Optimizing your business for local search

With Google’s live “Instant Search” now fully integrated into search queries, local results are having more impact on what websites the user hits and ultimately what business the user may choose to patronize. If you haven’t optimized your business on the web you may be missing out on many opportunities.

If you have a physical business location, you’ll want to hit as many business directories as you can starting with Google Places. In Google Places, you can create a profile of your business including services, location, phone number, and website address. You may find that your business will outrank a competitor who does not a have local business profiles in Google search results. Wouldn’t that be nice?

But don’t stop there! You’ll also want to make sure Yahoo! Local has your business listed, as well as Bing Local. “The Big 3” web search engines are absolutely essential if you want to stay ahead of the pack. Yahoo! also has a Directory Submit that will get your site reviewed quickly and listed in their directory. If you can find room in your budget, the yearly fee of $299 may be well worth it.

There are many more local search websites to consider when optimizing for local search. Yelp provides reviews of local businesses by users, as well as search and social networking tools. With 31 million unique visitors a month as of early 2010, Yelp is hard to ignore.

Foursquare is another user-contributed service where local business patrons can “Check-In” to businesses via mobile devices and build “Mayor” status by frequenting the most locations. As of October, 2010 the site had 4 million registered users.

Too much to do and no time on your hands? Land Interactive can help you get your business optimized for local search at an affordable price. Contact us for a free quote.