Adding Expertise Credentials Readers Can Actually Check
A byline tells readers who wrote a page. Credentials tell them why that person is worth listening to on this subject. Many sites either say nothing, or say something vague such as "our qualified experts" that nobody can check.
The E-E-A-T Checker looks at bio depth and Person markup, and a thin bio usually means the expertise is there but invisible. This guide shows how to work out which credentials matter for each topic, present them in plain English, link them to a public register a reader can check, and show expertise honestly when there is no formal qualification to point to.
When formal credentials matter, and when they do not
Expertise in the E-E-A-T sense means having the knowledge or skill the topic needs. For some topics that means a regulated qualification; for others it means years of doing the work. The rater guidelines are explicit that the right kind of expertise depends on the subject: a hobbyist can be an expert on their hobby, while medical advice calls for medical expertise.
| Topic | What readers expect | Credible evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Medical treatment, medicines, diagnosis | A registered health professional | Registration with the GMC, NMC, GPhC, GDC or HCPC, plus role and specialism |
| Legal rights and procedures | A qualified lawyer in the right jurisdiction | Solicitor on the SRA register, barrister on the Bar Standards Board register, or equivalent in Scotland or Northern Ireland |
| Investments, pensions, mortgages | A regulated adviser or firm | Entry on the FCA Financial Services Register, relevant qualifications |
| Tax and accounts | A qualified tax adviser or accountant | Membership of a recognised body such as CIOT, ATT, ICAEW or ACCA |
| Gas, electrical and building work | A registered or accredited trade | Gas Safe registration, a competent person scheme, trade body membership |
| Cooking, gardening, travel, hobbies | Someone who does it a lot and well | Years of practice, a body of work, results, recognition from peers |
| Software, marketing, business skills | Proven practical skill | Projects delivered, certifications where they test real skill, talks and publications |
Two mistakes are common. The first is showing no credentials on a topic that needs them, such as a nutrition article with no qualified author. The second is showing impressive but irrelevant ones, such as a doctorate in history on a page about pension transfers. The credential has to fit the subject of the page.
Why vague expertise claims do not help
Phrases such as "our team of experts", "industry-leading specialists" or "fully qualified" are among the most common findings behind a thin bio. They fail for a simple reason: a reader cannot check them. Compare:
| Vague | Specific and checkable |
|---|---|
| Written by our qualified team | Written by Ellis Grant, a Gas Safe registered engineer with 14 years installing boilers in Derbyshire. |
| Our nutrition expert | Written by Rowan Adeyemi, a dietitian registered with the HCPC. |
| Accountancy professionals | Checked by Sam Whitlow, Chartered Accountant (ICAEW), who prepares returns for over a hundred sole traders each year. |
| Experienced garden designer | Written by Kit Morland, who has designed and planted more than 60 small urban gardens since 2015. Portfolio below. |
The people above are fictional. Notice that the strong versions name the person, the specific credential or experience, and something a reader could verify: a register, a membership directory or a portfolio.
The fix, step by step
Step 1
Match each topic to the expertise it needs
List the main subjects your site covers and, for each, write down what kind of expertise a careful reader would expect: a regulated qualification, a trade registration, or practical experience. Then note which of your authors or reviewers meets that standard. Topics with no suitable person are where the risk is. Either find a qualified reviewer, narrow the content to what your team can genuinely stand behind, or stop covering the topic.
Step 2
Collect proof for every credential you plan to show
For each author, gather the evidence behind each credential before writing it down: registration numbers, membership certificates, the exact name of each qualification and the body that awarded it, and the dates. Check each one is current by searching the public register yourself. Leave out anything you cannot confirm. This takes a little time once, but it prevents the most damaging mistake on this subject: publishing a claim that turns out to be false.
Step 3
Write credentials in words, not just letters
Post-nominal letters mean little to most readers. Next to MRICS, write chartered surveyor, member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Put the most relevant credential first, then how many years the person has worked in the field and what kind of work they do. Keep the byline short, with the role and main credential, and put the fuller explanation in the bio and on the author page. Avoid listing every certificate the person holds.
Step 4
Link each credential to where it can be checked
On the author page, link each regulated credential to the public register or membership directory entry that confirms it, and include the registration number where the profession uses one. Link to the person's professional profile, publications or firm page where these exist. If a register cannot be linked to an individual entry, give the register's name and the number so readers can search it. A credential that can be checked is worth far more than one that cannot.
Step 5
Show practical expertise where there is no formal qualification
For trades, crafts and hobbies without a regulated qualification, replace credentials with evidence of practice: how long the person has done the work, how many jobs or projects, examples with photos, awards or competitions, teaching, and what peers or customers say. State numbers only if you can back them up. A specific track record is convincing evidence of expertise, and far better than a certificate from an online course unrelated to the work.
Step 6
Describe credentials in Person markup
Add the author's credentials to the Person structured data on their author page, using
jobTitle, knowsAbout, memberOf and, if you want to be detailed,
hasCredential. Add the register entry and professional profiles to sameAs.
Everything in the markup must also be visible on the page. Validate the block in the Schema Markup Validator.
The markup describes the expertise; it does not create it, so do this last.
Step 7
Keep credentials current
Registrations lapse, memberships end and people change roles. Add a check to your calendar, at least once a year, to search each register again and update every author page. When someone leaves or a credential lapses, update the page to past tense or remove the claim straight away. Record the date each credential was last verified in your own notes, so you always know how recent your evidence is.
Credentials in Person markup
Google's documentation for article author markup recommends a name and a URL for the author, and says
sameAs links help identify them. Properties such as hasCredential are part
of the schema.org vocabulary, but Google has not said it uses them for any search feature, so treat them
as a tidy description rather than a ranking lever. A fictional example for an author page:
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Person",
"@id": "https://example.co.uk/team/rowan-adeyemi/#person",
"name": "Rowan Adeyemi",
"url": "https://example.co.uk/team/rowan-adeyemi/",
"jobTitle": "Dietitian",
"worksFor": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Example Nutrition Clinic",
"url": "https://example.co.uk/"
},
"knowsAbout": ["Coeliac disease diet", "Low FODMAP diet", "Sports nutrition"],
"hasCredential": {
"@type": "EducationalOccupationalCredential",
"credentialCategory": "Professional registration",
"name": "HCPC registered dietitian",
"recognizedBy": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Health and Care Professions Council",
"url": "https://www.hcpc-uk.org/"
}
},
"sameAs": [
"https://www.linkedin.com/in/example-rowan-adeyemi"
]
}
</script>Give the Person an @id and reference that same identifier as the author
on each article, so the credentials are described once and linked everywhere. How author pages, bylines
and markup fit together in general is covered in fixing
missing author bios.
Where credentials go on common platforms
WordPress
The built-in Biographical Info field is plain text and too short for much. Most SEO plugins add fields for job title and social profiles, and some add fields for credentials or knowsAbout that feed their Person markup. Alternatively, build each author archive page with the block editor or a custom field plugin so it can hold a proper credentials section with links. Check the output: some plugins only put the author's name in the markup.
Shopify
There is no author profile system, so create a normal page for each expert with their credentials and register links, and link the article byline to it by editing the article template. Metaobjects can hold author details if you want to reuse them across templates.
Custom and static sites
Keep credentials in one structured data file per author, including register URLs and the date last checked, and generate the visible credentials list, the byline role and the Person markup from it. That makes the yearly check a matter of updating one file.
Staying honest about credentials
The pressure to look expert can lead to claims that go further than the truth. These are the lines not to cross:
- No borrowed expertise. Do not put a qualified person's name on content they did not write or review.
- No expired memberships. A lapsed registration or membership must come off the page, including logos in footers and email signatures.
- No unauthorised logos. Only display a scheme or trade body logo if you are a current member and allowed to use it.
- No invented experts. Stock photos with made-up names and qualifications are exactly what quality raters are told to watch for.
- Precise titles. Do not use a protected title for someone who is not registered, and do not blur distinctions such as nutritionist versus registered dietitian.
1. What counts as an expertise credential for E-E-A-T?
Anything that gives a reader good reason to trust the author's knowledge of the specific topic. For regulated subjects such as medicine, law and financial advice, that usually means professional registration or qualifications that can be checked on a public register. For trades it can be a registration or accreditation scheme. For most other subjects, including hobbies, crafts and business skills, a proven track record of doing the work well is the credential, shown through years of practice, examples and recognition.
2. Do I need formal qualifications to write about my own trade?
Not always. Where the law requires registration for the work, such as gas work, which must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer, mentioning that registration is essential. For many trades there is no single required qualification, and years of hands-on experience, examples of finished work and customer feedback are exactly the kind of expertise readers look for. Be specific about what you have done, and never claim a qualification or membership you do not hold.
3. Should I show registration numbers on my site?
Where your profession uses them and they are publicly searchable, yes. A registration number lets a reader confirm in seconds that the person is who you say they are and currently allowed to practise. Many regulators expect firms to show certain details, such as an SRA number for solicitors' firms or FCA details for authorised firms. Put the number on the author or team page with a link to the register, rather than cluttering every byline with it.
4. Does hasCredential in schema help my rankings?
There is no evidence that it does directly. It is a legitimate schema.org property for describing qualifications, and it can make the relationship between a person and their credentials clearer to machines. Google's documentation on author markup focuses on the author's name, URL and sameAs profiles, and Google has not said it uses hasCredential for search features. Add it if it is easy to keep accurate, but spend more effort on visible, checkable credentials on the page itself.
5. What if our best writer has no qualifications in the topic?
Pair them with someone who has. A good writer can draft the content while a qualified person reviews it for accuracy, and the page can then show both the writer and the named reviewer with their credentials. Alternatively, have the writer interview your expert and credit the expert as the source of the advice. What you should not do is present the writer as an expert in a field they have not trained or worked in.
6. How do I show expertise if I am a one-person business?
Put your own background on a strong about page and link to it from every article. Say how long you have done the work, the kind of customers you serve, and any qualifications, registrations or memberships that apply, with links to where they can be checked. Add examples of your work, such as case studies or photos, and genuine customer reviews. For a sole trader, a detailed and honest about page does much of what separate author pages do on larger sites.
7. Our expert left the company. What happens to their credentials on old posts?
Keep their name on the content they wrote, because that is the honest record of who created it, and keep their author page, updated to say they previously worked with you and when. Remove any suggestion that they still work for you or that their credentials currently vouch for your business. If a post needs revising after they have gone, have a current qualified person review it and add them as the reviewer, with the date.
The E-E-A-T Checker scans your page for bylines, bio depth, Person markup, citations, update dates, trust pages and reviewer disclosures, and flags thin bios where expertise is not visible.
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