With the rise of AI and Chat GPT, content creation has undoubtedly become more accessible than ever before. However, this newfound ease of generating content comes with one major drawback: a complete lack of authenticity, which results in poor-quality content that no one wants to read.
So how do you ensure you’re posting high-quality content in an era where AI-generated content has become the norm? In this blog, we’ll go over some of the ways you can ensure you’re posting content that search engines will want to rank and real humans will want to read and interact with.
1. Assess Your Content for Google’s E-E-A-T Guidelines
E-E-A-T, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust, is a set of guidelines that Google’s algorithm utilizes to assess the quality of content on the web:
- Experience: does the content creator have necessary first-hand or life experience for the topic?
- Expertise: does the content creator have the necessary knowledge or skill for the topic?
- Authoritativeness: Is the content creator or website known as a go-to resource for the topic.
- Trust: Does the content demonstrate experience, expertise, and authoritativeness?
Back in 2014 (when E-E-A-T was known as E-A-T) Google shared these guidelines in an effort to help website owners improve their content. Why? Because search engines like Google want to provide as good of a user experience to their customers as possible. In order to do that, they need to connect their customers with website content that isn’t filler, auto-generated, or simply written for search engines.
Therefore, when assessing whether your content is “high-quality” (which can be subjective), it’s important to assess whether it meets Google’s E-E-A-T criteria as well. Although not every piece of content can meet every guideline all the time, it’s important to demonstrate E-E-A-T as much as possible in your website’s content.
Further reading: Google Adds an ‘E’ to its E-E-A-T Quality Guidelines
2. Avoid Using Stock Imagery Where Possible
While stock photos are an easy and convenient way to add visuals to your site, they often lack authenticity and fail to convey a unique message to your audience. Depending on your industry and whether you have the resources to do so, we always recommend investing in professional photography and design to create visuals that align with your brand’s identity and resonate with your target audience.
Get professional photos of your team, products, or your business at work to set your business apart from your competitors. If you must use stock imagery, ensure that you aren’t using ones that give off that distinct stock image “look” (i.e. super generic and boring) and haven’t been used on a bunch of your competitors’ websites.
3. Showcase Your Team’s Expertise
Showcasing your team and their expertise is a great way to set yourself apart from your competitors, it also is a great way to demonstrate E-E-A-T. How do you showcase your team’s expertise? Here are some content ideas:
- Featured employee blogs
- Team biography pages
- Author pages (if your team writes blogs for your site)
- Host webinars and workshops
- Video interviews
- Blogs highlighting team member contributions to industry publications
4. Incorporate Customer Feedback
Incorporating customer feedback, whether through compelling case studies or testimonials, is another great way to bolster the credibility and authenticity of your website’s content. That’s because customer feedback serves as powerful social proof, allowing customers to see the real-world experiences of those who have benefited from your products or services. It also humanizes your business, instils confidence in your brand, and demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction. Some other ideas for incorporating customer feedback on your site include:
- Adding video testimonials
- Showcasing online reviews from platforms like Google, Yelp, or trust pilot
- Obtaining user-generated content (such as social media posts or videos where customers talk about their experience with your brand)
Need help creating high-quality content? Our Content Marketing team is dedicated to helping your craft engaging and impactful content that resonates with your target audience. From optimizing your existing content or creating a data-driven content strategy, we are here to help elevate your brand’s online presence.
