Putting the EXPERTISE in EEAT for Digital PR

E-E-A-T 101: What is it? 

In the vast world of digital content, standing out isn’t just about being seen—it’s about being trusted. That’s where E-E-A-T comes into play. You’ve probably heard the term tossed around in SEO conversations, but what exactly does it mean, and why should you care? Let’s break it down.

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness—four pillars that Google and other search engines use to gauge the reliability and quality of your content. These are essential to what can make or break your online presence, especially if you’re operating in sensitive or complex fields like health, finance, or law. So let’s take a deep dive into E-E-A-T! 

• Experience is all about that real-world knowledge that can only be delivered by those who have —content that reflects firsthand experience tends to resonate more because it’s rooted in actual practice, not just theory.
• Expertise is the backbone of credible content, within Digital PR this is of utmost importance when working with journalists. The “expert” you are positioning for a brand needs to know what they’re talking about. This can be gained through many different ways whether it’s an educational qualification like a PhD or years of experience gained within that sector. Expertise signals to both readers and search engines that your content is worth paying attention to.
• Authoritativeness can impact your content’s reputation. Are you recognised as a go-to source in your industry? Do other reputable sites link to or reference your work? Authoritative content isn’t just well-written—it’s respected and often cited by others, which helps boost its visibility and credibility
• In the case of Digital PR, authoritative content can be the expert comments and tips within a campaign. For example, if working with a gardening e-commerce site, you’d want your expert commentary or campaigns to be featured within relevant sites like Ideal Home or Country Living, sites that regularly share gardening knowledge. 
• Trustworthiness is everything, it's essential for gaining the confidence of customers and also journalists.  In an era of misinformation and AI-generated content, it’s hard to know what to trust. This is why your content must be transparent, accurate, and honest. This isn’t just about the knowledge and information you share —it’s about how you share it and where it’s coming from. Trustworthiness can build a solid foundation for long-term relationships with your audience, ensuring they come back to you time and again.

EEAT isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have with any site. If you’re looking to rank well in search engines, especially in areas where accuracy is critical, integrating EEAT principles into your Digital PR and content strategy is non-negotiable. It’s not just about creating content and getting clicks and coverage; it’s about building a human-first approach within the digital space that real people trust.

Why are E-E-A-T signals important for Digital PR? 

Digital PR alongside technical and onsite content, are the three core elements of SEO. Digital PR also known as link building is recognised within Google guidelines to help boost SERP rankings. But this is only if it is done right as spammy tactics such as buying links can boost the number of backlinks, it violates Google's guidelines.

Not only this, other spammy tactics like guest posting will negatively impact your backlink profile as within Google's March 2024 update, they issued manual actions that resulted in websites being deindexed. They even stated they would remove 40% of low-quality, unoriginal content. Showing manual link-building through Digital PR efforts is more crucial than ever before. 

Here are a few reasons why it is important to demonstrate E-E-A-T signals in Digital PR: 

• Boosting brand awareness online - For years, Google has shown a preference for established brands, and this trend has only become more apparent with recent algorithm updates. Brands that invest in building their presence tend to fare better than those that don’t. This is where Digital PR shines—it’s one of the best tools to increase brand awareness. By getting publications and influencers talking about your brand, associating it with your areas of expertise, and driving social engagement and positive sentiment, digital PR plays a pivotal role in shaping how your brand is perceived. In line with social proof theory, when your audience sees others like influencers —especially trusted voices— endorsing your brand, it can increase community engagement whilst building credibility and trust, reinforcing the value and quality of what you offer.
• Positioning your people as experts - E-E-A-T at the author level is all about building and demonstrating the expertise of your contributors, and digital PR is a powerful way to achieve this. When you receive press coverage for a brand or brand representative—whether through insights or expert commentary—it helps establish them as experts within their field. This not only validates their expertise but also showcases their experience through trusted third-party sources like reputable publications. This leverages authority bias—a behaviour nudge where people are more likely to trust and be persuaded by information from experts. Digital PR not only strengthens your brand but also elevates your experts’ reputations, allowing some strategies to do both simultaneously. 

Find out more about why being experts for journalists is gold here.

(Client author profile taken from Ideal Home) 

• Associating your brand with trustworthy and leading sources - Within human behavioural nudges, the messenger effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to evaluate the information they receive based on the source. Rather than objectively evaluating the content of the message, our interpretation is influenced by our opinions of the person or source conveying the information. As Google is constantly trying to understand its users, when your brand is linked with a trustworthy and leading source, whether that’s a tier 1 or niche publication, it will have a positive impact on your site's rankings. Digital PR is about getting your brand featured in key media outlets and sources that can help you establish authority. If your brand is being cited across well-respected publications, it's hard for readers within that market and Google’s algorithm to ignore it. Beyond the SEO benefits, being featured in trusted publications puts your brand front and centre with your target audience, solidifying your reputation as an industry leader. 

• Earning links and citations - As mentioned earlier, links are still important for SEO success and can play a significant role in demonstrating high E-E-A-T. Links are deemed as a vote of confidence from one site to another, when a site links to yours, it's essentially vouching for your content’s quality and expertise. Digital PR is one of the most effective and organic ways to earn these valuable links from authoritative, trustworthy and reliable sources and sites. Whether your content is being cited and linked to as a source, or your author profile or homepage are getting linked, these backlinks signal to Google that your content is trustworthy and authoritative. Despite this, if you have gained a brand mention that does not link back to your site - you won’t be penalised just because there isn’t a link there. 
• Driving brand searches with keywords - One of the simplest ways Google gauges brand popularity is through brand searches—when users specifically look for your brand online. Although Google hasn’t explicitly confirmed brand searches as a ranking factor, many SEOs have long speculated about its potential impact, especially when users search for a brand alongside a keyword like “ASOS black dress”. After all, it does make sense—that there’s no better way for Google to understand your site's relevance than by seeing users actively searching for your brand alongside related keywords. Digital PR can influence brand searches directly and indirectly. Directly, when someone sees your brand mentioned in the media and searches for it; indirectly, when a user visits your site via digital PR and later searches for your brand to return.

Key Takeaways

Ensuring you incorporate E-E-A-T in Digital PR, you will establish yourself as relevant, authoritative and trustworthy to both users and search engines. As a result, you will then build your brand presence and reputation, which in turn will be more likely to convert users to buyers and maximise your ROI. 

• Importance of E-E-A-T in Digital PR: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) are crucial for establishing a reliable and credible online presence, especially in sensitive fields like health, finance, and law.
• Role of Digital PR: Digital PR enhances E-E-A-T by positioning brands and their representatives as experts through credible media coverage, earning valuable backlinks, and associating with trustworthy sources.
• Impact on SEO: E-E-A-T signals significantly boost SEO rankings, as Google favours established brands with a strong online presence and backlinks from authoritative sites.
• Driving Brand Searches: Digital PR can increase brand visibility, leading to more direct and indirect brand searches, which may positively impact SEO and brand recognition.

Do you want to unleash the power of E-E-A-T in Digital PR? Our Digital PR experts are here to support your online brand profile and presence. Get in touch with us today to find out more about how we can help your brand level up its Digital PR game!