3. A High Level of Expertise/Authoritativeness/Trustworthiness (e-a-t)

High quality pages and websites need enough expertise to be authoritative and trustworthy on their topic. Keep in mind that there are “expert” websites of all types, even gossip websites, fashion websites, humor websites, forum and Q&A pages, etc. In fact, some types of information are found almost exclusively on forums and discussions, where a community of experts can provide valuable perspectives on specific topics.

• High quality medical advice should come from people or organizations with appropriate medical expertise or accreditation. High quality medical advice or information should be written or produced in a professional style and should be edited, reviewed, and updated on a regular basis.

• High quality financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, etc., should come from expert sources and be maintained and updated.

• High quality advice pages on topics such as home remodeling (which can cost thousands of dollars) or advice on parenting issues (which can impact the future happiness of a family) should also come from “expert” sources which users can trust.

• High quality pages on hobbies, such as photography or learning to play a guitar, also require expertise.

Some topics require less formal expertise. Many people write extremely detailed, helpful reviews of products or restaurants. Many people share tips and life experiences on forums, blogs, etc. These ordinary people may be considered experts in topics where they have life experience. If it seems as if the person creating the content has the type and amount of life experience to make him or her an “expert” on the topic, we will value this “everyday expertise” and not penalize the person/page/website for not having “formal” education or training in the field.

It’s even possible to have everyday expertise in YMYL topics. For example, there are forums and support pages for people with specific diseases. Sharing personal experience is a form of everyday expertise. Consider this example. Here, forum participants are telling how long their loved ones lived with liver cancer. This is an example of sharing personal experiences (in which they are experts), not medical advice. However, specific medical information and advice (rather than descriptions of life experiences) should come from doctors or other health professionals.

Think about the topic of the page. What kind of expertise is required for the page to achieve its purpose well? The standard for expertise depends on the topic of the page.

4. Positive Reputation

Reputation is an important consideration when using the High rating. While a page can merit the High rating with no reputation, the High rating cannot be used for any website that has a convincing negative reputation. A very positive reputation can be a reason for using the High rating for an otherwise Medium page.

5. Helpful Supplementary Content

Supplementary Content can be a large part of what makes a High quality page very satisfying for its purpose. Features designed to help shoppers find other products they might also like can be as helpful as the MC on the page. Ways to find other cool stuff on entertainment websites can keep users browsing happily. Helpful SC on a recipe webpage can make the difference between whether the recipe is a success or a failure.

Helpful SC is content that is specifically targeted to the content and purpose of the page. For example, very helpful SC on a recipe page might be a feature to multiply or divide the recipe to make the right quantity of food for a given number of people. Very helpful SC content on a shopping page might be other popular makers or models of the same kind of product featured on the page.

Large websites with many pages benefit from helpful, specialized SC. SC allows users to find related and interesting content on websites with many pages. Smaller websites such as websites for local businesses and community organizations, or personal websites and blogs, may need less SC for their purpose. A page can still receive a High or even Highest rating with no SC at all.

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