Lily Ray, Sr. SEO Director and Head of Organic Research at Amsive, shares how to factor E-A-T into your local SEO strategy from her presentation with Local University.

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How to Factor into
Your Local SEO Strategy

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Lily Ray
Sr. Director, SEO
+ Head of Organic Research

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is the criteria
Google’s Quality
Raters use to evaluate
content, authors, &
websites.

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#localu | @lilyraynyc
is NOT
a direct ranking factor
a new concept in SEO
a specific algorithm update a metric with a “score”

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Search quality evaluators
measure & assess website
quality & E-A-T in live user
tests
Feedback is benchmarked and
used to inform future algorithm
updates
Algorithms identify
signals that
correlate with E-A-T
(i.e. PageRank &
links)

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Signals that
align with

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Google Patent:
Website Representation
Vectors (2018)
“By using a composite-representation
based upon existing website classifications,
the characteristics used by the
classification are not limited by human
discernible characteristics and can be any
characteristic that can be learned by
analysis of the website.”

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Anything that can contribute to a good or bad experience - both on your website,
or at your business - can be a potential E-A-T signal.

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Where does exist on Google?

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Ecosystem
Google Maps
Organic Search +
The Knowledge Graph
Google Play Store
Images
YouTube
Google News
Google Discover
Featured Snippets
Interesting Finds

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“Google's Knowledge Graph is
now comprised of over 500 billion
facts about 5 billion entities.”
- Danny Sullivan
GMB
KG
KG
GMB

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“Google gives you a few opportunities to
communicate with them directly about your brand,
or people in your company, or any entities that
might exist. If you are a business, being in Google
My Business and having the right keywords and info
there directly influences how Google understands
your brand and your company. If you have books,
listing them in Google Play Books. If you have apps,
having them in the Google Play Store. If you have
products, list them in Google Merchant Center. All
of this is feeding Google Knowledge’s Graph."
- Cindy Krum, Mobile Moxie

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Use structured data to inform E-A-T
• address
• affiliation
• alumniOf
• award
• honorificPrefix
• honorificSuffix
• jobTitle
• knowsLanguage
• owns
• Parent
• worksFor
• sameAs
• address
• award
• brand
• duns
• founder
• foundingDate
• foundingLocation
• knowsAbout
• knowsLanguage
• logo
• memberOf
• parentOrganization
• address
• openingHours
• specialAnnouncement
• telephone
Person Organization LocalBusiness
+ more specific types

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What has Google said about
for local businesses?

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Examples in Google’s
Search Quality
Guidelines

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Restaurant Website
“This is an “about us” page on a restaurant
website. This page provides information on
when the restaurant opened and what
visitors can expect.
Other pages on the website provide
information about the restaurant including
the address, menu, other contact
information, etc.
This website is highly authoritative because
it is about itself.”

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“This is the News and Updates section of a
local preservation center selling poultry,
vegetables, and more.
Note: This example was added in 2014 so the
“News and Updates” were timely.”
Local Preservation Center

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“Look for articles, reviews, forum posts, discussions,
etc. written by people about the website. For
businesses… here are some examples: Yelp, Better
Business Bureau, Amazon, and Google Shopping.
You can try searching on specific sites to find reviews.
For example, you can try [ibm site:bbb.org] or
[“ibm.com” site:bbb.org].
…Please consider very low ratings on the BBB site to
be evidence for a negative reputation.”
– Google Search Quality Guidelines

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What features does Google offer to
improve a local business’ ?

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“E-A-T for Local SEO is a collection of attributes a
search engine might use to evaluate the
prominence, proximity, and relevance of a local
business entity in order to rank it for a specific
search query.”
- Andrew Shotland, Local SEO Guide

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REVIEWS + REVIEW CONTENT
(GMB + CITATIONS)
ON-PAGE SIGNALS
+ SCHEMA ON WEBSITE
3RD PARTY REVIEWS
GMB POST CONTENT
GMB IMAGES
(ACTUAL PICTURES OF STORE &
STAFF)
BACKLINKS TO YOUR DOMAIN
ABOUT US PAGE
SHOWING EXPERTS ON STAFF
OR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Local Ranking Factors
& Potential E-A-T Signals:
GMB CATEGORIES, SUBCATEGORIES, SERVICES +
PRODUCTS

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“Review attributes are “semantic triples” that allow Google to
query and reason about a business.
You can see in this test how they can be used to quantify
those queries.
Each category of service business has a unique set of 3,4 or 5
pre determined attributes.
If you know what yours are you could “grease the review
solicitation skid” by mirroring one or two of the attributes in
the ask.”
h/t Tom Waddington
GMB Review Attributes
- Mike Blumenthal

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Signals that Resonate with a Local Audience
Store location pages can demonstrate via:
• Store manager picture & contact information
• Trending products
• Localized FAQ (with FAQ Schema)
• Neighborhood names and details
• Relevant local information

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Think like a quality rater.
What affects your perception of a local
business’ ?

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I conducted a survey to find out.

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96% of respondents read something online
about a business that made them not want
to visit that business.

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Prioritize your handling of
customer feedback and
reviews accordingly

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49% of respondents who took issue with a
business because of its online reputation did
so for issues related to cleanliness and
hygiene.

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“Posting restaurant hygiene scores prominently on Yelp leads
to a 12% decrease in purchase intentions for restaurants with
poor scores relative to those with higher scores.”
Bringing Restaurant Hygiene Scores to Yelp Pages Everywhere
knows this.

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Mini-Analysis of “Gross” Businesses (Hotel & Hospitality)
Analyzed 100 hotels on
Tripadvisor with at least 1
review containing the words
“gross,” “disgusting,”
“nasty,” or “filthy”
Average overall rating: 2.6

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COVID made it even more important to demonstrate
cleanliness & hygiene.

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“The local business website
matters. Especially during
Covid, if their website wasn't
up-to-date with hours, hygiene
processes, or delivery protocols
(e.g. curbside pickup,
contactless delivery, etc.), I was
unlikely to engage with them.”
– Survey respondent

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#localu | @lilyraynyc

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40% of respondents indicated that GMB is
their preferred review platform.

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What type of business did you not visit because of online reviews?

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54% of respondents decided not to patronize
a local business because of a PR scandal or a
publicly known issue with an owner or
employee.

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“If the business
replies to a negative
comment that can
change my mind,
depending on the
answer.”
“I also read the
business answers to
get the other side.
Then I make my
judgement.”
“I always look at how
the business
responds to
complaints and
issues. If they give a
snarky reply I stay
away.”
“Seeing businesses
respond online is always a
positive thing. Shows that
they know a conversation
is taking place. So many
times I see ignorance of
business owners.”
How You Respond
to Reviews Matters

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Don’t be Jane Doe.

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To summarize:
• Any and all attributes that convey how users and customers
perceive your business are part of your local E-A-T
• Demonstrating cleanliness, safety protocols and your
response to COVID improve trustworthiness
• Your professional conduct is on display when you respond
to customers publicly

41. Lily Ray
@lilyraynyc
Lily Ray
@lilyraynyc