Building Trust for SEO: Why It Matters & How to Do It

Trust is the foundation of strong search engine visibility. 

Google wants to recommend sites that are credible, useful, and safe. 

The user experience matters, too. Your site’s design, speed, and ease of navigation play just as big a role as the words on the page. If visitors bounce because your site is slow or frustrating to use, Google takes it as a sign you can’t be trusted.

Let’s explore why trust matters for SEO and the steps you can take to build it.

What Is Trust in SEO?

In SEO, trust is how credible and reliable users and search engines like Google perceive you to be. 

Google has an Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) framework that human reviewers use to assess the quality of search results. And those raters’ feedback can inform future algorithm changes, meaning Google aims to prioritize content that’s seen as trustworthy.

Google can also assess how trustworthy you are based on whether other websites link to you and how long users view or interact with your content before returning to search results. 

That means building trust with people can make you seem more trustworthy to Google. Which means you’re more likely to rank (appear) higher in search results.

Why Trust Drives SEO Success

Trust drives SEO results because Google's entire business model depends on sending users to reliable, helpful websites.

When Google recommends a site that’s reputable and reliable, that protects their reputation.

And when users see you as more trustworthy, that leads to:

• Better click-through rates: Users recognize and choose your brand when they see it in search results
• Lower bounce rates: Visitors stay and explore your site
• More backlinks: Other sites vouch for your credibility by linking to you

So, there’s a compound effect. Better rankings drive more engagement from websites and users. And more engagement from websites and users sends positive trust signals to Google that can further improve rankings. 

Plus, visitors who trust you are more likely to become customers and brand advocates.

Ways to Build Trust That Benefits Your SEO

Building trust that translates to SEO success requires improvements across these areas:

1. Be Transparent

Displaying clear information about your company and the people who create your content goes a long way toward building trust with users.

Google's Quality Rater Guidelines specifically mention looking for "information about who is responsible for the website and its content." Especially for "Your Money or Your Life" (YMYL) topics—meaning topics that can affect a person’s health, financial stability, safety, or well-being.

Essential author elements to display include:

• Full name and professional headshot
• Relevant credentials and experience
• Link to the author's LinkedIn or professional profile
• Brief bio highlighting expertise in the topic area
• Contact information or social media links

Beyond individual authors, your site needs transparent information about the company. Create a detailed about us page that includes your:

• Company history and mission
• Physical address and contact details
• Team members with photos and roles
• Clear editorial or review processes

If your site has content from multiple authors, implement author schema markup. This is a type of structured data (in a standardized format) that helps Google understand who wrote the content and what their credentials are.

Schema markup can also be helpful for giving large language model tools (LLMs) more information about your content. Which could be helpful for improving your visibility on platforms like ChatGPT.

2. Publish High-Quality Content

Quality content that reflects real experience and expertise builds credibility, turning E-E-A-T from theory into practice. That credibility is what earns user and Google trust.

Here are some ways to craft helpful content that’s likely to build trust:

• Answer the searcher's question completely
• Anticipate and address follow-up questions
• Share specific examples and case studies from your work
• Include original photos, screenshots, or data
• Update content regularly with fresh information
• Add expert quotes and contributor insights
• Show any processes with step-by-step details
• Cite authoritative sources with proper links

Quality matters more than volume. One well-researched, comprehensive guide outperforms 10 thin articles. So, fact-check everything—especially statistics and claims that could impact readers' decisions.

For YMYL topics, go further by:

• Having qualified professionals review the content
• Linking to medical journals, government sites, and/or academic sources
• Including disclaimers where appropriate
• Indicating when the content was last updated at the top of the page

3. Prioritize the User Experience

Trust starts with the basics. If your site feels slow, unstable, or unsafe, visitors won’t stick around. And Google will notice. That’s why SEO basics tied to user experience are non-negotiable.

Start with Google’s Core Web Vitals, which directly measure how users experience your site:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Keep your main content loading within 2.5 seconds or less
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Prevent shifting buttons, images, or text as the page loads
• Interaction to Next Paint (INP): Make sure clicks, taps, and typing respond almost instantly

Beyond Web Vitals, reinforce trust with these foundational SEO basics:

• Use HTTPS across your entire site
• Ensure mobile-responsive design
• Maintain clear navigation and logical structure
• Fix broken links and avoid 404 errors

Use Semrush’s Site Audit tool to run checks related to your site’s technical performance and user experience. It’ll show you which pages are affected and provide suggestions for fixing issues.

Maintaining trust is also easier if you avoid:

• Aggressive pop-ups that block content
• Auto-playing videos with sound
• Misleading titles or clickbait
• Hidden costs at checkout
• Fake urgency or scarcity tactics

4. Show External Validation

Incorporating external validation proves that other people and websites trust you, which can influence your rankings.

For example, high-quality and relevant backlinks are one of the strongest ranking factors for Google. They’re clear signs that other websites trust you and are vouching for your credibility. Just keep in mind that one link from a recognized brand in your niche is more valuable than dozens from blogs covering unrelated topics.

You can gain backlinks by:

• Writing guest posts for respected industry publications
• Contributing expert quotes to journalists, so they can incorporate your expertise and hopefully link to you in the process
• Publishing original research others will cite
• Creating partnership content with established brands

Beyond backlinks, incorporating external validation through customer reviews, testimonials, case studies, industry certifications, and memberships can make your business appear more trustworthy. Display these prominently—especially on service pages and product pages.

Brand mentions without links also matter. When people discuss your company on social media, forums, or news sites, Google notices. So do LLMs. The more your brand is referenced across trusted sources, the more likely it is to surface in AI-driven answers and summaries.

How to Measure Trust

You can measure trust through a variety of related metrics, even though Google doesn't have an official trust score.

Start with Semrush's Authority Score—a metric that evaluates your website’s overall quality and SEO strength—which can be used to give you a trustworthiness benchmark. Generally speaking, a higher score is better.

Here's how to check your Authority Score:

1. Go to Semrush’s Domain Overview
2. Enter your domain name
3. Click “Search”

4. Look for "Authority Score" at the top

Once you find your Authority Score, repeat the process with some of your competitors to see how you compare. If your score is higher than others in your space, that’s an indication you’re seen as more trustworthy than they are. 

Don't chase perfection—consistent growth matters more than hitting specific numbers.

To get a sense of how trustworthy users think you are, track:

• Bounce rate: If users leave after only viewing one page, it may indicate they didn’t find what they expected or didn’t trust your content. A bounce rate of 40% or lower is generally considered strong performance.
• Average engagement time per session: More time spent on a page can signal that visitors find your content credible and useful. But this metric is context-dependent. A quick bounce from a blog post might be bad, but a short visit to a help page (because the user found the answer immediately) is a good sign. 
• Brand mentions: Use the Brand Monitoring app to track how often and where people talk about your brand online. This won’t measure search volume, but a growing number of mentions across reputable sites, social media, or forums can indicate that awareness and trust are increasing.
• Brand searches: Rising branded search volume (people specifically typing your company or product name into Google) is a clear sign that your reputation is building. You can track branded keyword trends using Position Tracking in Semrush.

Start Improving Your SEO with Our Trust Checklist

This checklist (which you can download here) prioritizes actions by impact and urgency. Start with "Today" items and work down.

Today

• Enable HTTPS across your site. This involves obtaining an SSL certificate. Work with a developer if you need help.
• Find issues that need to be addressed using Semrush’s Site Audit tool

This Week

• Create or update your about us page. Include team photos, the company mission, your physical address, and contact information.
• Claim your Google Business Profile if you’re a local business. Go to business.google.com, verify your listing, and fill out all your business details.
• Add contact information to a dedicated contact page and in your website footer

This Month and Beyond

• Add author names to articles and create author bio pages. On each bio page, add a headshot, credentials, and two to three sentences about expertise.
• Earn quality backlinks. Contribute guest posts on industry blogs or get quoted in trade publications.
• Collect customer reviews. Email recent customers asking for Google or industry platform reviews.
• Update old articles. Refresh outdated content with new information and add "Last updated: [date]" to the top of those pages.
• Publish new, high-quality content that incorporates elements like original images, reputable source citations, and specific examples
• Work through technical issues discovered with Semrush’s Site Audit tool

Common Questions About SEO Trust

Does Google Have a Trust Score for Websites?

No, Google doesn't publish an official trust score. Third-party tools like Semrush provide metrics that approximate trust but aren't official Google metrics.

Can You Build Trust Without Backlinks?

Yes, backlinks are a strong ranking factor for Google. They’re clear signs that other websites trust you and can vouch for your credibility. But keep in mind that just one link from a recognized brand in your niche is more valuable than dozens from blogs covering unrelated topics.

Does Social Media Impact Trust?

Not directly. Social shares aren't a ranking factor. But having an active social presence with real engagement shows you're a legitimate business. Google can see brand mentions and discussions across social platforms.

How Long Does It Take to Build Trust?

How long it takes to build trust depends on your website, your niche, and more. Generally speaking, new sites may need six to 12 months to establish trust with search engines and users. You can monitor your progress by tracking various metrics. Such as Authority Score, which you can view with Domain Overview.