For the first time, Google has released the full version of its Search Quality Raters guidelines and handbook. It is 160 pages of wonderful SEO knowledge. It is aimed at helping Google Search Quality Raters understand how to rate the search results they are testing.

1. How Has Google’s “ear h Quality Guideli e Impacted
SEO?
Google recently released the 160 page guide that outlines how the search results
we all see in Google are evaluated. Google stated that this guide is not the end all
be all for “EO’s, but still provides the valuable insights that Google uses to
measure the effectiveness of their search results.
The guide contains critically important implications, some of which might make
you change the way you do things. The first of which is-
Your Money or Your Life
Abbreviated YMYL, Google categorizes some online pages as YMYL if they can
sig ifi a tly i pa t a pe so ’s life, su h as the health o ealth of a sea he .
After a page has been placed in this category, Google hold it to a much higher
standard and grades it with more scrutiny.

2. Not su e if you page falls i to YMYL? He e’s the list they eleased.
 Medical information pages
 Financial information pages
 Legal information pages
 Shopping pages with transactional ability
 Safety procedure information pages
 Child adoption pages
 Other pages that impact wealth and health
YMYL is e tio ed a y ti es th oughout the guide, so it’s safe to say Google
sees this as a top priority. Extremely important for those in the YMYL category but
also for others, Google tells us how we can make their pages more attractive to
them.
Ho to ake you page ette i Google’s eyes? Add
Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness
Abbreviated EAT, Google raters look at the results and judge if your page has all of
the above.
Showing that you have expertise is something many websites lack. Listing where
a degree or certification came from, how many years has an author been in an
industry, or using a well-known name sounds easy on paper but is forgotten by
too many.

3. Authoritativeness is different from expertise in that Google wants to know how
long, how far you have been covering a topic or industry, and what level of quality
your community is.
Trustworthiness is up to the ate ’s a ility to elie e hat a page is telli g the .
I ost ases, isito s espo d e y diffe e tly to pages they do ’t t ust a d
behave in a certain manner, which Google can track in numbers.
How can I up my EAT value?
Mentioned as an extreme priority rating by Google, online pages should always be
interested in upping their EAT value. Here are some things Google tells us we can
do:
1. Look at your About page
Especially for YMYL pages, this information is critical. This is the easiest and most
direct way to tell Google about you. Talk about yourself both to document your
EAT values, and to tell your visitors what you do.
2. Design your pages for a good user experience
You’ e p o a ly see you pages a illio ti es a d thi k they ake total sense.
But if you get a f esh pai of eyes to look at the a d they a ’t uite tell hat to
do o hy they’ e the e, you’ e doi g so ethi g o g. Make thi gs as direct as
possible a d do ’t o fuse the isito i a y ay.
3. Ad experience
If you do ’t ha e ads o you pages, do ’t o y a out this o e. If you do, you
need to make sure visitors can clearly tell what on the page is an ad and what
isn’t. Google does this to make sure that those that do not want to read the ads,
can simply do that.

4. 4. Your various reputations
There is likely information both about your company and about those who make
up the face of your company scattered across the internet. You want those
reputational sources to be as easy to find as possible and to show each face of
your company in an obvious location. Your company reputation also comes in the
form of reviews.
What are the standards set for my page content?
Besides offe i g a lo EAT alue, Google’s guide sho s us a pletho a of other
blunders pages make on the daily. He e’s you he klist fo o te t e o s i
Google’s eyes.
 Is the amount of information in your main content satisfying the readers?
 Is there enough helpful content?
 Are you keyword stuffing?
 Do you have mechanisms for user sharing on the page?
 Is there distracting content on the same page?
 Are you moderating and engaging with any commenters?
 Are you fully-functional on mobile devices? (if not, this is no. 1 priority)
 Are there many broken links on your pages?
 Is your content outdated or irrelevant?
 Are you linking to or have any scam site affiliations?
 Is your content all original and well written?
Some of these are no-brainers, but all of them are required to rank highly.
Conclusion

5. At the end of the day, all Google is doing with this guideline is making sure your
pages completely fulfill the searchers needs and give them credible information.
So if you work on your pages with that first and foremost in your mind, all of
these bullet points and numbered lists should fall right into place. But we know
that putti g the ight pie es i to you e site a e ha d o k, so you do ’t
have to go at it alone.
We’ e ee helpi g o pa ies ith their “EO for o er 15 year, a d a help
you too.
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/paper-texture-old-structure-535969/