If you want your content to rank on Google Search then you need to master its “Who, How, and Why”, very much like the way every new journalist masters the 5Ws and H of news.
In Google’s terminology, “Who” stands for “Who created the content”; “How” stands for “How the content was created; and “Why” stands for “Why was the content created”.
Google lays down detailed guidelines for each of the 3Ws. You can use these guidelines to evaluate whether your content meets Google’s requirements. The content that does will be rewarded by Google Search.
The first W – Who
The- first W is to clearly spell out who created the content. This should be mentioned at the start of the article, in what is known as a byline.
Some articles give the name at the end of the article. Google Search would like this to be indicated at the top of the article so that every visitor who arrives on the page knows who authored the content.
Google Search would also like some information being provided about the author. This lends credibility to the content and adds authority depending upon the stature of the author.
The second W – How
When it comes to How, Google Search lays down two guidelines. Both guidelines are about building trust with readers.
Google Search would like you to describe the process. For instance, when writing a product review, you must explain what you did. This should include details about the tests that you conducted and how many product samples you tested to establish the utility of a product. Further, to lend credibility you should include photographs of the way you conducted the tests.
The second and more important guideline relates to AI-generated content. Here, Google Search wants you to indicate which parts of the content are AI-generated. Such disclosures make the reader feel happy that you are honest with him, and are not palming off content that has been created by a machine.
The third W – Why
Google considers the third W -that is Why – as the most important of the three Ws. It wants you to ask yourself why have you created this content.
If your answer is that this content has been created to help people who visit your site then Google is satisfied. However, if you have created the content to improve search engine rankings then you are in trouble. Google Search considers such content as a clear violation of its spam guidelines, and will not hesitate to take tough action.
Let’s not forget E-E-A-T here
Google Search uses several signals to rank great content. One of the most important of these is E-E-A-T, which is the acronym for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
Google says, “After identifying relevant content, our systems aim to prioritize those that seem most helpful.” This is where Google turns to E-E-A-T.
Google Search says that it is not essential that every content should include all the four factors. There may be some content whose helpfulness may be based on experience. At the same time, there may be some other content whose value arises from the expertise of the author.
Google further clarifies that “While E-E-A-T itself isn’t a specific ranking factor, using a mix of factors that can identify content with good E-E-A-T is useful.”
The subjects where Google assigns most weight to E-E-A-T is content that can significantly impact the health, financial stability, or safety of people.
The bottomline Google says is trust.
The 3Ws of Google Search, What is EEAT and how it influences Google search
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