How Photographers Can Implement E-E-A-T In Their Marketing Campaigns
For any photographer interested in growing their business and building a reputable, recognizable brand, achieving high rankings on Google and other search engines is critical. And one of the most effective ways to improve your SEO efforts and instill trust is with Google’s E-E-A-T principle. So, what is E-E-A-T and how can photographers use it to build a stronger business? Cover photo by Negative Space.
What is E-E-A-T?
On the surface, Google’s E-E-A-T seems simple — create high-quality content that meets your customers’ needs and you’ll rank highly. But there are finer details to consider that could derail your progress if you’re not careful. Firstly, it’s important to understand what Google is looking for when it comes to this principle. Originally, it was E-A-T, which stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, Google updated their guidelines to include an extra E for Experience.
Ultimately, Google wants businesses to demonstrate the following:
- Experience — do you have direct experience on the topics you’re creating content about?
- Expertise — how much knowledge do you have on your chosen subject? In other words, are you qualified to talk about your niche
- Authoritativeness — are other people linking to your content because of the value it provides?
- Trustworthiness — are you providing accurate information to your readers and being ethical in how you deliver that information?
While this primarily applies to YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content, such as sites or businesses which significantly influence your life or wallet. There’s no doubt that the double ‘Es’ of expertise and experience matters for all websites and industries (such as photography) and adds real value.
How is E-E-A-T scored?
Quality raters score a website using three levels: lowest, medium and highest, but there isn’t a definitive score for E-E-A-T. Instead, content is valued based on whether it has low, medium or high levels of E-E-A-T itself.
For example, for photographers, Google will assess whether you have industry recognition to write about photography topics, and whether you have a strong reputation in what you do. Expertise isn’t limited to formal qualifications, however, and you can demonstrate that you’re an expert based on life experience and work to back up your knowledge.
Quality raters will also look at how transparent you are in your content and the legitimacy of what you’re writing, particularly if you incorporate online transactions into your business because a high degree of trust is needed. To encourage higher quality ratings, and adhere to E-E-A-T principles, it helps to have a decent amount of high quality content on your site, plenty of information about who is responsible for the website and develop a positive author and site reputation.
How to optimize your content for E-E-A-T
As a photographer, demonstrating your experience is essential to growing your business, which means that optimizing your site is a worthwhile investment of your time. Here are a few ways to do just that.
Photo by Jeffrey Betts on StockSnap
Use credible sources
When you’re crafting content, establish credibility throughout by linking to official sources, research studies or tweets and blogs from other experts in your field. Using trusted sources builds trust and reliability in your content, and that reflects positively on your website. Better yet, if you can work with leading photographers in your field who can write for your website directly, it will help to add credibility to your content.
Create author information
Google needs to know that the person writing the content is a reliable source of that information, so developing ‘About Us’ pages to introduce your team and having transparent author bios on each blog can really help to show Google that you have the credentials to back up your statements. Another way to build authority is by guest posting on relevant, high authority sites in your niche. You can also claim your brand on all social media platforms so you can continue to develop a strong brand image online.
Leverage user-generated content
User-generated content, or UGC, is any content created by your customers or followers. When used in the right way, UGC can act as a trust signal and build brand loyalty. Getting your client base to back your brand and services is a great way to signal trust to Google, and it can come in the form of reviews, video testimonials, images and more.
Foster a positive brand reputation
Your business reputation impacts the trustworthiness of your content and your brand, so staying on top of reputation management online is critical. If a negative review of your services crops up, it’s vital that you respond quickly but professionally, as well as engaging with clients who leave positive reviews. Interacting with your clients develops customer loyalty for the long-term, which is beneficial to your business and encourages recommendations to grow your client base.
Audit your existing content
Digital content can always be edited and updated, which is great news if what you have on your site is outdated or in need of a refresh. Evergreen content is great but that doesn’t mean you can upload it and forget about it. Chances are that as the industry evolves, your content will become outdated and best practices will change. Take a look at the pages on your site and see where traffic is not performing as well as it could, then see if there are ways you can refresh what’s on there and update it to keep it accurate and relevant. There may be pages which are thin on content and can be expanded to provide more information to your followers, or keywords and search intent which have changed. It’s important to remain transparent if you update a blog or a resource — don’t update it and say nothing, but include when the content was originally published and the date it was changed.
Search algorithms are constantly evolving, but Google has been clear in its focus on the user and how to deliver the best search results to them. Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust and Experience are all essential in ensuring the best user experience, and Google’s focus on them is unlikely to wane any time soon. The more you can do to showcase your knowledge and experience, the better your search rankings and the stronger your reputation will be.
