• It doesn't matter which industry your business operates in, people now search for everything online. If you want to be successful, it's imperative that you establish a strong online presence.
• If you really want to ensure that the time and money you invest in your SEO efforts pay off, you need to anchor it to the demands of the mighty search machine that is Google. 
• In this article, we look at the three core principles that Google uses to assess your website and content. Read on to learn what these principles are and how to follow them.

Given the way people search for content now, it’s imperative for any business owner to establish a considerable online presence.

It doesn’t matter if you're in the construction business or engaged in getting people insured; every business that wishes to be relevant must be searchable online.

How do you establish a good online presence?

One of the most effective ways to establish a good online presence is search engine optimization or SEO. SEO refers to all tasks that a web administrator does in order to make their pages easily indexed and ranked by search engines.

There are many search engines online. But if you want your SEO efforts to really pay off, you need to anchor it to the demands of the biggest search engine there is: Google.

What are the three core principles of SEO?

There are three major principles that Google uses to assess content and websites: expertise, authority and trustworthiness.

Although all websites must adhere to these three principles, adherence is more strictly monitored for businesses that are a bit technical, such as those that have something to do with money and construction.

Principle 1: Expertise

When you share content online, it pays to be very honest with what you offer. This means that you only write about stuff that you have expertise on. For example, a financial expert should stick to writing about topics such as savings and insurance. Someone who is involved in home construction in Australia should stick to topics such as reinforcing or reo mesh and/or scaffoldings.

There really is no need to cover all bases since people are normally very specific with their searches online. Someone in Sydney who wants to know more about concrete walls and reinforcing mesh cares less about gardening tools or any other topic. Putting up content for gardening on a home construction site can lead to confusion, which might affect your site’s reputation.

By sticking to your expertise, the whole content generation process becomes easy. You won’t have to do that much research anymore because, most likely, the knowledge that you wish to share is in your head. On top of that, you as the writer have a reduced chance of committing mistakes. In modern times, we all know how gravely misinformation is punished.

As the author, you need to let your readers and the search engines know what gives you expertise in a particular area. You can easily achieve this by writing a short description of yourself in the "About" section of your website or at the bottom of your content page. 

Principle 2: Authority

To Google’s eyes, a content creator has authority when other content creators within the same niche start citing them in their works. Obviously, getting noticed by other people within the field requires more than just having expertise. For all you know, there are hundreds of other experts out there saying practically the same things.

In a way, you also need to sell your content. You can do this by contacting other similar creators and building a network with them where you can exchange ideas or even act as mentors for those who are just starting. These beginners are most likely the ones who will give you the citations that you need.

Another way is to write guest posts on other people’s sites. Being a guest post creator becomes a lot easier if you really are a recognized expert in your field. In some cases, web admins might even be willing to pay you just so you’d post on their pages!

Principle 3: Trustworthiness

Simply put, being trustworthy in the online context means effective and honest communication of your expertise and reasonable assertion of your authority.

By ‘effective and honest', we mean that your claims must be verifiable. Contact details, names of the institutions that gave you your certifications, and all other pertinent information must be made available for those who wish to make sure of your identity. As a business, your trustworthiness is also seen in the user reviews that you publish on your page.

Making your online strategies attuned with what Google wants is among the most effective ways to establish your online presence. Google is the biggest search engine out there, and its rules somehow become the rules that the rest of the Internet follows.