{"id":17381,"date":"2021-10-21T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/?p=17381"},"modified":"2021-10-21T09:00:24","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T14:00:24","slug":"using-eat-improve-local-visibility-search-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/using-eat-improve-local-visibility-search-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"Using EAT to Improve Local Visibility in Organic Search and Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, we\u2019ve seen Google provide a wealth of options for local businesses to reach highly targeted audiences. Last week, we talked about Google Business Profile attributes and a focus on hyperlocal search<\/a>. This week, we\u2019ll be looking into EAT (expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness) and structured data as a means for earning the all-important featured snippet.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a><\/div>\n

Google EAT and Structured Data<\/h2>\n

You\u2019re probably familiar with Google EAT as guidelines for evaluating website quality standards. Here Lily Ray discusses EAT<\/a> and how you can leverage structured data on your local business clients\u2019 websites. By applying this process you can help Google understand EAT on the businesses\u2019 websites.<\/p>\n

What you may not know is by leveraging this structured data you are also helping the businesses get featured snippets. These featured snippets can be considered zero-click searches.<\/p>\n

In practice, this means adding structured data for elements like citations, expert reviews, author credentials and organization information. The aim is to assist Google in offering precise search results and help them to assess expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness.<\/p>\n

Local Business Websites Don\u2019t Need to Fear Zero-Click Searches<\/h2>\n

It can be tempting to think of zero-click searches as a barrier to business website traffic. In reality, this doesn\u2019t have to be the case. Businesses can actually win with zero-click searches if they take the right approach. We shared how this is possible in this blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Similarly, when Google displays a Google Business Profile (GBP) listing instead of the business\u2019 website, your clients are faced with the same challenges as a zero-click search. However, getting a placement in the local pack or Google Maps is highly beneficial to businesses. We discuss more on zero-click searches & GBP here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By adding expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness to a GMB listing and the business\u2019 website, you are helping them to place in search results. That is the most important component. We have an infographic<\/a> (and a guide actually) that shares how to achieve that, but here is a recap:<\/p>\n