- Why are YMYL pages important?
- SEO-practices-for-YMYL-pages">Best SEO practices for YMYL pages
YMYL, or “Your Money or Your Life” pages, refer to content that can significantly influence a person’s well-being, including their happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.
For instance, a webpage that provides advice on how to maximise your pension for retirement would be classified as a YMYL page. Similarly, a page offering guidance on diagnosing and managing diabetes also falls under this category.
The term “YMYL” originates from Google’s guidelines for quality evaluators.
Google employs a large group of external quality evaluators who assess search results according to specific guidelines. Their evaluations help train Google’s AI-driven algorithms to improve the relevance and accuracy of search results. These guidelines outline how evaluators should assess the quality of web pages.
Examples of YMYL pages include:
- News and current events: Pages covering global news, politics, science, etc.
- Civics, government, and law: Pages providing information on voting, legal issues, social services, and related topics.
- Finance: Pages on investing, taxes, banking, and similar financial matters.
- Shopping: Pages related to online shopping, including those enabling purchases.
- Health and safety: Pages addressing health concerns, medical issues, drugs, hospitals, or personal safety.
- Groups of people: Pages discussing specific groups, such as those defined by nationality, race, or social status.
- Other: Pages that broadly cover “your money or your life” topics, such as fitness, nutrition, housing, or job-seeking.
Why are YMYL pages important?
YMYL pages differ from other types of content because they have the potential to impact a person’s well-being, health, or safety.
For example, imagine you wake up with a bad cough and search for “how to treat a cough” on Google. If you end up on a low-quality site that provides incorrect advice, your condition could worsen. This is why it’s crucial for Google to provide users with reliable, high-quality information, especially on topics that affect their health or safety.
Due to the significant importance of YMYL content, Google sets higher standards for these pages. As they explain:
“Low-quality YMYL pages could potentially negatively impact a person’s happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.”
If you’re aiming to rank a page on a YMYL topic, you’ll need to ensure it meets Google’s stringent quality requirements.
SEO-practices-for-YMYL-pages">Best SEO practices for YMYL pages
- Be patientIt’s rare for Google to immediately recommend new websites on YMYL topics. If you’re creating content in this area, be prepared for a long wait before your pages rank. In the meantime, focus on the following best practices to enhance your chances.
- Gain mentions on reputable websitesSecuring mentions on reputable websites is one of the most effective strategies for ranking YMYL content. Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines emphasise the importance of reputation, stating:
“For YMYL informational topics, the reputation of a website or content creator should be judged by what experts in the field have to say. Recommendations from expert sources, such as professional societies, are strong evidence of a very positive reputation.”
To identify top-tier websites, use tools like Site Explorer to analyse the backlink profiles of high-ranking pages. Your objective is to get reputable websites to mention your content, which, though challenging, is crucial for ranking YMYL pages.
- Interview real expertsTo create authoritative YMYL content, interview genuine experts in the field. Their insights will provide valuable, trustworthy information, which a skilled copywriter can then shape into high-quality content.
Relying on general content marketers for YMYL topics can be risky if they lack real expertise, as this can undermine the depth and accuracy of your content. Interviewing an expert ensures both credibility and readability, offering the best of both worlds.
- Clearly display information about the website owner and writersGoogle holds YMYL pages to the highest standard of E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). These elements must be immediately visible, which includes having a clear writer’s bio and details about the website owner or company, along with contact information.
On your YMYL pages, ensure that you provide a writer’s bio demonstrating their expertise, authority, and trustworthiness before diving into the content itself. This establishes credibility from the outset.
YMYL stands for “Your Money or Your Life.” It refers to web pages that cover topics which can significantly impact a person’s well-being, such as their happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.
YMYL topics include health, finance, legal advice, safety, news, and government-related information. For example, pages on medical advice, tax planning, or financial investments are all considered YMYL because they have the potential to affect a person’s life in important ways.
YMYL pages are held to higher standards because incorrect or misleading information on these topics can have serious consequences, potentially harming users’ health, finances, or safety. As a result, Google ensures that these pages provide high-quality, accurate, and trustworthy content.
Google uses its E-A-T framework (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to evaluate YMYL pages. Google’s quality raters assess whether the content comes from authoritative sources, if the authors are experts, and whether the website has a trustworthy reputation.
It’s more challenging for new websites to rank highly for YMYL topics because Google prioritises established, authoritative sources for sensitive information. New websites need to build trust, gain authority, and demonstrate expertise over time before they can rank well.
E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is crucial for YMYL pages because Google requires these pages to be written and reviewed by qualified experts, and the content must be accurate and reliable to protect users’ well-being.
To improve the E-A-T of your YMYL pages, ensure that your content is created or reviewed by experts in the field, provide clear author bios and credentials, link to reputable sources, and maintain transparency about your website’s ownership and editorial policies.
Yes, it’s essential to keep YMYL pages up to date, especially for topics related to health, finance, and legal matters. Outdated or inaccurate information can harm users and damage your page’s E-A-T, which may negatively impact your rankings.
To build backlinks for YMYL pages, focus on creating high-quality, well-researched content that authoritative websites in your industry would find valuable. You can also collaborate with experts, seek mentions from reputable websites, and use outreach strategies to secure backlinks.
Not all pages in these categories are automatically YMYL, but if the content has the potential to affect a person’s well-being, finances, or safety, it will likely be classified as YMYL. For example, a blog post with casual fitness tips may not be as scrutinised as a page offering medical advice on treating a condition.
To help you cite our definitions in your bibliography, here is the proper citation layout for the three major formatting styles, with all of the relevant information filled in.
- Page URL:https://seoconsultant.agency/define/ymyl-pages/
- Modern Language Association (MLA):YMYL Pages. seoconsultant.agency. TSCA. December 21 2024 https://seoconsultant.agency/define/ymyl-pages/.
- Chicago Manual of Style (CMS):YMYL Pages. seoconsultant.agency. TSCA. https://seoconsultant.agency/define/ymyl-pages/ (accessed: December 21 2024).
- American Psychological Association (APA):YMYL Pages. seoconsultant.agency. Retrieved December 21 2024, from seoconsultant.agency website: https://seoconsultant.agency/define/ymyl-pages/
This glossary post was last updated: 29th November 2024.
I am an exceptionally technical SEO and digital marketing consultant; considered by some to be amongst the top SEOs in the UK. I'm well versed in web development, conversion rate optimisation, outreach, and many other aspects of digital marketing.
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