Google’s Search Quality Evaluators are contracted professionals who rank search results given a list of keywords. While these rankings do not directly affect the search results, they do in fact play a part in search engine optimization (SEO) as the internal quality raters improve upon Google’s algorithms.
Yet, the Google internal quality raters’ guidelines are not a secret, and there are steps that you can take to pass their quality checks. Here are the top four things to keep in mind when catering to your content to your users in order to meet the search quality evaluators’ criteria:
Within the search quality evaluator guidelines that Google has made public, you’ll notice a relatively new concept of beneficial purpose. This guideline was established to eliminate or reduce any harmful, deceitful, or otherwise spammy content that affects the user’s search experience. Therefore, when search quality raters are looking at the quality of your content, they want to know its purpose and how it will serve to benefit your users.
This may come as a surprise to you. Why does it matter that information about you should be contained on your website? Shouldn’t it just be about your business? Well, yes and no. You should include information about your business on your website to demonstrate that you have a background in your content. However, search quality raters are also looking for your reputation as the creator of the content—are you qualified to say what you are saying? This quality ranking criterion protects the user against falsified content. Having your author information in an easily accessible place on your website will give your content a boost in SEO.
Google’s search quality evaluators are not just looking at your expertise when evaluating your landing pages; they are also looking for how trustworthy your content is for users. They want to make sure that your content is either written from the voice of an expert, written as a result of formal education, or is otherwise well-researched (hint: this is why SEO best practices include the practice of backlinking) and provides a valuable perspective on the content’s subject. Your content may also be deemed as trustworthy if you seek to regularly update the landing page according to changes in the topic area.
You’ve seen clickbait before. Clickbait typically uses high-interest titles to lure their audience in but fails to deliver on quality content or user-friendly content. As a result, search quality evaluators are cracking down on these types of overexaggerated titles. To ensure that you pass quality checks, assess whether your content’s title matches the content. While it is still important to have an attractive and descriptive title, you want to be sure above all that your content is relevant to your target users.
Overall, high-quality and authentic content is more likely to pass the internal quality raters’ criteria and improve your search engine ranking. If you consistently seek to provide evergreen content that is valuable to your users as a subject matter expert, you will be following SEO best practices.
Ali Jaffar has been building dazzling websites and creating amazing online experiences for over a decade. His mastery of the latest innovations in web development results in world-class website experiences set apart by show-stopping style and seamless functionality. A Google Mobile Sites and Google Analytics qualified individual and award-winning web development guru, Ali lends his talents to build and bolster digital experiences for a wide array of clients. When Ali’s not helping his clients grow, you can find him doing yoga, walking his dog, and enjoying a nice bike ride around Philly.
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