The concept of YMYL carries significant weight when we talk about techniques for ranking on Google (SEO)!
So come with me to understand better:
- What are YMYL pages;
- Why are they so important;
- And how you should optimize them to leverage your strategies!
What is YMYL and what is its relevance in SEO?
YMYL is short for “Your Money Your Life“: pages that deal with related topics that have a direct impact on users’ finances and lives.
And that’s exactly why YMYL pages are considered so sensitive. After all, your information can influence important decisions!
Imagine a website that offers medical advice on how to treat a particular disease. It will appeal to people who are looking for answers to help them regain their health, right?
On the other hand, a page about financial investments can also directly affect a person’s savings.
That’s why, when dealing with YMYL pages, there is an even greater responsibility to offer accurate, reliable and up-to-date information!
Examples of YMYL Page Niches
When we talk about YMYL, there are specific niches that fall into this category, in a more “obvious” way, so to speak.
Some common examples are:
- Health: pages with information about diseases, medical treatments, health care, diets and physical exercise;
- Finance: Sites that cover topics such as investing, financial planning, taxes, banking, loans, insurance, and retirement;
- Legal Issues: Sites that provide legal guidance on topics such as consumer rights, divorce, immigration, and crime;
- News and current affairs: includes international events, politics, technology, business or science;
- Shopping website: this includes shopping information or tools, including websites with online sales.
These are just a few examples, but the list is extensive!
I say this because, if we think about it, almost any subject can be considered YMYL — and all of us, Marketing professionals, should be committed and responsible for producing reliable content. Do you agree?
The relationship between YMYL and EEAT pages
YMYL pages are directly linked to the EEAT principles:
- Experience;
- Expertise (specialty);
- Authoritativeness (authority);
- Trustworthiness (trust).
These principles are what guide the rules of Google’s algorithms and their updates! Therefore, they determine the quality of ranked content and the relevance of the information presented when a search is performed.
Now think about it: building a good reputation is essential for these pages, since users trust them for guidance on various subjects — and, to rank them, Google also takes into account the information it finds about the author!
From there, one thing ends up leading to another: content needs to demonstrate expertise in the subject for brands to be seen as authorities in their niche.
Linked to this, we have the user experience — when navigation through pages is intuitive, with a clean design and great loading, we can consider that they are optimized for UX.
And, for that, they receive some “extra points” with the search engines!
Finally, trust is also an important component in this process. After all, search engines must identify the quality of the content on a YMYL page.
This means they need to be clear that the information provided is true!
Tips for optimizing sensitive content
By now, you should understand that dealing with sensitive content, such as that found on YMYL pages, requires a more careful approach.
So I brought some tips to help you!
- Cite reliable sources: Whenever possible, cite recognized sources to support the information. This helps to increase the credibility of the content;
- Be transparent: Be clear about the sources of information and any bias that may exist. Transparency increases search engine trust;
- Keep information up to date: ensure your content is up to date and reflects the latest discoveries in your niche;
- Avoid sensationalism: do not exaggerate when presenting sensitive information, maintain a balanced and objective tone;
- Consider diversity of perspectives: Recognize and incorporate a variety of views into your content, especially on controversial or complex topics;
- Keep your website organized: This includes basic features such as providing contact information, having an SSL security certificate, and offering a good mobile browsing experience.
How to recover penalized YMYL pages
If a YMYL page of yours has been penalized following a Google algorithm update, it’s important to act quickly to regain your position in the search results!
To help you out, here are six steps to recover your page:
- Evaluate the content: analyze what you have written on the page and identify any issues with quality, accuracy or relevance ;
- Correct errors: Then, make any necessary corrections to the content to ensure it is up to date and error-free;
- Strengthen expertise: Highlight the authority of the author or team behind the content. This can include credentials, professional experience, and relevant accomplishments;
- Demonstrate authority: Reinforce the value of the page by presenting evidence, case studies, testimonials, or other forms of external validation;
- Build trust: Adopt best practices for transparency and ethics in all interactions with users. Always prioritize honesty in your content and other communications;
- Monitor and adjust: Track your page’s performance and make changes as needed to improve its quality over time.
Off Page SEO and Technical SEO for YMYL pages
When it comes to search engine optimization, there are two areas for increasing the visibility and credibility of YMYL pages: Off-Page SEO and Technical SEO.
As you know, Off Page SEO focuses on activities carried out outside of your own website to improve its ranking in search results, involving mentions and quality backlinks from recognized websites.
In other words: the more relevance your website develops from other websites with good authority, the stronger your position will be in search results, including for queries related to sensitive topics!
On the other hand, Technical SEO focuses on the technical aspects of your website, such as loading speed, URL structure, HTML markup, among others.
For YMYL pages, a well-structured, fast and easy-to-navigate website can improve the user experience and convey greater confidence to search engines!
Therefore, investing in Off Page SEO and Technical SEO can ensure that your YMYL pages are seen with credibility by both search engines and users!
The importance of Core Updates and continuous optimization
Core Updates from search engines, such as Google, are important updates to algorithms that directly influence page rankings.
For YMYL, being aware of these updates is extremely important, as they can affect (a lot!) your website’s traffic and visibility.
Therefore, monitoring the performance of sensitive pages allows you to identify changes in rankings and quickly adjust your SEO strategy.
What I mean here is that you should stay focused on optimizing the technical part of your website, updating content and adapting to trends and changes in search algorithms.
All of this is actually part of a good optimization strategy and keeps your YMYL pages in the best positions!
And I emphasize: always invest in valuable content, which really helps people and does not simply take up more space on the Internet.
Your content does need marketing techniques, but it must go further and reflect the unique opinions of your company and the vision of each author.
This whole set is what will put you in the top positions of search engines !
Your money, your life and your success!
As you have seen, YMYL pages are an important element in the Digital Marketing scenario, especially in the context of SEO techniques.
Therefore, I remind you that they must be approached with care, responsibility and the necessary expertise.
And if you want personalized support to optimize your pages, count on Enjoy Minder! Come talk to us!
