A patient looking for a dentist checks Google first, then clicks through three or four websites. Within a few seconds they usually decide where to book: who is the dentist, are they a real person, are there reviews, where is the phone number? The same goes for a lawyer, a hotel, a plumber or an accountant. People do not pay anyone they do not trust.
Google is trying to measure exactly that, and the measure is called E-E-A-T. So what is E-E-A-T? It stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, and it describes how Google thinks about quality. It is not a technical setting. It is about whether your website looks like an honest business that knows what it is doing.
How does E-E-A-T affect your website?
Let us be clear first: Google does not give your site a single "trust score". E-E-A-T is a general framework Google uses to tell good pages from poor ones. It is applied more strictly to topics where a wrong answer can affect someone's health, legal position or money. If you are a dentist, a lawyer or work in finance, this matters even more for you.
In practice, a site that inspires trust is easier to find on Google and also turns more visitors into customers. Those two goals point in the same direction.
Four words, four questions
Translated into business language, Google is asking:
- Experience: Was this written by someone who has actually done the work? A restaurant owner knows the menu, a hotelier knows the guests, a tradesperson knows the job.
- Expertise: Does the author know the subject? Qualifications, certificates and years of work show this.
- Authority: Is this a name that others in the field recognize and recommend? A professional association membership, press mentions or other websites talking about you are examples.
- Trust: Can the site be relied on? Is contact information clear, does the site open over a secure connection, are your promises realistic?
Trust matters most of the four. The other three really serve it.
Signs you can check on your own site
Before calling an expert, walk through your site like a customer. If the answer to any of these is "no", something is missing.
| Where to look | Your question |
|---|---|
| About page | Does it clearly say who you are and how long you have done this? |
| Articles and pages | Can you see who wrote them and when? |
| Contact | Are the address, phone and email real and easy to find? |
| Reviews | Are there genuine customer opinions, or only your own praise? |
| Browser bar | Is there a padlock before the address, or does the browser say "not secure"? |
| Policy pages | Are there privacy and returns pages? |
Ask yourself one more thing: from what they see, can a visitor say "this person exists and knows their job"?
Common mistakes
A few situations I see most often with clients:
- A faceless site. An About page full of general sentences that never says who is behind the business.
- Articles with no author. No name and no job title under the text.
- Outdated information. Closed branches, changed phone numbers, services that no longer exist.
- Exaggerated promises. "The best" or "guaranteed results" creates doubt instead of trust.
- No reviews. A site with no customer voices makes new visitors hesitate.
None of these needs complicated technical work. Most are fixed by describing your business honestly and as it really is.
What do you prepare, and what does the specialist do?
Your part is the most valuable, because experience and expertise come from you. You can prepare:
- Your own photo, photos of your team and a short bio
- Documents such as diplomas, certificates and memberships
- Customer feedback you have written permission to share
- Real examples of your work and how you work
The specialist's job is to place these in the right spot in the right way: rewriting the About page, adding author details under articles, setting up the secure connection, removing outdated information and adding the signals that help Google recognize you.
What should you ask the person doing the work?
When you talk to a web designer or SEO consultant, you can ask:
- Which trust-building details are missing from my site? Can you list them?
- Where will author and date information appear on my articles?
- How will we add customer reviews to the site?
- How long will this take, and how will we track the result?
If someone says "we will get you to number one in a week", walk away. Trust builds over time, and a promise of fast, guaranteed results is not an honest approach.
How long does it take?
Fixing the About and Contact pages is usually quick. But Google trusting your site more, meaning reviews accumulating, other sites mentioning you and your content being kept up to date, can take months. Think of it as your business reputation rather than a one-off task: something that gets a little stronger every year.
Frequently asked questions
Is E-E-A-T a ranking score?
No. There is no single E-E-A-T score Google gives your site. It is a general approach Google takes when judging quality. Even so, strengthening these signals makes a good impression on both Google and visitors.
Can a small business do this?
Of course. You do not need to be big, you need to be real. A local shop that clearly shows its address, opening hours, work and customer feedback often looks more trustworthy than a large but vague site.
Does AI-written content lose trust?
The problem is not the tool. It is content that helps nobody and that nobody takes responsibility for. Whether you or a specialist prepare the text, there should be a named person who knows it is accurate and stands behind it.
How do I find out what is missing on my site?
Show the site to someone who does not know it and ask "would you trust this business?" The places where they hesitate are the places to fix.
If your site does not give visitors and Google enough reason to trust it, we can find the gaps and fix them together. You can read about my approach on the SEO services page.