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How you can improve user experience to demonstrate strong E-E-A-T

A positive user experience can lead to increased engagement and higher conversion rates, while a poor user experience can have the opposite effect. An improved user experience can also help demonstrating stronger E-E-A-T for better ranking, hence, more traffic.

This article will focus on user experience improvement for stronger E-E-A-T.

Writing a good ethic statement (disclaimer)

Add a disclaimer about how the page is monetized
Each review or blog post should have a prominent disclaimer at the top ½ of the landing page that outlines how “If you buy through our links, we may get a commission” to reinforce trust and E-E-A-T.

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Clearly disclosing your 'material connection' with ExpressVPN and the fact that you may earn a commission from referrals is a legal requirement of our Ts&Cs (Clause 4, 'Material Connection Disclosure').

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Disclaimer placement • It should be prominently displayed on the same page as any article mentioning ExpressVPN. • While it should not be hidden, it can be expandable on the same page. • It can be positioned either at the top or bottom of the page.

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UX Tips We make very different decisions based on how a fact is presented.

Knowing that there’s commission involved might have a chance to reduce trust from readers. Therefore, good design and positive framing are important when it comes to writing a commission statement.

Ways to improve user experience when writing your disclaimer

1. Use a subtle design (Design Saliency)

Our choices are determined by the information we're shown. As most readers skim through the site, it is recommended to use a subtle design on your commission statement to avoid getting too much attention.

2. Write it in a positive way (Framing)

Readers make very different decisions based on how a fact is presented. It’s a fact that your page receives commission but it’s also a fact that all recommendations are carefully tested from a user angle – we have to let readers acknowledge that.
Lines like “Our authors review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing” shows that the test is still objective even there’s commission.

🌟 Good Example - 1

The statement is mentioned between a colourful hero image and body text (that is with a larger font), they are more likely to get readers’ attention than the statement.

🌟 Good Example - 2

The statement is subtly mentioned on top, with a smaller font size and a grey background. It also highlights “independently” and that the commission is used for facilitate better testing – it shows that their recommendations are result-driven, and not affected by others/the commission.

🌟 Good Example - 3

The statement mentions “We’ve picked products we think you’ll love…”. It empathizes that all recommendations are carefully selected, and from an angle of readers. There’s an additional link to their Ethic Statement Page for readers to further understand how they conduct tests and reviews and why readers can trust them.

🙅‍♀️Bad Example

This looks like part of the content (right under the intro) and no visual saliency. Readers will read the statement which can then trigger them to think about whether the recommendations are trustworthy or not. It uses “Keep in mind” which is a strong tone of voice and sounds to much like an order – which is not a good line. It also mentions “...and we may make money from these affiliate link” – it is too money-focused with poor framing. It sounds like the commission is one of the reason why the author recommends those options.