Google E-E-A-T Part 2: Expertise

In the first post of this series, we covered how deathcare firms can include experience in their marketing content. Today, we’re looking at the second “E” in E-E-A-T: expertise.

What Does Google Mean by Expertise?

Expertise refers to the knowledge and skill someone has relevant to a topic.

Imagine you’re searching for a YouTube video to walk you through replacing the drain basket for your kitchen sink. You find two options. One features a plumber and the other is from a self-proclaimed home-improvement expert.

If most other factors are equivalent, you’re likely to give more credence to the video from the plumber. Under E-E-A-T guidelines, Google makes the same call. A licensed plumber is believed to have the proper knowledge and skill for the topic by nature of being a licensed plumber.

How Can You Ensure Your Deathcare Content Is Expert?

Experience and expertise can overlap, especially when it comes to demonstrating them in your content. Many of the tips we shared for including your experience in deathcare content apply here too, including adding bylines and author bios to your blog posts.

Experience and expertise are not quite the same, though. Experience refers to your practical, hands-on use of or relation to a topic. Expertise refers to your knowledge and skills.

Consider a person who has given eulogies at a dozen funerals in the past few years because loved ones believe they are a good speaker. The individual has real-world experience with funerals that might meet Google’s requirement for the first E of E-E-A-T.

Compare that person with a licensed funeral director. The funeral director has real-world experience with funerals, too. But they also have professional credentials that satisfy the second E of E-E-A-T (expertise).

Some ways to demonstrate expertise in your deathcare content include:

• Providing credentials. Include credentials in bylines, author bios, and team bios as well as on your firm’s About Us page.
• Summarize professional experience. Use bylines and About Us pages to let readers know what type of work you (or your team) have done and how long you’ve been doing it. Note, for example, if the cemetery has operated for more than 100 years or the funeral home team has more than five decades of combined experience.
• Create expert-level content. Back up your claims of expertise by creating content people would expect from someone with your experience and credentials. Create helpful content filled with accurate facts, data, or advice.

Experience and expertise are only the starting point for high-quality content that meets Google E-E-A-T requirements. Check back for the final three installments in this series to find out more.