In B2B content marketing, the old tricks of keyword stuffing and traditional advertising are losing their edge. Have you noticed that? Increasing volatility in your analytics, hit-or-miss lead gen reports?
Your content marketing strategy needs a bedrock. Remember that you’re developing inbound marketing products for both humans and algorithms, so thread your content efforts with principles that matter.
A solid, reliably winning strategy is centered around EEAT—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This comes straight from Google HQ, and we stand by these principles as humans, too.
Come Again: What Is EEAT?
EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This approach is crucial for creating high-quality content that performs well in search engines and resonates with your audience.
Here’s Google (emphasis Encore’s):
Google’s automated systems are designed to use many different factors to rank great content. After identifying relevant content, our systems aim to prioritize those that seem most helpful. To do this, they identify a mix of factors that can help determine which content demonstrates aspects of experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, or what we call E-E-A-T.
Of these aspects, trust is most important. The others contribute to trust, but content doesn’t necessarily have to demonstrate all of them. For example, some content might be helpful based on the experience it demonstrates, while other content might be helpful because of the expertise it shares.
While E-E-A-T itself isn’t a specific ranking factor, using a mix of factors that can identify content with good E-E-A-T is useful. For example, our systems give even more weight to content that aligns with strong E-E-A-T for topics that could significantly impact the health, financial stability, or safety of people, or the welfare or well-being of society. We call these “Your Money or Your Life” topics, or YMYL for short.
Experience
What It Means: Demonstrate practical, hands-on experience and real-world application of your knowledge. Let’s say your team built a state-of-the-art greenhouse for a major university. You can use that experience to demonstrate a spectrum of important business lessons.
Why It Matters: Content that reflects real-world experience resonates more with audiences because it shows you understand their context and challenges.
How to Demonstrate Experience:
- Provide detailed accounts of how your solutions have worked in practice.
- Highlight experiences and testimonials from your clients to illustrate the impact of your work.
- Based on your hands-on experience, give actionable advice that your audience can apply immediately.
Expertise
What It Means: Show deep knowledge and skill in your field. This is different from authority (more on that in a moment). Expertise is specialized knowledge or skills acquired in a particular field, like annual flower varieties or soilless growing media production. This involves a deep understanding of the concepts, practices, and nuances related to that area, allowing an individual to perform tasks or solve problems effectively and efficiently.
Expertise does not necessarily mean your content must be highly technical and dense. From that expertise you must draw an ability to communicate clearly, with an intent to enlighten and educate and even entertain your audience.
Why It Matters: Quality content from experts ranks higher and builds trust. B2B buyers want insights from those who truly understand their challenges.
How to Show Expertise:
- Showcase the qualifications and experience of your content creators.
- Use data, case studies, and real-world examples to support your points.
Authority
What It Means: Be recognized and respected in your industry. The work of establishing authority involves consistently demonstrating that aforementioned expertise, providing valuable insights, and gaining the trust of the audience, peers, and influencers in the field.
Why It Matters: Authoritative content is more likely to be trusted and shared, boosting your visibility and influence.
How to Build Authority:
- Link to reputable references and include citations.
- Collaborate with industry leaders to enhance your credibility.
- Project a voice of confident professionalism in your content.
Trustworthiness
What It Means: Be reliable and transparent.
Why It Matters: Trustworthy content builds lasting relationships with your audience, encouraging repeat visits and shares.
How to Earn Trust:
- Clearly disclose any potential conflicts of interest and provide editorial guidelines.
- Include genuine testimonials and reviews to build trust.
Moving Beyond Traditional Tactics
Traditional advertising and keyword-chasing strategies are outdated. Here’s why EEAT is the right foundation for a content marketing strategy:
Quality Over Keywords
Relevance: EEAT-based content is more relevant to your audience’s needs. Why? Because it’s based around connections you’ve already formed with the people who you serve. You’re not working off some third-party keyword analysis; you’re speaking directly to the people who’ve helped build your business.
Engagement: High-quality, engaging content is more likely to be shared and discussed. Anyone can chase keywords, and anyone can produce keyword-driven content. But only you can develop content around your specific experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. By using those four guiding principles, you’re setting yourself up for a terrific strategy based on original content. That’s what your audience wants from you.
Longevity: EEAT content has a longer shelf life and continues to attract readers over time. For all the same reasons that EEAT content draws greater engagement, it also has a healthy life span ripe for repurposing.
The Real Reasons Why These Principles Work
EEAT aligns with what both search engines and users expect today. Google’s algorithms prioritize content that is relevant, reliable, and trustworthy. Here’s why these principles are effective:
User Trust: Audiences are more likely to engage with and trust content that comes from credible sources. When your content consistently demonstrates expertise, authority, trustworthiness, and experience, it builds a solid foundation of trust.
Search Engine Preference: Search engines like Google are designed to deliver the best possible results to users. Content that adheres to EEAT principles tends to rank higher because it meets the criteria for high-quality, reliable information.
Reduced Bounce Rates: When users find content that meets their needs and is trustworthy, they are less likely to leave the page immediately. This reduces bounce rates and signals to search engines that your content is valuable.
Higher Engagement: Engaging content that resonates with your audience leads to more shares, comments, and interactions. This increases your content’s reach and boosts your online presence.
Brand Authority: Over time, consistently high-quality content positions your brand as a leader in your industry. This authority attracts more traffic and potential customers.
EEAT aligns with what both search engines and users expect today. Google’s algorithms prioritize content that is relevant, reliable, and trustworthy. Here’s how B2B marketing teams can benefit:
Bottom line: Consistently producing expert content makes your brand a trusted resource. Transparent, trustworthy content fosters long-term relationships. Engaging, high-quality content that resonates with your audience drives higher engagement and conversions.
Got it?
As marketing pro Andrew Davis says, “Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.”
Conclusion
EEAT is the winning strategy for B2B content marketing. It sets you apart from competitors still using outdated methods.
Embrace EEAT to ensure your content not only reaches your audience but also resonates deeply, driving long-term success and growth. In today’s digital landscape, quality and credibility are paramount. Make sure your content stands out by focusing on expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness, and experience.
