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7) Writing with Expertise, Authority, and Trust

SoulfullyAButterfly February 26th, 2021

As discussed before, several best writing practices help ensure content that is valuable for awareness and support.

In this discussion, we will understand how to ensure quality content alongside best writing practices through incorporating expertise, authority, and trust within the content.

Background

The internet is a primary place where users worldwide look for information and support. The topics searched up include those that fall into the health, safety, or financial domains. Consequently, false information or content that has quality problems such as those that violate best practices can be potentially damaging to significant levels thereby negatively impacting a user’s happiness, health, or wealth. To buffer this, the Google algorithm (and Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines) used to display top content pages considers factors that include: Expertise, Authority, and Trust to ensure protection from low-quality content. These factors are commonly known as EAT in short.

As mental health is part of the health domain and is a significant area searched, the EAT factors are vital to consider when developing content.

Since 2018, the EAT factors not only apply to a website’s main content pages but are also considered when reviewing the content creators (i.e. authors).

EAT and How To Incorporate EAT into Website Content:

  1. Expertise:

  • When considering the expertise factor for website content, expertise refers to the extent to which the website or organization is known and has the suitable credentials and any expertise supporting factors such as awards or external recognition.

  • Expert Content is Researched Based: consider stepping into the shoes of your audience and perform a keyword research whilst thinking about their needs. Through your keyword research, grasp why the audience has searched for those keywords (topics). Knowing the intent of the topic queried helps you guide content on solutions and helpful information that can not only meet but exceed the user’s needs.

  • Expert Content is Comprehensive yet Digestible: Try to ensure your content is simple and has good formatting, avoid confusing structures or things that are too difficult to understand unless you break down and explain difficult concepts.

  • Expert Content is Supplementary: After answering the main intent of a searcher’s query or possible needs regarding a content topic, supplement your content by thinking about further supporting/supplementary content that could further enhance and support the topic: this is when back-linking comes in handy! Audit your existing content and identify which of your published pages can be backlinks to the new content piece. Think of what further topics/content pieces can be branched from existing content and include them on your content development agenda.

  1. Authority

  • Authority refers to the ratings the website and its content get on the basis of genuine ratings as well as content relevance.

  • Authoritative Content is Cited: External pages rely upon and cite the content as their sources of information. Citations include external back-linking as well as mentions on the news or social media.

  • Authoritative Content is Widely Shared: This is where marketing can help boost the content to build authority. Content with authority is regularly and widely shared and mentioned across social media. Engagement efforts can help drive this factor.

  • A Wikipedia Page Boosts Authority: A Wikipedia page for the brand, organization, or even people in a company helps boost authority.

  • Brand Authority Matters: A signal to authority is when users search your brand name for their content needs.

  1. Trust

  • Trust refers to validity - a website can have validation pages such as an About Us page or other main pages. Trustworthiness is also determined through positive reviews and user support.

  • In terms of content, trust can be boosted through the inclusion of an author's biography as well as external sources being cited, especially if they are other authoritative sources.

Feel welcome to share your opinions on each of the EAT factors or ask any questions!

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This post is brought to you by the Content Development and Marketing Program, find out more information about the program here

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Ninziesss June 8th, 2022

@SoulfullyAButterfly Thanks for sharing!

Huriya June 9th, 2022

@SoulfullyAButterfly When thinking about EAT on an individual, I think the Trust factor is something difficult to establish for new content writers. While the website’s credibility may be high, new content writers will have to work towards ensuring their write-ups match up with those of the more experienced writers on the site.


As new writers, I feel it is also important to find a balance when it comes to how many external sources are backlinked in their content. Too many backlinks might not help with the Authority factor.

1 reply
SoulfullyAButterfly OP June 9th, 2022

@Huriya those are great insights. It is great to have a trusted platform like 7 Cups to publish work on but yes, we do need to find balance in the content we write out in terms of relevance, etc. We are all ready to help edit and mentor/support new writers and so I love the growth and learning part in all of this.

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PhoenixTears5972 June 14th, 2022

@SoulfullyAButterfly

This a genuinely informative and a helpful post and I think whatever that have been said here are the prime points when it comes to content writing . It indeed is extremely important to do quality research work , hardwork , sufficient practise and also proper awareness as to keep in mind the areas of the subject and what content readers would expect to read and know. Thanks a lot for sharing this post as there is no end to learning and improving ourselves !

FrenchMarbles June 27th, 2022

@SoulfullyAButterfly

Expertise, Authority, Trust


This is so useful, I will bookmark this so I remember it for the future, thank you! <3

magicalOcean594 June 29th, 2022

@SoulfullyAButterfly

i didnt really understand the wikipedia part. Was it stating to add wikipedia links within ? Also the keyword search makes so much sense bc under the google links when you search my keywords show not in those articles and i dont even have to click on it to waste my time so that makes alot of sense now why we really need to use those keywords! Alot of awesome info that i knew but needed elaborated on and stuff i actually had no idea about!!! Thank you so much

1 reply
SoulfullyAButterfly OP June 29th, 2022

@magicalOcean594 thank you for your feedback! A Wikipedia Page helps boost authority. It isn't necessary but if an organization or company etc do have a Wikipedia page, it will add an authoritative factor to their content. So no, you don't have to add any Wikipedia links. I hope this clears things but let me know if not.

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easyMaple3687 July 5th, 2022

@SoulfullyAButterfly thank you for sharing this article, I have a much better understanding of high quality content.

easyMaple3687 July 5th, 2022

@SoulfullyAButterfly I think it’s important that professionals follow guidelines outlined here when creating content. I know for me personally when I am reading articles, I want to know the expert knows what he is talking about and their is documented research on the subject to support the information in the article.

SirenOfSerenity July 5th, 2022

I have thoroughly reviewed the E.A.T methods and understand clearly, it's a very useful and efficient method to combat harmful information from spreading online. It's a huge and honorable responsibility to make sure that content around mental health is accurate and useful

1 reply
admirableRose261 August 17th, 2022

@SirenOfSerenity

Yes. We need to have expert insights throughout our content - like the therapists that work here. I wonder if they keep blogs.

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admirableRose261 August 17th, 2022

My opinions on EAT

Expertise

Authority

While I may not be an expert, writing on 7 CUPS add brand authority to the content I produce. I am reading about EAT on other websites. Here is an intersting quote about Google Search Results: "Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (SQEG) only give us clues, not definitive answers, on Google’s ranking factors. We can only analyze and infer what it all means."

Trust

Be honest and true to those closest to you - our peers! Thanks for this!

CosmicMiracle August 19th, 2022
Noted on the 7Cups meaning of EAT :) my thoughts below:

Expertise:

It is not enough that we know what we’re talking about and that we’ve trained and continuously made an effort to evolve ourselves as listeners and members of the community; it is also imperative to know how to apply what we learned in all situations. Life isn’t just about what we know, but also how we use what we know to help other people. Just because we’re more knowledgeable and informed about how to deal with these things doesn’t mean we know what’s right all the time. Each situation is different for each member. Expertise is knowing how to adjust to the needs of the people you are talking to and how to best help them in processing their thoughts and feelings :)

Authority:

The amount of information provided on our platform not to mention the processes we have for each community, program, and service that we offer are all proof of how much we’ve worked together as an organization to provide the information and help in the best possible way. From signing up to graduation in the programs, from posting in the forums to how to assist in group chat rooms, and even taking leaves of absence when we need to do much-needed self-care, everything is accounted for. That itself is a big feat considering we are being run mostly by volunteers who are anonymous.

Trust

Trust in the 7Cups setting for me is pretty similar to how we as a brand define and incorporate it into our content: without hard selling ourselves, the community itself validates our worth as a legit source of help and information about anything related to mental health. The fact that we are able to reach the first page of search results in major search engines on some keywords without actively paying for ads more than reinforces our brand.