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Emphasize experience with thought leadership content
How do you become a thought leader? Despite the Insta-bros on social media, the reality is that behind every great thought leader is years of hard-earned experience in their field.
Thought leaders can provide a map of the future because they have traveled great distances in the past.
This fact has often been implicitly understood, but it is now in your best interest to ensure that Google’s algorithms can also clearly identify how experienced thought leaders are.
Google’s latest “helpful content” algorithm update is an extension of Google EAT (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness) Standard. A previous update added “experience” to the existing EAT trio, the current update appears to focus on measuring that experience and translating it into search rankings.
Google still says that “trustworthiness” remains the most important of the four elements. But of course experience also proves and feeds into trust.
What does this all mean for the content?
Experience vs. AI
If the update is successful, it should make life harder for SEOs to outsmart algorithms and achieve rankings through brute force, volume-driven approaches.
It should also begin to address the major challenge presented by the increasing proliferation of AI-generated content. The large language models (LLMs) that power generative AI are a synthesis of vast amounts of existing content. They combine and homogenize experiences. AI content tends to read the same as much of what you’ve seen before because it’s made up of it.
However, the individual experience is different. It retains its rough edges – sharpened over time through successes and setbacks. It is more understandable and more valuable. For this reason, case studies that aren’t afraid to provide a sweeping perspective often outperform those that airbrush the details.
In practice, this dichotomy should make life easier for Google’s helpful content algorithm. If it finds 20 articles that basically say the same thing – just with differences in vocabulary and phrasing – it can demote them in terms of usefulness and trustworthiness and promote content with clear signals of deep experience.
How to better demonstrate experience in thought leadership
The jury is still out on the exact mechanisms at play in demonstrating experience at the algorithmic level. But if we take Google’s stated goals at face value, we can begin to steer our content in the right direction.
Here are eight things you can try.
1. Don’t be afraid to demonstrate your experience in the most blatant way
Your content should feature authors with author bios and headshots that explain why they are experts in practical terms and why they are qualified to write these articles or speak on these specific topics.
Don’t rely too heavily on just one thought leader. If that person leaves the mark, you will need eggs in other baskets.
2. Include real-world applications
How can or has your thought leadership been translated into the real world? Remember, it’s not just about expertise; Experience, that makes a difference here.
Tell us a story or an anecdote. This could be all you need to create content that is both truly useful and truly unique.
3. Try to be thought-provoking
Many brands aspire to thought leadership status, but the real deal is far too rare. What we often see is educational content. Sure, it’s useful stuff with some search value. But they are a dime a dozen and will be increasingly vulnerable to automatic generation by AI.
Content that falls into the “best practice” category is unlikely to reflect the experience in a way that makes a difference. Instead, try to challenge the status quo by not just trying to fix bugs.
4. Look within yourself for experts
The best thought leadership starts with ideas from subject matter experts
(SME) in your company. They can be CEOs, analysts, engineers… Look within yourself for people with experience and technical knowledge.
Access to SMEs will help your content creators be controversial and authoritative. You will stand on the shoulders of giants.
5. Connect content
Make sure content by the same author is linked together, regardless of where it was published. The networking will create a body of work for this name, which will ultimately be a confirmation of their status as a thought leader.
6. Don’t overlook the power of your customers or clients
Here’s Google’s take on experience: “Does content also show that it was created with a certain level of experience, e.g. by actually using a product, by actually visiting a place, or by communicating what a person experienced? There are situations where what you’re doing is truly what you’re doing. Content created by someone who has direct life experience on the topic at hand has the most value.”
I don’t know about you, but to me this calls for case studies, testimonials and reviews that offer real insight into your products and services.
7. Update content
Revisit your older content and update it to meet the new demands of demonstrating experience. In other words, make sure the content you’ve already created continues to be useful to you on search engines.
8. Don’t be afraid to ruffle feathers
One of the foundations of good thought leadership is taking a stand. The best thought process alienates some so that it can be noticed by others.
Often this means choosing an “enemy.” So ask yourself these questions:
- What really bothers you?
- Is there a problem plaguing your customers that everyone seems to have accepted?
- Is there a certain way of working in your industry that irritates you?
- Is there a common myth you want to bust or a common promise to customers that you think rings hollow?
Your experience will help you anchor your answers to these questions in your customers’ everyday lives. These are the things you see every day. They are not the result of an AI mixer.
Thought leadership – today more than ever
Google’s latest addition to the EEAT framework makes thought leadership even more important than before. Marketers agree that it helps them achieve their goals. And shoppers agree it helps them make better decisions. Everyone wins.
In one Opinion poll From LinkedIn and Edelman on buying behavior of B2B decision makers and C-level executives during an economic downturn, 61% of respondents said they found leadership more effective than product-focused marketing in demonstrating a product’s potential value.
This is good news for brands that are true thought leaders and have the ability to put their money where their mouth is.
Done well, thought leadership can help you stand out from the competition. You will become known as someone to pay attention to, someone who is increasingly sought after for industry-related opinions, and someone who clients or customers can turn to when they need help.
And now you get a search boost too.
More resources on thought leadership and Google’s helpful content update
Five steps to building trust through thought leadership
Google’s “Helpful Content Update”: Five SEO Mistakes to Avoid
Publications don’t want your AI-generated content