Imagine looking for life-changing advice on medical treatment, financial planning, or legal issues. What if you stumbled upon inaccurate or misleading content? The consequences could be catastrophic. This is where YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content comes in.

Originally, “Your Money or Your Life” was a threat used by highwaymen, offering victims the choice between their money or their life. In SEO, YMYL refers to content that can significantly affect a person’s well-being, especially in health, finance, or legal advice.

Google classifies such content to ensure higher standards for sensitive topics. YMYL pages are judged by tougher Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (SQEG). This means only trustworthy and expert content gets high rankings.

In this post, we’ll cover why YMYL matters for SEO, how it affects rankings, and tips for optimising YMYL content to meet Google’s E-E-A-T standards. By the end, you'll know how to protect your brand's reputation, boost rankings, and build trust with quality YMYL content.

 

Key Factors That Define YMYL Content

Content that falls under YMYL categories has the potential to influence major life decisions, making it crucial for SEO.

Let’s break down the main categories that define YMYL content.

Health & Safety

Content offering medical advice or discussing health conditions falls under YMYL. Let's say that your site provides treatment advice or well-being tips. If so, the information must be backed by scientific research and peer-reviewed sources. This ensures that your audience is getting accurate, reliable information.

    • Example: Writing articles about mental health treatments? You should reference NHS guidelines or studies published in medical journals (e.g., GOV.UK or NHS England).

Financial Stability

Content related to investment strategies, tax advice, or personal finance is also considered YMYL. This kind of content can directly impact users’ financial security. Therefore, the information must come from authoritative financial institutions. For SEO, it’s essential to show that recognised experts back your advice.

    • Example: Investment advice should cite FCA-approved guidelines or be written by certified financial planners. This ensures trustworthiness and relevance for users looking to make informed decisions.

General Well-being

This includes information that impacts personal choices in education, jobs, and housing. While these topics may not seem to affect health or safety right away, they are important for users’ lives. Such content must be accurate and authored by experts or professionals with relevant credentials.

    • Example: Career advice should come from industry experts or accredited schools. This ensures job seekers get trustworthy guidance.

By optimising YMYL content in these areas, you ensure that your website ranks for highly competitive keywords. Better yet, it also helps you maintain a reputation for accuracy and reliability.

 

How Does YMYL Impact SEO Rankings?

For YMYL websites, Google applies even stricter E-E-A-T criteria when determining rankings. E-E-A-T gives more importance to real-world experience, in addition to expertise, authority, and trust. This applies to fields such as health, finance, and legal advice. In these areas, personal experience is as important as formal education.

Here’s how E-E-A-T affects YMYL content and SEO rankings:

Experience: Google now favours content from authors with real-life experience on the topic. For example, an article on health treatments should be written by someone with real experience, like a doctor or a licensed therapist. This strengthens credibility by demonstrating that the content is based on real experience, not just theory.

Expertise: Expertise remains essential in the E-E-A-T model. Google still looks for content authored by qualified professionals. For financial advice, Google prefers content from certified financial planners or tax experts. This ensures that the advice given is trustworthy and accurate.

Authoritativeness: Authoritativeness continues to be a key ranking factor. For YMYL pages, Google checks whether the content is coming from a well-established authority within its domain. This could include referencing trusted bodies like the NHS for medical information or the FCA for financial advice. Websites with a strong reputation in their field are likely to rank higher.

Trustworthiness: Trust signals are essential for Google to assess the reliability of your content. Factors such as HTTPS security, good reviews, and high-quality backlinks from others all help build trust. A website that is perceived as trustworthy will be rewarded with better rankings in the search results.

As you can see, E-E-A-T requires a more holistic approach to content creation. It brings together real-world experience and qualified expertise. By focusing on these principles, you can enhance your YMYL content and improve your SEO rankings.

 

Master YMYL to Boost Your SEO Success

It’s essential for businesses in fields that affect health, finances, or well-being to optimise YMYL content. Google’s rigid E-E-A-T guidelines help ensure that only credible and quality content ranks for sensitive topics.

If you provide health advice, financial planning, or legal guidance, your YMYL content must meet Google’s high standards. Doing so will help you gain trust, visibility, and better search rankings. Ready to optimise your YMYL content and boost your website’s trust and authority?

Call 01202 684400 or get in touch for a free SEO audit and start optimising your YMYL content to meet Google’s guidelines for better rankings.