Displaying Expertise on a Topic Plays a Role in Rankings
There is no quick fix for improving a site or author’s expertise on a subject, however, this is a factor that feeds into rankings. It takes time to build a presence as an authority on a topic.
Rewrite Low-quality Pages or Combine Them With Other Relevant Pages
Google’s quality team avoids telling website owners to delete pages, and instead promotes the idea of rewriting low-quality pages or combining them with and redirecting them to relevant, higher-quality pages.
Avoid Using Traffic Metrics Alone for Determining Page Quality
Traffic alone isn’t a true indication of the quality of a page’s content, so make sure you use a combination of different metrics during analysis before removing pages from your site.
Sharing the Same Server or Owner as a Problematic Website Isn’t an Issue
The only instance when other sites will be impacted by a problematic site is if there are obvious interlinking and efforts to manipulate rankings between them. If two sites only share the same server or owner it isn’t a problem.
Speed is a Minor Ranking Factor Compared to Content Quality or Relevance
Improving site speed alone probably won’t change rankings or visibility for a website because it is a very small factor compared to the relevance and quality of a page’s content with regards to rankings.
Follow Quality Guidelines But Focus on UX
John recommends using the Webmaster Quality Guidelines as a guide for content quality, but suggests not focusing too much on what Google is doing from an algorithmic standpoint. Instead focus on making and optimizing sites that provide good user experiences.
Quality Rater Guidelines & EAT Don’t Directly Impact Rankings
EAT and the Quality Rater Guidelines show where Google is heading in the future for providing better content to users, but they don’t directly impact Google’s algorithms.
Treat Tag Pages Like Any Other Page & Only Noindex Low Quality Ones
John recommends treating tag pages like any other page on your site and to differentiate between useful tag pages and low quality tag pages by noindexing the low quality ones.
Homepages That Don’t Rank Well Might be Over-optimised
Instances where a homepage doesn’t rank well can sometimes be due to over-optimisation, with Google detecting keyword stuffing in the content.