YMYL stands for “Your Money, Your Life,” referring to content that can directly impact users’ financial stability, physical and mental health, safety, or overall well-being. Google places particular emphasis on such content and applies strict criteria to ensure it is reliable, accurate, and safe for users.
What Content Falls Under YMYL?
YMYL includes websites and pages that offer advice, information, or services in critical life areas such as health, finance, legal matters, shopping, and news. Since YMYL content can significantly affect users’ lives, Google requires these pages to maintain high levels of E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness).
Related: E-A-T: Expertise, Authority & Trustworthiness in SEO
Categories of YMYL Content
Google has defined specific categories for YMYL content. Here are the main types:
- Health and Medical Advice Websites that provide information on illnesses, treatments, medical advice, pharmaceuticals, or anything related to health. This content can directly impact users’ physical and mental well-being.
- Finance Websites offering advice on investments, loans, savings, credit cards, financial products, and overall money management. These tips can affect users’ financial conditions.
- Legal Advice and Justice Content providing legal advice or information on legal matters, court procedures, and rights, which may have significant consequences for users’ lives and freedoms.
- News and Politics News websites covering major events, political issues, or topics influencing public opinion. The accuracy and reliability of this information are crucial for maintaining public awareness and trust.
- Shopping and Transactions E-commerce pages and shopping websites where users purchase products or services. These pages must ensure transaction security and protect users’ personal data.
- Education and Educational Institutions Websites providing information about educational institutions, study programs, or educational advice, as these can impact users’ careers and opportunities.
Why YMYL Matters for SEO
Google strives to ensure that the information it provides is trustworthy, especially when content may impact users’ lives. YMYL pages are held to higher standards to guarantee they offer high levels of E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness).
Google uses its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines to help raters determine if YMYL pages meet these high standards. If a YMYL page does not meet these standards, its ranking may be negatively affected.
How to Improve Your YMYL Page Performance
If your site falls into the YMYL category, follow these best practices to enhance its performance:
- Strengthen Your Page’s E-A-T
- Hire or collaborate with experts: Ensure the content is created by specialists in the subject.
- Present the author and their credentials: Include bios to highlight authors’ expertise.
- Gain high-quality backlinks: Links from reputable sites can enhance your page’s authority and trust.
- Create Accurate and Up-to-Date Content
- Regularly update your content to reflect the latest information.
- Use reliable sources to support your claims and link to them whenever possible.
- Create in-depth content that covers the topic thoroughly and addresses users’ questions.
- Boost Your Site’s Trustworthiness
- Ensure data security: Use SSL to protect users’ personal data.
- Maintain clear privacy policies and terms of service: These are essential for YMYL pages to build trust.
- Provide clear contact details and display business information (like address and phone): These add to the site’s credibility.
- Gather Positive Reviews and Testimonials
- Encourage customers to leave reviews on reliable platforms like Google My Business.
- Respond to reviews, especially if negative, to show that you care about user experience.
Examples of YMYL Pages
To better understand which pages fall under YMYL, here are some examples:
- Medical Articles: An article about treating a specific disease or understanding the symptoms of a condition.
- Financial Advice: A guide on stock investments or applying for a loan.
- Legal Advice: Content explaining employee rights or legal steps for filing a lawsuit.
- News with Major Social Impact: Articles covering health, politics, or economics that can influence public opinion.
How YMYL Affects Your Google Ranking
YMYL pages are assessed rigorously, and content that does not meet E-A-T standards can be penalized or ranked lower in search results. Especially following recent updates to Google’s algorithms, content quality and reliability are crucial to maintaining high search rankings.
Conclusion
YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) is a category of content that demands high standards of quality, accuracy, and reliability due to its potential impact on users’ lives. Pages in this category must meet high E-A-T requirements, as Google seeks to protect users from misleading or dangerous information.
To improve your YMYL content ranking:
- Invest in specialized, credible content.
- Ensure your website’s security and transparency.
- Strengthen your credibility with positive reviews and quality backlinks.
With the right strategy, YMYL content can offer great value to users and boost your position in Google’s search results.
Sources:
semrush.com – What Is YMYL & How Does It Affect SEO?
pageonepower.com- What is YMYL?
incrementors.com – What Is YMYL And How Does It Affect SEO?
