Originally posted on the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library Linkedin page.

By Holly Zanville, Founder/Lead, Learn & Work Ecosystem Library; research professor, George Washington University and Elin Johnson, Editor of The Cordova Times; higher education and workforce development journalist

What happens when a journalist and a library purveyor get together? Predictably, we question each other on the rapidly changing world of communications. Our recent conversation focused on search engine optimization (SEO), how AI fits into the changing role of digital libraries and information-sharing generally, and the aspirations of the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library to grow influence, credibility, and assess our usefulness with diverse stakeholder groups.

The rapidly changing landscape of communications, particularly in the realms SEO and AI, presents significant opportunities and challenges for digital libraries and information-sharing platforms. This evolving landscape significantly impacts information-sharing platforms. Recently, the Library has been focusing on how these advancements can enhance its influence, credibility, and usefulness among diverse stakeholders. Digital libraries like ours can significantly aid individuals in finding valuable information. With its growing content, the library is well-positioned to support the needs of users, providing a wealth of resources that can enrich stakeholder’s work.

The following is an abridged version of our conversation. It also inspired a recent Topic Report at the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library: “Importance of Search Engines in Learn & Work Ecosystem at Learn & Work Ecosystem” https://learnworkecosystemlibrary.com/topics/importance-of-search-engines-in-learn-and-work-ecosystem

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Holly Zanville:We’re seeing the Library come up more and more in Google searches. That’s a good thing, but we’re wondering now  what should we be doing (if anything) to build our ratings to become more searchable?

Elin Johnson:Three words to start with—“Search Engine Optimization.” SEO is the way to increase the visibility of websites — all website purveyors should be paying attention to their SEO.

HZ: So it’s a good thing when we’re  showing up more in Google searches, even though we’re not aware of intentionally doing anything for that to occur?

EJ: Yes, it means traffic to your site is being picked up by Google’s algorithm. Have you heard of Google E-E-A-T?

HZ: No – what is this?

EJ: E-E-A-T is an acronym that stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Some years back, Google detected a meaningful shift in its review of sites on the internet toward content that demonstrated characteristics it called higher expertise, authority, and trust.

It incorporated these criteria into Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines and these guidelines assist Google employees known as “Quality Raters” to determine whether search engine results are returning high quality and relevant information.

HZ: Do these guidelines pertain to all content being searched?

EJ:  Yes, and it’s not just digital libraries and academic resources that should know this, but all websites. Incorporation of the E-E-A-T principles into online publishing (which is what we’re all doing with our websites) can give website owners some assurance that they are meeting Google’s definitions of quality and relevance.

HZ: How do these sites show proof of expertise?

EJ: Common ways they show proof are to show proof of licenses, professional associations, and credentials (including degrees) to prove there is expertise behind their websites. Credentials, for example, can help the Quality Raters quickly identify the difference between expertise and questionable sites. An author bio also is a great way to demonstrate expertise.

HZ: This must place a lot of emphasis on credentialing in SEO determinations.

EJ: Yes, and verifying truthfulness and trust is an important issue around SEO as well. But I have been reading that expertise goes beyond credentials though they are an important part of this. Google is also including practical, everyday expertise like experience. Google additionally considers several trust factors, including accurate contact information, website security, factual accuracy, transparent policies, and user reviews.

HZ: Do these factors directly affect search rankings?

EJ: It looks in the literature as if there’s some debate over this. Some argue that measurable factors impact rankings directly – others believe that behaviors rewarded by Google’s algorithm indirectly influence rankings. There doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer that is public yet.

HZ: We have a new AI Library Assistant bot that we are using to answer conversional queries, synthesize large amount of content quickly, and help us build relational maps among initiatives and organizations that are working to improve the learn-and-work ecosystem, along with related glossary terms and more in-depth Topic considerations.  How is the use of AI helping to impact the Google E-E-A-T approach—or is it impacting the use of these principles?

EJ: The use of AI is an issue especially related to the Google priorities on “experience,” “expertise,” and “trustworthiness.” AI can generate content but it cannot meet the “experience” criteria because it lacks first-hand “human” experiences. AI also struggles with demonstrating expertise and trustworthiness, since it relies on training data rather than actual credentials. And, AI can produce a large quantity of content, but it’s not yet great with quality or nuance.

HZ: Interesting. One takeaway is Google’s significant influence in setting and monitoring standards for online content. It’s important as a digital Library for us to understand that there is this checks and balances system at play. And as the Library expands our content, we should be paying attention to the  E-E-A-T principles—we would like to develop and maintain strong SEO.

Our librarian, Matthew Valdez, has also been raising with us the concept of “discoverability” as a term to think of in discussing any type of search. Like all libraries, we face the challenge of ensuring our content is discoverable to a patron/user searching within our collection. As an online library, we face the additional challenge of making ourselves discoverable within search engine databases (Google, Bing, etc.). As we strive to be a resource for all, we intend to use SEO to make our website (and content) more “discoverable.”

EJ: Agreed. It’s essential to keep up with these changes for the Library and educate others about the importance of quality rating infrastructure, since so much of the content collected in the Library includes initiatives (nearly all of them have a website) and organizations working in these spaces (they all have websites).  As I’ve looked at the Library’s content, there is no content for Initiatives and Organizations that do not have a referring link to an external website.

HZ:  Yes, one of our intents at the Library has always been to collect understandable, accessible, and coded information in one place — and to also play an “air traffic controller role” by sending users to the best sites for further information. We now have many hundreds of websites being linked, and all of them should be thinking about their SEO presence and the E-E-A-T guidelines around high quality and relevant information.

EJ: Digital marketing and analysis are an important part of communications and technology uses anymore, not just for journalists but for all of us.

HZ: Let’s revisit this conversation in a few months to see how things have evolved around high quality information sharing and SEO optimization. This topic deserves more attention in our discussions and readings in higher education.

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Summary: Verifying trustworthiness is crucial in the current SEO landscape. Google considers several trust factors, including accurate contact information, website security, factual accuracy, transparent policies, and user reviews. These factors contribute to the overall assessment of a website’s reliability and quality. There is ongoing debate about how these factors directly impact search rankings. Some experts argue that measurable factors influence rankings directly, while others believe that behaviors rewarded by Google’s algorithm indirectly affect rankings. Regardless, understanding and incorporating these principles can help websites like the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library improve their visibility and credibility.