YMYL (Your Money or Your Life)

YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) is Google’s term for topics that could significantly affect a person’s health, financial stability, safety or the welfare of society. Google holds YMYL content to higher standards of trust and accuracy, because poor information on these topics can cause real harm.

Written by Paul Hoda, SEO consultant since 2005. Last updated 8 November 2026.

What counts as YMYL

The term comes from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines. They describe YMYL topics as those that could harm people’s health, financial stability or safety, or society more widely. Typical examples include:

  • Health and safety: medical conditions, medicines, mental health and emergency advice.
  • Finance: investments, pensions, tax, loans, insurance and pages where people make payments.
  • Law and government: legal rights, immigration, voting and official processes.
  • News and current events: important topics such as public health or elections.
  • Groups of people: content that could promote hatred or discrimination.

Not every page in these areas is YMYL. A light article about the history of coins is unlikely to harm anyone. The test is whether inaccurate information could cause real damage, and how serious that damage could be.

Why YMYL matters for SEO

Google has said that for queries where quality matters most, such as health and finance, its systems give more weight to signals of authoritativeness, expertise and trustworthiness. In practice, YMYL results tend to favour well-known, expert sources, and new or anonymous sites find it harder to rank.

YMYL is closely linked to E-E-A-T. Raters are told to apply the highest standards of trust to YMYL pages, and an untrustworthy page on a YMYL topic should be rated lowest quality.

Many sites hit by the August 2018 broad core update, nicknamed the Medic update, were in health and finance, which is why it became associated with YMYL. Google said the update was not aimed at any one sector.

How to create strong YMYL content

  1. Use authors with relevant qualifications or real experience, and show it with clear author bylines and biographies.
  2. Have experts review content, and note who reviewed it and when.
  3. Cite reputable sources, such as NHS guidance, official statistics or regulator websites.
  4. Keep content up to date, especially where rules, rates or medical advice change.
  5. Make it clear who runs the site, how to contact them and any regulatory status, such as FCA authorisation for financial firms.
  6. Avoid exaggerated claims, hidden fees or pressure selling.

Common mistakes

  • Publishing AI-generated content on medical or financial topics without expert review.
  • Anonymous authors on advice that people will act on.
  • Outdated figures, such as old tax thresholds or withdrawn guidance.
  • Assuming a trust badge or a single expert quote will make up for weak content.
  • Writing to rank rather than to help, which tends to show in thin, generic advice that fails Google’s idea of helpful content.

For clinics and health businesses, see my work as a healthcare SEO consultant.

Key Takeaways

  • YMYL covers topics that can affect health, finances, safety or society.
  • The term comes from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines.
  • Google gives more weight to authority and trust signals on YMYL queries.
  • Strong YMYL content uses qualified authors, expert review and reliable sources.
  • Not every page in a sensitive industry is YMYL: the test is the potential for harm.

Related Terms

Wondering what to fix first on your site? Get a free check of your site’s SEO, or keep learning in the SEO Encyclopedia.