Local Search Optimization - A Guide to Getting Started

While searching the web these days, it's hard not to notice all those little Local tabs sprouting up in the vicinity of the search field on virtually every major search engine. Within the past year, the race has been to integrate a plethora of advanced features into local search capabilities.

Already we're seeing features like customer reviews and ratings, storefront and product photos, detailed maps with directions, hours of operation, forms of accepted payment, integration with cell phones, and much more is promised to follow. Picture a million paper phone books combined - on steroids and capable of providing instant results for an information-hungry and time-challenged customer base. The potential for local search is really quite staggering!

So what exactly is local search, and how can you best position your business to take advantage of it?

In a nutshell, local search is essentially the Internet's version of the phone book. The difference being that this "phone book" is much faster and far more responsive. For example, suppose I'm in Boston staying at the Harbor View Hotel and in need of a haircut? No problem. I Just enter haircut followed by the zip code of the hotel where I'm staying - 02114 - and I instantly find Richard's Haircutting for Men a scant 0.4 miles east and with directions.

All that took about 30 seconds from concept to completion leaving me with a feeling of satisfaction that no regular phone book could ever provide. I'm now addicted to local search after only a single dose! Throw away the phone book, never mind the concierge.

Now, if that little demo hasn't yet convinced you, chew on this recent finding...

70 percent of U.S. households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and services... Findings also suggest the Internet is poised to surpass newspapers as a local shopping information resource. Source: The Kelsey Group

Simply put, local search - including local search on mobile devices - is about to dominate the world of brick-n-mortar marketing. Ready or not, here it comes! ...we suggest you get ready now, before it starts costing you a fortune to negotiate the learning curve. Oh, and get used to the fact that the big yellow phone book is well on its way to becoming nothing more than a cheesy doorstop.

How To Get Listed In Local Search

The first step to getting your business listed in Local Search is (surprise) to buy a listing in the offline Yellow Pages (yep, that cheesy doorstop-to-be we just dis'd). Here's why:

Most search engines get the bulk of their local business listings from just two companies: 1)infoUSA and 2)Acxiom.

...or else from Internet Yellow Pages sites which also derive their listings from these two companies. Both have compiled enormous databases containing detailed information on most of the businesses and consumer households in the US and Canada. And much of their data is pulled from your basic Yellow Page and Business White Page directories (aka, the cheesy doorstops).

The good news may be that your business already has a listing in your local Yellow Pages - if not, then you should get one! Don't worry about taking out a big colorful ad with lots of information about your company. We haven't any reason to believe that expensive ads offer any advantage in local search rankings. Nor does lots of business information in your Yellow Pages ad seem to enhance your local search listing's comprehensiveness. It appears to us that any Yellow Pages listing at all will get you included in most local search engines just fine.

By the way, InfoUSA has the more user-friendly website of the two. They provide a way for you to actually check to see if your site is listed with them by using their Directory Assistance Plus web search. And, if you find your business is not listed or is listed incorrectly, you can use their add/update page to correct your listing.

How To Check Your Listing

Once you have a Yellow Pages listing (the cheesy doorstop version), then chances are you'll be found in most local search engines. To check your listing, enter your business name and zip code into the search fields at the following locations:

Google Local - http://www.google.com/lochp

Yahoo Local - http://local.yahoo.com/

MSN Local - http://local.msn.com/ - Still not yet quite as extensive as most other search engines. Don't be surprised if you're not listed.

Ask Jeeves Local - http://local.ask.com/local - Not quite as good at word parsing as Google and Yahoo. For instance, sees timeshare as different from time share. Be specific in your spelling and punctuation of your business name or category.

AOL Local - http://localsearch.aol.com/ - Divides its results into directory-like categories, so you may have to drill down a few levels to find your listing.

A9 Local - http://a9.com/ - Not really a local search engine, but A9 does have local features, as well as their own Yellow Pages. Type in your business name and zip code and see what comes up.

If you find your business is missing from any of these local search engines, most of them provide an interface to allow you to add your site. Look around for a link that says something like "Update Your Business" or "Information for Business Owners". Chances are good that even if your site is listed, your business information may be incomplete or inaccurate and you'll probably want to update and improve your local search listing.

Esoos Bobnar is a search marketing specialist and one of the head researchers at SearchEngineNews.com, a company which publishes an award-winning Search Engine Book, as well as a monthly report on the latest search engine marketing techniques.

---

Boost Your Website Rankings with Expert Content

The chase for a high web ranking is constantly on... Read More

Top Ten Listing? Hmmmmmmmm

This is my question...I spend a fortune on SEO and... Read More

Secrets on Website Promotion: How You Can Get a #1 Ranking for Your Website Name Within 30 Days

Launching a new website with enough acceleration to rise above... Read More

Keyword Ownership: What It Is And Where Its Headed

Have you ever got one of those silly emails that... Read More

High Search Engine Rankings - A Long Term Strategy

The last 1.5 years have shown major changes in search... Read More

10 Costly Search Engine Mistakes to Avoid

If you have a website then you already know the... Read More

Anchor Text Optimization

Anchor Text (also called phrase linking) can significantly improve your... Read More

Writing Search Engine Friendly Webpages

In order to tap the huge stream of targeted traffic... Read More

Search Engines 101 - Search Engines Explained

What Are Search Engines?A search engine is a database system... Read More

Search Engines: Different Types, Different Strategies

There are four basic types of Search Engines: Free Search... Read More

Supply & Demand - Stop Attacking Good SEO Companies!

As I read the latest news online about what Google... Read More

Google, Adsense, SEO, and How It All Works

Google uses an algorithm to determine the search engine results... Read More

Why Search Engine Optimization is Not Enough

OK. So you've created a nice website with lots of... Read More

?Google Friendly? Solutions to Graphic-Intense Sites

We all know that the search engines can't "see" or... Read More

Search Engine Marketing Hype Killing Small Businesses

Think about the first thing you ever heard about "marketing... Read More

Give the Folks at Google What They Want

Recent developments on the Google front have web marketers and... Read More

Quick Keyword Research that Works!!!

Keywords are terms or words related to particular topic. Keyword... Read More

Optimize your Search Engine Placement Five Easy Ways

If you are like me, you created web site metatags... Read More

Tread Towards A Successful ?Internet Research?

Internet is a terrific resource containing billions of web pages... Read More

SEO: When Being Optimized Can Hurt

It's a marketing dream come true: A potential customer, looking... Read More

Search Engine Optimization for Dummies

Lets face it. Search Engines rule the World Wide Web... Read More

Why Search Engine Marketing Has A Passion for Web Site Usability

Watching a recent football game, I imagined two very different... Read More

How Real SEO Analysis Works

If you're serious about SEO, you need to know how... Read More

Paris Hiltons Reputation is SHOT! Hows Yours?

With apologies for the cheap trick of mentioning Paris Hilton... Read More

Guide to Search Engine Optimization

What is Search Engine Optimization?Search Engine Optimization or SEO for... Read More

9 Steps to Getting Better Search Engine Rankings

You finally have a website and you are ready to... Read More

8 ways to build a really bad web site for Search Engines

Some web sites receive hundreds or thousands of unique visitors... Read More

Determining the Value of Your SEO Service

Every once in a while--and probably more often than we... Read More

SEO Help: Dont Try to Fool the Search Engines

Writing articles is all the rage these days on the... Read More

Search Engine Marketing 101 For Corporate Sites

When most people want to find something on the web,... Read More

2 Lesser Known Ways to Brainstorm for Internet Home Business Keywords

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) doctrine states that you should always... Read More

Adding Content To Your Site Every Day

If you have been a webmaster for more than a... Read More

Reciprocal Links to Boost Link Popularity ?

Link popularity means the number of incoming links pointing to... Read More