Search Engine Optimisation

E-E-A-T Predictions for 2025

E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) was introduced in 2014 as part of Google’s quality rater guidelines. The framework gained significant traction following the 2018 “Medic” core update, which specifically targeted YMYL (Your Money Your Life) content. The primary driver was user safety – protecting users from potentially harmful misinformation across all sectors, not just medical and financial content.

In late 2022, Google added a second ‘E’ for Experience, creating E-E-A-T. This addition emphasises the importance of demonstrable, lived experience in content creation. The timing of this change appears strategic, potentially serving as Google’s first response to the rise of AI-generated content. Human experience provides a clear differentiator between authentic expertise and AI-generated information.

Future Predictions

It’s difficult to know exactly how Google may decide to evolve E-E-A-T and similar concepts. However, understanding the challenges the search engine faces and its historical changes, we have an idea of specific areas that might be developed. The next few years are significant for Google and its current search model, which is under threat from a rapidly evolving AI market. While consumer behaviour is showing little change as of yet, it’s likely to mean that Google will be forced to make changes to drastically improve the quality and relevance of its results.

We believe originality may become increasingly important, with Google prioritising original research and unique insights. We know that these may already be strong factors, with Google rewarding content that is uniquely valuable. However, with a rise in regurgitated AI content reproduction, those who provide truly original, opinionated content will be rewarded. Experience has already been added to the quality rater guidelines but Google may go even further to root out the very best, new and original content to serve to its users.

We predict that content length could become more (or less) of a factor in 2025. A common user frustration has been sifting through reams and reams of content on a page to find the specific answer to their question. SEO, unfortunately, has been a driving force behind a rise in long-form content across the internet, as Google has traditionally favoured pages with high word counts. While Google has specifically addressed this point in recent months, changes in search results aren’t yet apparent. Over the course of 2025, content length appropriate to the search query may start to become more prevalent in top results – this could equate to short-form content becoming a ranking factor. Look at how social media has evolved towards shorts, reels and quick-gratification content.

Finally, and along a similar vein of thought, overall user experience may become even more significant. Content presentation, accessibility and enhanced user experience features could all become more prominent in Google’s evaluation of what it ranks. As Google now faces a genuine threat to their market dominance, long-held user frustrations must be addressed. Poorly laid out sites, overlapping pop-ups, intrusive ads, hard to read text – these are all found in top ranking pages. In 2025, we’re predicting that Google will be forced to develop systems to properly address this, rewarding sites with clean navigation, good UX and clever design principles.

Success in future search rankings will require a more holistic, effort-driven approach. Organisations need to think not just about what they produce online, which will be scrutinised more closely, but how that content is displayed and consumed – and the impact on user behaviour.

If you’d like to discuss the future of SEO, our predictions for 2025 or how these might impact your site, give us a call.

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