Expertise is our competitive edge. By taking the time to assess what we write against these questions, we’re not just ticking boxes for SEO.
Google has stated that its ranking systems are designed to present “helpful, reliable information that’s primarily created to benefit people, not to gain search engine rankings, in the top search results.” But what does this mean? Fortunately, there are explanations in the company’s own documentation. I thought it might be worth going through these, in order to create a checklist that we can all gauge our content against.
Today, let’s look at what Google calls the “Expertise questions”. These are pretty clear, and might be worth copying and pasting somewhere.
- Does the content present information in a way that makes you want to trust it, such as clear sourcing, evidence of the expertise involved, background about the author or the site that publishes it, such as through links to an author page or a site’s About page?
- If someone researched the site producing the content, would they come away with an impression that it is well-trusted or widely-recognised as an authority on its topic?
- Is this content written or reviewed by an expert or enthusiast who demonstrably knows the topic well?
- Does the content have any easily-verified factual errors?
By taking the time to assess what we write against these questions, we’re not just ticking boxes for SEO. These are sensible things to ask even if the audience is going to be reading them in print or listening to them at a presentation. Expertise is our competitive edge. So take a moment and make sure any new content is dependable. The ability to be found online should follow.