
• Internal links; and
• External links.

For more information on creating helpful, people-first content that meets the standards of E-A-T and E-E-A-T, be sure to check out Google's helpful resources on the topic. By staying up-to-date on best practices and creating valuable, original content, content marketers can impact their respective fields and achieve long-term success in digital content creation.

The takeaway?

Watch your website traffic tank when copying/pasting AI-generated content in an "unsupervised" manner. We've observed 20-30% visitor drops in Q1 of 2023 for sites with copywriters who've lost sight of E-E-A-T and solely relied on AI-generated content. This is similar to significantly reducing or stopping the generation of content.