Why Most B2B Marketers Still Don't Understand E-E-A-T (And How You Can Use It to Your Advantage)

One of my past clients was hitting a wall with organic conversions.

They had the right keywords. Worked with a solid agency. Traffic looked fine. But when I audited their site, it was obvious what they were missing: they were sitting on a goldmine of expertise—subject matter experts, proprietary data, hard-earned insights. And yet... nearly every article was a variation of “10 Best Practices for [Insert Trend Here].”

They knew about E-E-A-T, but they chose to ignore it. The competitive edge in B2B content marketing has always been expert-led, data-heavy content backed by real experience. We're talking about seasoned professional audiences who don't need spoon-feeding through "X Things You Need to Know About Y" posts. These decision-makers can smell generic advice from a mile away.

But there's always been a tension between SEO practices—aimed at high traffic by writing for the lowest common denominator—and truly high-quality content that serves your actual audience.

Most B2B companies, especially those providing niche solutions, have been forced to zig-zag between content that gets traffic and content that provides nutritional value.

Enter E-E-A-T. Google's framework for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness has finally aligned search optimization with content quality. For the first time, Google aimed to reward content that gives B2B buyers what they actually want: genuine expertise from people who've solved their problems before.

The E-E-A-T Evolution: Why Google Changed the Rules

Google introduced the E-A-T framework (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) in its Quality Rater Guidelines just one week before the massive "Medic Update" on August 1, 2018. This wasn't a coincidence—it was Google's response to a growing problem.

The Problem: Over 42% of websites impacted by the 2018 Medic Update were in the medical, health, fitness, and lifestyle space. Generic content farms and low-quality sites were ranking for "Your Money or Your Life" (YMYL) topics—content that could seriously impact people's health, finances, or well-being. Someone searching for medical advice was getting results from content writers with no medical background.

Google's Solution: The Medic Update specifically targeted YMYL content with low E-A-T signals, making it practically impossible for non-institutional bodies to rank for certain keywords without demonstrating genuine expertise.

The Big Change: In December 2022, Google added an extra "E" for Experience, creating E-E-A-T. This wasn't just about credentials anymore—Google wanted to see first-hand experience. As Google explained: "There are some situations where really what you value most is content produced by someone who has first-hand, life experience on the topic at hand."

E-E-A-T is Google’s content quality framework.• Experience = First-hand usage• Expertise = Deep, technical insight• Authoritativeness = Peer recognition• Trustworthiness = Transparent, verifiable content

But even though it's been close to a decade since the change, most B2B marketers still treat E-E-A-T like an afterthought or a buzzword—not a strategy.

Most B2B Marketers Still Miss the Mark on E-E-A-T

Despite Google’s updates and industry chatter, the execution gap is real:

• Only 30% of marketers prioritize showcasing author expertise

• Just 36% produce content formats that signal deep authority (e.g., original research, technical guides)

• Most still default to listicles, trend summaries, and SEO-driven filler

They know the acronym. They don’t know how to operationalize it.

This is your advantage. Because while others publish content about their industry, you can publish content from experience inside it.

What Google (and Buyers) Actually Want

Google’s 2024 updates cut low-quality content by 40% with the goal of filtering out content that lacks real-world insight. That means:

• Template-based content is downgraded.

• Summarized blog fluff is ignored.

• Demonstrated expertise is rewarded and prioritized.

Authority is no longer about who shouts loudest. It’s about who shows their work.

And best of all, when you have a great product, it usually comes with great insights. You already did the research work. It's time to inject all that wisdom into your content marketing efforts.

The Four E-E-A-T Pillars: How to Outperform Bigger Brands

Pillar	What to Do	How to Do It
Experience	Document real-world problem-solving from your team.	- Replace vague claims with numbers ("Reduced sales cycle from 120 to 73 days")- Share failed experiments ("Chatbot tanked conversions by 23%—here’s why")- Use customer quotes, timelines, and internal process docs- Fast wins: Turn onboarding into walkthroughs, support tickets into FAQs, objections into articles
Expertise	Show deep, practitioner-level knowledge others can’t replicate.	- "After implementing [tool] for 47 clients, here's what broke"- "Why 67% of personalized campaigns failed in Q4"- "Setting up attribution in GA4—with custom objects"- Publish what only a practitioner would know
Authoritativeness	Become a recognized, cited source in your space.	- Earn backlinks and guest spots- Be cited by peers- Speak at events/webinars- Publish contrarian takes and original research- Collaborate with experts to boost trust signals
Trustworthiness	Be transparent and verifiable in everything you publish.	- Link every stat- Use detailed bios- Show methodology- Add update/publication dates- Offer contact for follow-ups

Trust isn’t claimed. It’s shown—with structure, transparency, and proof.

Why Most Teams Can't Do This (And Why You Can)

Most teams:

• Don’t have enough visibility and collaboration from their company's customer sucess, product and data team

• Are stuck in generic SEO workflows and prefer showcasing 'easy', low-effort organic wins

• Avoid publishing the messy, real-world stuff

You:

• Have access to implementation notes, customer feedback, and real outcomes

• Can move faster than bloated marketing orgs

• Can build content directly into ops, support, and sales workflows

Your Authority Flywheel

Phase	Actions
Month 1–3	Identify team expertise. Publish 2 experience-rich articles. Add author bios. Set up tracking.
Month 4–6	Publish 1 research report, 2 technical guides, and start building backlinks.
Month 7–12	Layer in predictions, partner content, and speaking engagements. Build ongoing workflows.

Authority Content Formats That Work

High-Impact:

• Research-based posts with customer data

• Technical walkthroughs (with screenshots and configs)

• Contrarian POV pieces backed by evidence

• Case studies with specific metrics

Low-Impact (Still Common):

• "10 Best [X] Tools" lists

• Trend summaries with no POV

• Fluff-heavy how-tos without depth

• Content written by non-practitioners

Put E-E-A-T Into Practice: Content Examples by Industry

One simple move? Turn your internal subject matter experts (SMEs) into visible content authors.

• Build their bios. Make their credentials part of the story.

• Assign them ownership of content tied to their real-world work.

• Let them write—or ghostwrite with their insights—on the processes they own.

Examples by product type:

Industry	Content Example	Who Should Author It
Cybersecurity	“The False Positive Trap: What Our 10M Alerts Taught Us About Rule Calibration”	Senior threat analyst or SecOps lead
Fintech	“The 4 Payment Fraud Patterns Every B2B Company Should Know”	Fraud analyst or risk operations lead
Martech	“Why Attribution Breaks When You Add a Second CRM”	Marketing ops lead or product manager
SaaS Productivity	“How We Shortened Our User Onboarding from 14 to 4 Days”	Customer success or implementation lead
AI Tools	“How We Fine-Tuned Our LLM for Compliance-Heavy Workflows”	ML engineer or AI product lead

E-E-A-T Is a Must-Have Strategy for B2B Content

The biggest content opportunity in B2B isn’t originality. It’s credibility.

Most marketers still fake it. Or over-polish it. Or hide behind brand voice.

You don’t need to sound smart. You need to show you’ve done the work.

Your customers can tell. So can Google.

About the Author: Gilad Idisis is a B2B content strategist and marketing lead who’s helped SaaS companies scale authority content through AI-assisted workflows and deep product storytelling. Previously at Melio, Agora RE, currently at Checkmarx, and in my spare time, flying solo as the Logonaut.