Google’s E-A-T: What Is It and How Does It Impact Your 2023 Marketing Goal

Nearly 50% of consumers report turning to Google when they are on the hunt for a particular service. If your business's online presence is lacking, you could be missing half of your target audience.

Luckily, a solid organic marketing strategy can help solve that problem. Organic marketing utilizes high-quality content (e.g., blog articles) that features search engine optimization (SEO) to increase a website's Google ranking.

But how exactly do you create this high-quality SEO content? In 2023, it is critical to use Google's E-A-T guidelines to produce content search engines will love and reward with a higher ranking. Here's why.

What Are Google's E-A-T Guidelines?

E-A-T is an acronym for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It is an update to Google's search engine ranking algorithm that came out in 2014. Though E-A-T alone will not determine your Google ranking, it does affect it.

Expertise

Expertise is defined as expert knowledge or skills. People typically have expertise in a particular field (e.g., technology). However, generalists can have expertise in many different fields.

Why is expertise important to Google? People with expertise in particular subjects can think deeply and intelligently about problems in their field.

Authoritativeness

Being authoritative means someone or something has authority over a particular skill or field. In other words, an authoritative website can be trusted to give out correct advice or information.

Authoritative content inspires, motivates, and influences people. Readers know that the author of the article is providing valuable and reliable information.

Trustworthiness

In the age of clickbait and fake news, trust is increasingly difficult to foster online. That makes honest and reliable content, content creators, and content publishers more valuable than ever before.

And building trust with your audience will not just improve your search rankings. Readers will begin to think of you as a safe source of information and services.

E-A-T and Your Digital Marketing Goals

Now that you understand the basics of E-A-T, you may be wondering: why is E-A-T so important? Here are three ways Google E-A-T digital marketing trends can impact your business marketing goals.

E-A-T Determines High-Quality Content

The number one reason Google implemented E-A-T was to weed out low-quality content. More specifically, Google wanted to address high-ranking websites that provided irrelevant or incorrect information to readers.

E-A-T intends to do the reverse: reward websites that consistently turn out correct and relevant content.

As long as a piece of content abides by the E-A-T guidelines, the Google ranking algorithm will consider it high-quality. And as we will discuss next, publishing high-quality articles on your site can improve your Google ranking.

E-A-T Impacts Your Organic Search Ranking

Search engine marketing (SEM) heavily relies on organic search. Organic searches occur when a customer types a query into the Google search box. Then, they click on one of the pages that come up under their search.

The majority of Google searchers only look at the first three results. So, how does your site get ranked in the top three results for a search query? You have to improve search engine optimization (SEO).

Publishing high-quality content that adheres to E-A-T guidelines can help you do just that.

E-A-T Can Reduce Bounce Rate

Another benefit of E-A-T that has less to do with Google and more to do with your prospective clients is bounce rate. Bounce rate refers to the percentage of people who visit your website and leave after viewing only one page.

A poor bounce rate is usually a sign of a low-quality website. As such, Google may consider bounce rate when ranking your website. But this is not the only reason bounce rate is important.

A high bounce rate means something about your website is turning away prospective customers.

Tips for Improving E-A-T on Your Site

The number one thing to do to improve your site's E-A-T is to update your content. Focus on providing trustworthy and easily verifiable information to your readers.

It is also a good idea to update content regularly as new information comes out. Keeping up with changing trends will impress not only Google but also your prospective clients.

Yet, updating the quality of your content is only the beginning. You should also consider doing the following to improve your site's E-A-T.

Publish Contact and About Pages

Blog articles are not the only kind of content to consider when updating your website for E-A-T. Google will also take into account the other pages on your site, including your contact and about pages.

Your contact page should provide trustworthy contact info. That includes but is not limited to your company's email address, phone number, and physical address. Include as many customer support points of contact as possible.

Your business' about page should speak to your authoritativeness. Include any credentials or relevant degrees members of your staff hold. You can also talk about prior speaking engagements that speak to your firm's expertise.

Check Your Facts and Cite Them

An authoritative and expert business website should have factually accurate content. If you do not have the expertise to create this type of content, it is important to hire a content creator who does.

Another way to build authority for your online business presence is to link to other high-quality sites. Always search for high-ranking, authoritative, and trustworthy sources when creating citations to achieve this goal.

Work With a Digital Marketing Firm

Google's E-A-T guidelines can be tricky to understand. And even if you do get the basics down, you still might not outrank your competitors. That is where a professional digital marketing service can come in.

Digital marketing firms are experts in Google's algorithm and SEO. They can help improve your rankings, even if your own efforts have not achieved the results you want to see.

At Optic Marketing Group, we specialize in digital marketing strategies for home services businesses like yours. We can help you design a new website from scratch or update your old one to adhere to E-A-T standards.

Optic Marketing Group Is the Partner You Need

Google's E-A-T guidelines help distinguish high-quality content from low-quality clickbait. In 2023, it is critical to creating an expert, authoritative, and trustworthy website. If you don't, your Google ranking could suffer.

Do you need help updating your business website according to SEO best practices? Optic Marketing Group is the partner you need to get it done right the first time. Contact us today to learn how we can help you E-A-T.


How to Grow Your Plumbing or HVAC Business With Multi-Media

Around 20% of HVAC businesses fail every year across America.

If you want to start an HVAC or plumbing business, you need to know how to make it succeed. You need to know what to do in order to reach your target market and bring in leads.

This is why HVAC marketing is so important. Having a digital marketing strategy can help HVAC and plumbing businesses step up their game, especially ever since 2020 occurred and businesses everywhere realized they needed an online marketing strategy.

But what is the best online marketing strategy? What do HVAC businesses need to do in order to bring in more leads and drive in more revenue?

Here’s a detailed guide on home services marketing, particularly around heating and cooling, and which kind of marketing can help propel your HVAC businesses.

Using Mass Media

If you want to grow your HVAC and plumbing business, you need to consider using mass media. You need to consider how mass media can help you reach your target market.

There are a lot of forms of mass media to consider and you want to spend your money wisely before going all-out in one particular medium.

Here’s why social media, TV, and radio can help you reach your target market and build your HVAC business.

Social Media Advertising

One of the best forms of HVAC advertising is social media. You can use social media in a lot of different forms to reach your target market.

One of the best ways to use social media is with Facebook advertising. With millions of people on Facebook, it makes it one of the best ways to promote your product or your services.

You can use Facebook advertising in multiple ways. For instance, you can do lead generation on Facebook and bring in hundreds of leads if you have an enticing lead magnet.

You can also use Instagram advertising that has the same strategies as Facebook. You can use it for lead generation or you can use it for conversion campaigns.

This is a great way to introduce your services and how they are valuable to your customers.

You can also try social media advertising when it comes to Twitter, LinkedIn, Tik Tok, and other forms of social media.

TV and Radio Advertising

If you want to extend your advertising beyond social media, you can also try TV and radio.

You can either pay for 30-second-commercial spots. It can also cost a lot more if you want to advertise during sports specials like the Super Bowl.

If you want to advertise on the radio, it just depends on the size of the audience and the location of where you’re at.

However, the same principles apply when you advertise on TV and radio as it does with social media.

You have to find your target market and figure out how to reach them. You have to understand their problems and see how you can help them.

This may mean you have to try and see what kind of copy is the best for your audience. You have to see what advertisements perform the best in your market.

Ultimately, there are a lot of ways to advertise in the mass media, but you have to figure out your budget and the best ways to reach your audience. You have to see what performs the best.

You don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on advertising and not realize what works. Find out what advertising platform is going to do the best for you and stick with it.

The Benefits of HVAC Advertising

When you do find what mass media advertising platform works the best for your HVAC or plumbing business, you’ll see how the benefits that come with it.

One of the best benefits is that your business will be more profitable. You’ll bring in more leads for your business, which can help drive in more customers.

Another benefit to consider when you’re advertising is you’re seeing what your target market is interested in with a particular season. You’re seeing if they need heating during the winter months or work on their AC during the summer months.

This can help give you an idea of what you need to advertise during the year. You have an idea of what people are looking for during the year and how to build trust with them.

Another benefit to consider with HVAC advertising is that you’re extending your reach as a business. You’re not just reaching people in your local area, you’re reaching people throughout the United States.

If you have the capacity and capability of working with people in a certain range, you can use mass media to help you reach those people in that range.

You don’t have to rely on foot traffic to get you the customers you want. You can advertise online or on TV to help reach people that may be 100 miles or farther away.

Now You Know How to Step up Your HVAC Marketing Game

When it comes to creating an HVAC marketing strategy, it can be challenging. You may feel overwhelmed by all the choices you make in marketing.

This guide gives your HVAC or plumbing strategy the confidence you need to make the best choice. You have an idea of what mass media advertising can do for you and how it can help bring in more revenue.

If you have more questions about HVAC or plumbing marketing, you can contact us here.


Here’s Why You Should Stop Googling Yourself

It seems harmless. You own a business, and you want to find out how your digital marketing efforts are paying off. The next logical step?

Googling yourself, of course! What could go wrong?

As it turns out, quite a bit could go wrong. By searching for yourself online, you make your SEO and ads less effective. It’s a total bummer if you’ve just spent half your marketing budget trying to get your rankings up.

Keep reading to find out why you should resist the urge to google yourself and how else you can safely monitor your rankings. The best part? You already know how!

Googling Yourself Is Inaccurate

Whether it’s YouTube videos, social media, or Buzzfeed articles, we’ve all fallen down internet rabbit holes before. You know, the type where a minute of searching on your mobile suddenly turns into a lost hour?

Well, googling yourself is no different. And as an HVAC business owner, you’ve got better things to do than waste your time with one-off, inaccurate Google results that give you no usable information.

At best, you will discover that based on your personal search history and Google’s profiling, you’re number one in the rankings. Not that useful if you’re searching from your office PC in the exact location listed on your Google My Business page.

At worst, you’ll not show up at all. And you’ll then spend an hour looking at competitors who seem leaps and bounds ahead of you with their SEO.

It’s important to remember that the rankings you see are NOT the rankings seen by everyone else. Your search results are tailored to you. As a result, googling yourself doesn’t give you the big picture. It just gives you an (often misleading) indicator of your performance based on narrow criteria.

There Are Better Metrics Out There

Thinking that you are googling your business to ‘see how things are going’ is about as sensible as trying to buy pet food from your favorite ice cream place.

To find out how things are going, you need to look at your KPIs. You’ve got access to your analytics dashboard, and your sales performance through your marketing agency who can provide these stats for you. These should be the main indicators of your performance and how well your campaigns are paying off.

Beyond that, tracking your conversion rates, click-through, and inquiry volume will provide data that drills into your success rate. Search isn’t everything. What use is ranking as number one if your lead volume has dropped through the floor?

Rather than being hellbent on securing the top spots, take a holistic view of your digital marketing. Yes, SEO is important for small businesses and will help your ranking. But so is your content strategy and the CTA’s on your site. If in doubt, a professional marketing agency like Optic Marketing Group can make sure you’re looking at the whole picture.

You’re Not the Customer

Ever discovered that you rank for a keyword that you didn’t plan for? It happens! Your prospective customers aren’t always googling the way you expect.

After all, you have years of experience in the field and know all the terminology/jargon inside out. Your prospects, on the other hand, are at the beginning of the journey.

Google estimates that 15% of their search volume is unique. That equates to around 500 million searches a day that Google hasn’t seen before. This means there are going to be new search terms thrown up constantly. Searching for the term, you think your prospects will use is useless. You need actionable insights that will help improve your targeting.

Searching for Yourself Online Has Negative Impacts

One of the worst effects of googling yourself is that you sabotage your online presence by trying to monitor it. Clicking on your PPC ad is the equivalent of emptying your wallet and donating it straight to the search engines. And even if you don’t click, you’re going to create an impression which skews your performance stats.

Plus, when ads appear but aren’t clicked on, they’re shown less overall, and the cost goes up. Meaning fewer genuine prospects will see your ads, and you’ll pay more for the same level of visibility.

The effect on organic rankings is less powerful but still shouldn’t be ignored. Clicking on your website could artificially inflate your visitor numbers. Whilst clicking on competitor links gives Google the nod that these are useful sites, so they’ll rank higher in the future.

Googling Yourself Doesn’t Reveal Your Position in the SERP

Back when Google was just an infant, googling yourself made sense. Their search criteria were simple, and there was less content on the web, so your search position was relatively static no matter who was searching.

Today, it’s a lot more complex. The search engine results take into account many factors to determine which pages you’re shown and when you see certain ads. Your result is different from your boss’s result, even if you use the same search query.

Here are some of the factors affecting SERP:

The device you’re using; mobile searches see different results to web searches and so on

Searching with voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home

Your physical location, which is determined by GPS or your devices IP address

Being logged into a Gmail account

Past search history

The search engine used, Google, Yahoo, and Bing, have different algorithms that affect the results you see

Googling yourself won’t reveal which factors are affecting your performance—but using SEO management tools will. With tools like Google Analytics, you can see which devices are used, where your prospects are searching from, and more.

Stop Googling Yourself and Test Your Rankings Professionally
Googling yourself is a fruitless exercise. It won’t reveal much about your position in the rankings, but it could lower your performance. And who would want that?

Get in touch with Optic Marketing Group, your full-service marketing agency today if you want to get a handle on your rankings and stop googling yourself for good!