EEAT: How to Check Your Website’s Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trustworthiness

Have you been hearing about EEAT and wondering what it means for your website? Maybe you’re familiar with EAT but aren’t sure about the extra “E” that Google added. If you’re trying to improve your site’s visibility in search results, understanding and implementing EEAT principles isn’t just helpful—it’s becoming essential for success.

In this post, I’ll walk you through what EEAT is, why it matters, and most importantly, how you can check and improve your website’s EEAT signals. Whether you’re running a small business site, a blog, or an e-commerce store, these guidelines will help you build a site that both Google and your visitors will trust.

What Exactly is EEAT and Why Should You Care?

EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It’s an evolution of Google’s previous EAT concept, with “Experience” being the newest addition to the framework. Let’s break down what each component means:

• Experience: Demonstrates first-hand knowledge of the topic, showing you’ve actually used, tested, or lived what you’re talking about
• Expertise: Shows you have the skills, knowledge, or education in your field
• Authoritativeness: Reflects your reputation and recognition in your industry
• Trustworthiness: Indicates your content is accurate, honest, and secure

While EEAT isn’t a direct ranking factor, it strongly influences how Google’s quality raters evaluate websites, which ultimately helps shape the algorithms. This means EEAT signals can significantly impact your search visibility, especially for topics that could affect people’s health, finances, safety, or happiness (what Google calls “Your Money or Your Life” or YMYL topics).

How to Check Your Site’s Experience Signals

Experience is the newest element of EEAT, focusing on whether content creators have actual first-hand experience with the subject matter. Here’s how to evaluate and improve it:

Review Your Content for Experience Markers

Go through your key pages and ask yourself these questions:

• Does the content include personal stories, examples, or case studies?
• Are there details that could only come from someone who has actually used the product or service?
• Do you share specific observations rather than general statements?

If your answer is “no” to these questions, your content might lack the experience component that Google now values.

Showcase Real-World Experience

Here are some ways to demonstrate experience:

• Include “I’ve used this product for X months” or similar personal statements
• Add specific examples: “When I implemented this strategy, our conversion rate increased by 34%”
• Share before/after scenarios or documented processes
• Include photos or videos showing your actual experiences

Pro tip: User-generated content like reviews and testimonials can also signal experience to Google, especially when they’re detailed and specific.

Evaluating Your Site’s Expertise and Authority

Expertise and authority go hand-in-hand, with expertise focusing on knowledge and authority focusing on recognition. Here’s how to check these aspects:

Audit Your Author Credentials

For each person creating content on your site, check:

• Are their relevant qualifications, certifications, or degrees clearly displayed?
• Do they have detailed author bios that highlight their background in the subject?
• Is there a link to their professional profiles (LinkedIn, professional organizations)?

Evaluate External Recognition

Authority is largely about how others perceive you. Check for:

• Backlinks from reputable sites in your industry
• Mentions or citations in industry publications
• Guest posting opportunities you’ve secured
• Speaking engagements, awards, or other recognition

You can use tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush to check your backlink profile and domain authority, which give you insights into your site’s perceived authority in the digital landscape.

Content Depth and Accuracy Check

Quality content demonstrates expertise. Examine your top pages:

• Is your content more comprehensive than competitor pages on the same topic?
• Do you cite reputable sources with links to back up claims?
• Is the information current and regularly updated?
• Does it answer questions thoroughly rather than superficially?

Consider using a tool like Clearscope or Surfer SEO to analyze your content depth compared to top-ranking pages.

Assessing Your Website’s Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness is perhaps the most important aspect of EEAT. Here’s how to evaluate it:

Technical Trust Signals

Start with the technical aspects that signal trustworthiness:

• Is your site secure with HTTPS?
• Is your privacy policy clear, comprehensive, and easily accessible?
• Do you have clear terms of service and return/refund policies (for e-commerce)?
• Is your contact information easy to find?
• Does your site load quickly and work well on mobile devices?

You can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights and Mobile-Friendly Test to check some of these technical aspects.

Content Transparency

Review your content for transparency markers:

• Do you clearly disclose sponsorships, affiliate relationships, or financial incentives?
• Is advertising clearly separated from editorial content?
• Do you acknowledge limitations or opposing viewpoints?
• Are corrections or updates to content clearly marked?

Remember: Honesty builds trust with both users and search engines.

User Trust Signals

Finally, look at how users interact with and perceive your site:

• Check reviews of your business on third-party platforms like Google Business Profile, Trustpilot, or industry-specific review sites
• Look for mentions of your brand on social media—are they positive or negative?
• Analyze user behavior metrics in Google Analytics: Do visitors stay on your site or bounce quickly?
• Check for engagement metrics like comments, shares, and return visits

Creating Your EEAT Improvement Plan

After assessing your site using the steps above, you’ll likely have identified some areas for improvement. Here’s how to prioritize:

• Fix critical trust issues first. Security problems, misleading content, or factual errors should be addressed immediately.
• Enhance author credentials and bios. This is often a quick win for expertise signals.
• Add experience elements to your highest-traffic pages. Focus on pages that already perform well but could benefit from more first-hand expertise.
• Develop a content update schedule. Plan to regularly review and refresh your most important content.
• Work on off-site authority building. This takes longer but pays dividends in the long run.

Conclusion: EEAT is a Journey, Not a Destination

Improving your site’s EEAT signals isn’t a one-time task but an ongoing process. As Google continues to refine how it evaluates quality, staying focused on demonstrating genuine experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness will serve you well.

Remember that EEAT is ultimately about creating content that genuinely helps people. When you focus on serving your audience with valuable, accurate information from qualified sources, you’re naturally aligning with what Google wants to reward.

Have you checked your site’s EEAT signals recently? What areas do you think need the most improvement? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!