E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is Google's framework for evaluating the quality and credibility of content, particularly for topics where accuracy matters. Health, finance, legal advice, and care fall into this category, which Google classifies as YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content.

Experience refers to first-hand knowledge of the subject. For a care home website, this means content written by or clearly informed by people who have actually worked in care, rather than generic health and wellness content produced by a content agency. Expertise means demonstrable professional knowledge of the specific subject matter. Authoritativeness means being recognised by other credible sources, such as links from relevant directories, mentions in sector publications, or citations of specific expertise. Trustworthiness is the broadest signal, encompassing accurate information, transparent authorship, correct regulatory compliance (CQC rating displayed, privacy policy present), and clear contact information.

For care providers, E-E-A-T matters because care content is implicitly YMYL. Families making placement decisions are making high-stakes choices. Google applies higher scrutiny to the quality and credibility of care-related content than it would to a recipe website. A care home website with thin, generic content, no indication of authorship, and no schema markup signalling its regulatory status will be assessed as lower quality than one with specific, well-structured content, correct schema, and a clearly communicated CQC rating.

Practically, improving E-E-A-T means ensuring your website accurately reflects your registration and rating. Your content should be specific to your care type and location rather than generic. Your most important claims, such as care quality, staff qualifications, or inspection outcomes, should be substantiated rather than merely asserted.