I think small business owners are amazing. They're responsible for so many different things, and have achieve so much to have made a living and supported other families on their own blood, sweat and tears.

They're so amazing and achieving incredible things that sometimes they miss the simplest of simple things, like Google My Business.

Let me explain.

I know from experience that Small Business Owners are obsessed with where they rank on Google - SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

I get it. Data shows Organic Search still makes up around 60% of how users find businesses online, and Google dominates that share of voice (95% of all searches are done on Google vs. Bing vs. Yahoo).

Google has given us small business owners an amazing way to take control of our online information on their platform, and many of us haven't taken it yet.

It's called "Google My Business."

What is it? It's where your business appears on the right hand side of the page for various searches.

Google Your Business. See what appears on the right. If what appears doesn't totally look accurate or the way you want it, including photos, etc. then you probably don't have a verified listing.

Here's how to acquire and verify your listing.

1. Go to Business.Google.com

2. Step 2, enter your business name.

Step 3: Enter Your Address

Step 4: What Kind of Business Are You?

Step 5: Enter Your Phone Number and Website URL

Step 6: Choose A Way To Verify

Once you've verified your listing, there are several things you can do:

Update Description, hours of operation, photos, add virtual tours, create ads (Adwords Express), create posts, let customers message you, manage reviews and view analytics and insights around how many times your business has been seen in the search results.

Going through this step by step process with Google will allow you to take control over your local business listing, and increase visibility for your brand online by making posts, adding photos and creating Google Adwords Express Ads for local customers to find you.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Paul Hickey, Founder / CEO / Lead Strategist at Data Driven Design, LLC has created and grown businesses via digital strategy and internet marketing for more than 10 years. His sweet spot is using analytics to design and build websites and grow the audience and revenue of businesses via SEO/Blogging, Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Facebook and Instagram Ads, Social Media Content Marketing and Email Marketing. The part that he’s most passionate about is quantifying next marketing actions based on real data.