YMYL and E-E-A-T in link building: how to choose where your links go

Some topics carry more risk for the reader than others. A bad answer about a recipe costs you dinner. A bad answer about a medication, a mortgage or a legal deadline can cost far more. Google has a name for these topics, and it affects where it makes sense to place links. This guide explains what the terms mean, what they don't mean, and what to check on a publisher before a link goes live.

What YMYL and E-E-A-T mean

Google says its systems give even more weight to content that fits strong E-E-A-T on YMYL topics. Of the four parts, it says trust is the most important. The others contribute to trust, but content doesn't have to show all of them.

Health, personal finance, property and mortgages, legal advice and gambling all sit close to that line. So do regulated products such as CBD.

What E-E-A-T is not

Google is clear that E-E-A-T itself isn't a specific ranking factor. There is no E-E-A-T score, and a link can't give you one. Google's quality raters do judge content on expertise, authoritativeness and trust, but Google says their ratings do not directly impact ranking. They help Google benchmark the quality of its results.

So nobody can honestly promise that a link will "raise your E-E-A-T". What a link can do is put your brand in front of readers on a site they already trust, next to content that is accurate and written by people who know the topic. That's worth having on any topic. On a sensitive one, it matters more.

Why placement matters more on sensitive topics

This part is our view, not a rule from Google. When the topic is health, money or the law, three things change.

• Readers are more careful. They check who is behind a page before they act on it. A link from a thin, anonymous site next to unrelated ads doesn't help a brand that wants to be trusted.
• Mistakes cost more. A wrong figure or an unsupported health claim in a placement can harm the reader and your reputation, and in some markets it breaks advertising rules.
• The rules are stricter. Regulators set rules for lawyer advertising, health claims, financial promotions and gambling. They differ by country and state.

A link's value also depends on the site it comes from. For more on that, see our guide to link quality and website metrics.

What to check on a publisher in a YMYL niche

Google's own questions about helpful content are a good starting point. It asks whether it's obvious to visitors who wrote the content, whether pages carry a byline where you'd expect one, and whether the byline leads to more information about the author. It also asks whether the content is written or reviewed by someone who demonstrably knows the topic.

Turn that into a short check for each site:

1. A named author. Is there a byline, and does it lead to an author page or a bio?
2. Expertise that fits the topic. Are health posts written or reviewed by someone qualified, and legal posts by someone who knows the law? Or is everything written by the same unnamed account?
3. A site with a clear purpose. Does the site cover this topic regularly, and does it have an About page and contact details?
4. Sources. Does it link to the studies, laws or regulators it talks about?
5. Accurate and current. Are the facts, prices and rules in recent posts still right?
6. Honest labels. Is paid or sponsored content marked where the publisher or the law requires it?
7. No signs of link selling. A "write for us" page on every topic and many unrelated outbound links are warning signs.

These checks take minutes per site. Skipping them is how links end up on sites that look fine in a metrics tool but don't read as trustworthy to a person.

What to check in your own content

The placement is only as trustworthy as the words around your link.

• Use sources. Every fact, price, rate or rule gets a source and a date.
• Skip promises. Don't promise medical results, investment returns or legal outcomes.
• Name the expert. If the content gives advice, have a qualified person write it or review it, and say so.
• Know your market's rules. You are responsible for following the advertising rules that apply to you, for example rules for lawyers, financial products, gambling or health claims.

Paid links and labels

Google's spam policies say links that are bought or exchanged to manipulate ranking must be qualified with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". Whether a placement carries a visible label depends on the publisher and the country. Some label paid content, and in some markets the law requires it. At Magfellow, if a placement will carry a label, we tell you before you approve the site, and you decide whether to go ahead.

How we handle it at Magfellow

We take this into account when we shortlist sites for sensitive topics. We read recent posts on each site, check that it's relevant to your topic and market, and look for real editorial content. You approve every site and the content before it is published. We place links and mentions, and we don't give legal, financial or medical advice.

The full list of checks is on our guest posting page. If you work in one of these niches, start with the page for your industry:

• Law firm link building
• Real estate link building
• CBD link building
• iGaming link building

This is general information about link building, not legal, financial or medical advice.

Sources

Checked on 1 October 2026.

• Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content (updated December 2025)
• Google: Search engine testing and evaluation (search quality raters)
• Google Search Central: Spam policies, link spam
• Google Search Central: Qualify your outbound links to Google