Search engine optimization (SEO) is the single most important marketing channel for a small business, and if you’re not investing in it today you need to be. Why is it the most important? I’ll let these SEO statistics speak for themselves:

• 93% of all online experiences begin with a search engine such as Google or Bing
• Search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300%
• 70-80% of users ignore paid search advertising and click on organic search results
• 30% of all clicks in organic search results in Google go to the top three results
• 72% of all people who performed a local search ended up visiting a store that was within five miles of them

What these stats tell us is that people use search engines frequently to make a decision about a purchase or business, and it’s important your business is on the first page of Google (or even better, the first three organic search results).

So how do you get your small business to rank in search results? Small business owners often spend money hiring expensive SEO consultants or agencies without seeing results. And it can be hard to compete for the top three positions against big box companies that have giant marketing budgets. But there’s still hope for the little guys!

I’ve put together a few quick strategies that your business can use to start playing in the SEO sandbox.