By bhalligan@hubspot.com (Brian Halligan)

In the U.S., only 49% of small businesses invest in search engine optimization (SEO). That means more than half of them are leaving traffic, customers, and revenue on the table by not improving their organic position on Google.

When you run a small business, especially one that’s brick and mortar, it can be hard to conceptualize the buyer’s journey to your business. Although word-of-mouth is still a popular form of marketing, it’s not the only way customers will find you. More often than not, they’re using Google searches to research the businesses they plan to buy from long before they make it into a store or the checkout page on a website.

This is why it’s important to improve your organic position on Google with SEO. The concept of SEO can sound scary, and there are a lot of opinions out there about whether it’s worth the effort. However, when you think about SEO as a way to help your customers before they make a purchase, you’ll see that the value pays dividends in the long run.

How to Improve Google Positioning

1. Update your Google Business Profile.

Google Business Profile is a free tool that helps customers find businesses online. This tool works for normal Google searches but it also integrates with Google Maps so customers can find businesses while they’re en route to a destination.

By verifying and updating your Google Business Profile, you can help your business stand out on the search engine results page (SERP) and garner more traffic to your website or your physical store. Here are the most important updates to make on your profile:

• Add the correct address, phone number, and store hours
• Add your website URL
• Include your social media profiles
• Update images with new offerings, promotions, and products
• Add a photo of your physical business location and building

Each of these points helps a potential customer make a decision about your business. They’ll know how far they need to travel (if at all), where they can find more information about your business, what your products and services look like, and they’ll have information about your latest promotions and sales.

Here’s an example of a Google Business Profile:

2. Get acquainted with ranking factors.

Google has identified four factors that its search algorithm takes into consideration when ranking content. These include:

• The words in the query
• The relevance and usability of the pages
• The expertise of the source
• The location and settings of a searcher’s Google account

Although some of these factors are out of your control as a business owner, you can create content with most of them in mind.

3. Optimize your existing content.

Optimizing existing content is typically a faster, more efficient way to target new customers without investing in brand new content. If your business’s website includes a blog or even a simple landing page, you can update these …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron