Importance of EEAT for a Local Business

Long before this term EEAT appeared, local businesses were already discussing brand transparency and reputation to instill a certain level of trust in potential customers. For example, cosmetic clinics of large brands like the now-defunct "Dermoestética Corporation". To address the crisis they were beginning to face, they offered on their websites names of real, qualified individuals, so that customers could see a certain prestige and feel a level of trust towards them. Subsequently, Google states that every website must be trustworthy, relevant, and authoritative. We must consider the EEAT factor (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness). In this article, we will explore the importance of EEAT for a local business.

Table of Contents

What is EEAT?

Since 2018, Google has taken into account three main factors to evaluate the importance and relevance of web content, EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). Now, since December 2022, the term EEAT is considered. Google incorporates experience as a fourth factor into the EAT criteria, adding another E (Experience) to the term, resulting in a new definition known as EEAT or Google EEAT (as you can see in the image). EEAT is a set of criteria from Google that determines the quality of content in its search results. The criteria are experience, knowledge or expertise, authority, and reliability or trustworthiness. Therefore, EEAT is important for SEO as it helps position a website and allows Google to rate it as "trustworthy".

Importance of EEAT for a Local Business

Now that we know what EEAT means, let's explore the importance of these four factors for local businesses.

Experience and Local SEO

Experience is the newest factor in EEAT and refers to the perspective or experience of the customer on a specific website. Google values this experience for ranking in search engines. It offers a free business profile (formerly Google My Business) where you can attract customers in Google search and Maps... so why not take advantage of it?

Google Business Profile

There are local businesses that don't even have a Google My Business or Google Business Profile (GBP) created, and if they do, it is either incomplete or has outdated information. Having an updated and complete Google Business profile with photos of the location, photos with real customers, or videos of the daily activities of the business enhances user experience. This Google profile allows for local reviews which we will discuss in the last point (although it could also be included here). It is simply worth noting that these real experiences from reviews help users make a decision to hire the local services of the business in question. It is about showcasing what makes your business different and special. Something that also greatly benefits local businesses in enhancing customer experience is sharing photos that represent the improvement after hiring the services. For example: in a cosmetics company, posting before and after photos of a facial treatment. Since users highly value the experience of others who have already used the local product or service.

Expert: How do I prove that I am an expert in my locality?

By publishing articles on your business blog, you are providing value to the user. If you name the author, you are enhancing the validity of the text. If you also link the author's bio to their LinkedIn profile, it will allow the reader to see that the author is an expert in the subject, as they will see all the information about them and their biography. And one point we want to make, which we will see a little later in the section on Link building, is that: linking to service pages is just as important as it should be linking to the author or expert in question. Imagine in the health field, the security it provides to the user to find information about the person who will be performing the procedure. For example, in an eye surgery, finding information about the surgeon provides a lot of trust and peace of mind to the patient. Keep in mind that a blog post only generates experience if it is relevant to the client. The content must be analyzed, researched, localized, easy to read... For this analysis, you can rely on People Also Ask from Google's SERPs, which are related questions. This resource provides users with questions related to their original search.

New ways to verify information with Google Search

Google now places more importance on user experience while browsing, to the extent that it adds several new features to search results, including: "About this search" "About this page" "About the source" You may not find some of these features yet as they have been in Beta version by Google since March 2023. When you perform a search, look for any result, in the three dots that appear next to the URL, as seen in the image. It also appears in mobile version. And quote: "As new voices and perspectives emerge, we want to ensure that people can easily learn more about the authors behind the content they are reading and discover new voices they can trust"

Local Service Pages

When you provide services in an area with multiple locations, often a general landing page discussing the service is not enough. You can enhance local SEO with localized pages. For example: "Digital Marketing Barcelona" We could create localized pages in specific areas of Barcelona: "Digital Marketing in Manresa" "Digital Marketing Tarragona"... In this way, you help people find you, as you are geolocating the service on one hand and indicating the specific theme of your market niche on the other. On local service pages, in addition to discussing the solutions you offer to your potential customers' problems, you can include real testimonials from people who have already experienced it.

Authority: Why is my business known?

Another way to work on EEAT for a local business is the level of authority. We can say it relates to various types of local links:

Local Citations

Local citations are online mentions of a business. They are usually accompanied by the name, address, and phone number, also known as NAP (Name, Address, and Phone). This is very important for improving a business's visibility. On one hand, users will be able to find valuable information about your company, and on the other, local citations have an impact on Google search result rankings. Start by placing the NAP on your website, in a visible place for users and accessible for search engines. You can also use local directories and niche-specific platforms.

Link Building and Local SEO

This marketing strategy involves having other relevant and authoritative websites link to your page. Through link building, we can enhance EEAT. Thanks to local links, you will achieve authority around your business's keyword. And how? For example, by searching for websites to obtain relevant links from a sector. If these websites are ranking in a theme, it is because they are relevant and passing Google's filters. Ensure that these backlinks are of high quality. To this end, you can use the affinity tool we apply at Unancor. Where you can see the most suitable media according to the degree of affinity with your website. Additionally, you can apply the Local Filter to find media by Autonomous Community, Province, or city. The Unancor Affinity Tool will help you improve the visibility of your local business by publishing your link in the most suitable digital medium. We also remind you that we continuously add local newspapers and expand our catalog. This is very interesting both for affinity and to reach that audience you are interested in. For example, if you have a store in any city, it would be beneficial to advertise on the website of that local newspaper that people in that city read.

Knowledge Sharing

Innovation is a good way to stand out from your competition. For example: Your business can conduct online surveys. It is a questionnaire that people can easily answer from any device with an internet connection. The collected data is stored in a database and then analyzed promptly. The goal of online surveys is to understand the audience's perception of your brand or the products you offer. Thanks to this tool, you will be able to understand your customers and respond quickly to their needs.

Trustworthiness: Why is my business the best option?

Google itself calls it the most important factor in EEAT. Trust is backed and maintained through local reviews. For example, in a psychology clinic, if the reviews are good, it will have a higher chance of gaining clients due to the trust generated. Before continuing, and although we have mentioned the link building part, we want to talk about how thanks to this link building on trusted and authoritative sites, we can enhance our website's reliability.

Local Reviews

Local reviews provide trust to the user and are vital in the buying cycle for their decision-making. They are a vital factor not only for conversion but also for online reputation for the local business. In them, you can also include photos and videos, in addition to text opinions and ratings based on a score. Local reviews can be defined as the opinions and ratings of users on third-party platforms about a local business. Asking customers to leave reviews if they are satisfied is essential for local businesses. Moreover, previously when creating the business profile on Google, it would send a letter to the business's postal address with a sticker to place in a visible location in the establishment. Now you can design it yourself, using a QR code or link to the Google profile. "If you liked it, leave us a review on Google"

Relevant Data

Here are some interesting data from studies conducted: – 98% of consumers searching for local businesses read online reviews. – 86% of consumers say that reviews are the most important factor when choosing a business. – The use of Google for reviews increased from 81% in 2021 to 87% in 2023. – Google is the most trusted review platform, although Tripadvisor leads for accommodation businesses. Yelp maintains great trust in food businesses, and BBB is trusted for professional trades and real estate industries.

Conclusions

Did you find this article useful? Your business is rewarded by Google when its content focuses on user experience. As we say here with the expression: "your business is capable of leaving satisfied customers" In summary: EEAT for a local business is the sum of all four factors: experience, expertise, authority, trust, which aims to maintain brand reputation to attract local customers. That is, having a balance before Google and the user to demonstrate your business's credibility. – As a final note, we want to tell you that besides Google's algorithm, there are Quality raters (quality evaluators) who are real people that help classify a website in search results. They evaluate, among other factors, the quality of content and its usefulness to the user; They are collected in "Quality Rating Guidelines" This guide outlines the guidelines and aspects for rating websites and is constantly updated. Here is the latest guide in pdf, in case you want to delve deeper. – And of course, to mention the misconception that EEAT is only for YMYL topics or non-local websites. Google has stated that EEAT is a filter that applies to the visibility of all websites, to a greater or lesser extent depending on various factors. Therefore, it is also very important for local SEO. We will conclude by highlighting that Google places trust above all other factors because its user base depends on reliable and high-quality search results.