It’s the holiday season. I have a gift for you.  My gift is a process you can use to get your business in front of customers who are ready to buy your products and services. My gift is called local search marketing.

Local Search Marketing

In this post I will show you exactly how to put your business on 9 different local search data bases. Once you apply your information to these local data base sites, the power and speed of the internet will put your business before customers who are looking for the products and service you offer.

Why Local Search Marketing Will Work for You

Local search marketing will get you more customers.  No, I have not been drinking too much holiday cheer! I am not Santa Claus. Here’s why this gift will work for you.

• 20% of all internet searches are done by people looking for local businesses to solve their problems. Local search marketing gives you a piece of this action.
• Placing your business on local search sites will put you front and center before customers who are looking to buy the products and services you offer– right now.
• Local search marketing presents to internet searchers only the top seven local businesses. You no longer compete against thousands of businesses on the internet.
• The search engines will love your business because your local sites match what customers are looking for on the the internet.
• Only 5% of local businesses  use these local business sites. “The early bird gets the worm!”
• Creating local business profiles on these internet sites will not cost you a single dime. Where else can you get free advertising?

Here’s How to Implement Your Gift of Local Search Marketing

For each of the nine local search marketing sites, I will show you where to go to get started on the site. I will show you what information you should include on the site. I will show you what each site offers your business. I will show you how to register and confirm your business for each site. I will show you how to take advantage of the free listing on each site.  You can use the information you developed in the previous posts for this purpose.  Previous posts.

When you have completed this process, within two days, you will be listed on nine local search marketing sites for new customers to find your business. The entire process will take 2-3 hours. Your only cost will be the time to place your business on these local search sites.

Let’s get started…

Local Search Marketing—Start with the Biggest–Google Places

You want to start with Google Places because it is the biggest and most well developed local business search site. Google Places replaced the earlier Google Local Business Center site.

Each business listing on Google is in fact a giant ‘cluster’ of information that we get from a few different places: Yellow Pages, for example, as well as other third-party providers. However, the basic information that you submit through Google Places is the information that we trust the most. This means that it will appear instead of any basic information that we get from anywhere else. To make sure the basic information you submit is accurate, we’ll ask you to verify it first by entering a PIN that will be sent to either your business address or phone number. When you confirm your business, here is the message you will get:

Thank you! We’ve confirmed your PIN and validated your listing. Your listing should appear on Google Maps within one day. We appreciate your patience

You can add other information to your listing too — such as a description of your business, as well as photos, reviews, or information about hours and parking— that will also appear above similar information from other providers. Google Places.

To start creating your free listing, click here Google Places and sign in with your Google account. Then begin adding your information.

Add Yahoo Local to Your Local Search Marketing

Yahoo has a smaller version of Google Places local business directory. You will need a Yahoo account to have a local listing. Like the listing, the account is free. You can start by going to Local Listings Center. When completed with your profile, you can check out how it looks at Local Listings Account Center.

Beyond the basic local listing, you can pay a flat fee for an enhanced listing which adds some additional features to the listing. Yahoo also has a local advertising program. Yahoo provides a page you can use to compare their various plans. Compare all the plans

(The links to Yahoo business sites may not work if you are using Chrome browser!)

Click here to start the Yahoo Local Business process

Bing the Other Major Local Search Marketing Engine

Bing is the third of the major search engine directories. This was formally the MSN search engine, now Microsoft’s search engine. It uses the Microsoft’s Virtual Earth service to provide the local maps.

You can add your business listing through their business center. Like Google, Bing allows more information to be added to your business profile. Check to see if your site is listed on Bing. If not, click the Add new listing button to get started.

Click here to start your Bing local Listing .  This site will not work with the Google Chrome browser. You need a free Windows Live ID account to create your business listing.

Adding Your Local Search Marketing Business to Other Local Directories

You put your business on the three biggest search engines. Now I will show you other local search marketing data bases where you can list your business. This will widen the exposure of your business on the internet. I will show you where to find each data base and provide you a short description about the services they offer.

Add Infogroup to Your Local Search Marketing

This was formally InfoUSA. It gathers data from white and yellow pages, business records, newspapers and more.

With Infogroup, you have a single source for creating, verifying, enriching and distributing the most accurate and up-to-date information about your business, you are empowered to manage your business information by search engines, for in-car navigation and mobile devices. InfoUSA.

Go to ExpressUpdateUSA.com to see if your business is already listed. Once you register, you can edit your business or add your business to this important data base.

Go to www.lacartes.com as a little used directory.  It is a free local business directory, where any business can create a listing and reach thousands of customers every month.  I have seen several hundred views within a week’s period of time.

Localeze

Localese is a data provider to the major search engines. It distributes its data to 85 different partners. They also offer a Help Center to optimize your local business listing

Localeze empower businesses of all sizes—from local companies to national brands—to certify, enhance and actively manage their anchor local business listings—giving you a single source for creating a consistent identity for direct, authorized distribution to the largest local search platform network in the industry. We also make it simple to enhance your listings to improve your online visibility and “findability.” Localese

Go here to start Localeze Help Center

Universal Business Listing Will Help Your Local Search Marketing

For a fee of $30.00 per year, USB helps business owner manage and submit their local business information. They also have a free version.

UniversalBusinessListing provides a single entry point where you can create enhanced business profiles and for $30 a year that data gets distributed to all major outlets including:

• Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing
• Online Yellow Pages (Superpages, Yellowpages, YellowBook)
• Social Networks such as Yelp
• Portals and Guides such as AOL MapQuest, CitySearch
• Cell Phones and Mobile (BlackBerry and iPhone)
• 411 Directory Assistance
• In-Car GPS Navigation and Telematics such as OnStar  USB

You can create your local profile with USB by including the ingredients we have previously discussed. They will only begin charging you when you ready to supply the listing. They have a very nice feature of testing your business presence on local directories. Type in the name of your business and where you are currently being seen and what major data bases you are missing. It also heavily promotes mobile marketing—to be discussed in an upcoming post blog.

My suggestion is to come back to this source after you have completed the free sources to see if it will add additional value to your local listings for the $30.00 annual charge.

You can start here for your USB listing

City Search and Local Search Marketing

Have you ever gone to the internet to look for a local restaurant? You probably used City Search. Now you have the opportunity to let this local search listing guide customers to your business.

City Search has been around a long time as a local portal for small businesses. Make sure you claim a business listing for your business on this site. If you do not find your business on this guide, click on Add a Business. If your business is already listed, you can register and then start editing your listing to make it more complete. It takes 48 hours to make the changes.

Go here to check if your business, City Search

Yelp Will Raise Your Local Search Marketing

Yelp is a local business directory with a strong emphasis on business reviews bu users. User reviews are becoming more important for search engines rating and for potential customers who want to know what other customers have experienced with a business. Yelp is growing and has the power to help elevate your business site with positive reviews. You must claim your business on this site.

If your business is already in Yelp’s system, click through to see the profile page and look for a red button at the bottom that says “Claim This Business.” This will get you started toward creating a business account on Yelp. Get a couple of your favorite customers to review your business on Yelp and your listing will move to the top of the local search lists. It takes 48 hours to make the changes.

Click here to start the Yelp process

Don’t forget about Yellowpages.com for Local Search Marketing

Check on the Yellow pages site to see if your business is already listed. If not, you want to list your business. If it is listed, you can register and add information, photos and reviews to the listing and make it more complete. Remember, many of the local search engines go to this yellow page site to find local listings for quires typed into their searches.

Go here to check out your business on Yellowpages.com

Conclusion

I have provided you with all the information you need to get found on nine local search engine sites. Once you complete the process, within days potential customers will be seeing your business when they do their local searches.

Your next step is to set aside 2-3 hours to complete this process and start enjoying your gift.

In the next post, I will show you ways to maximize these listings with their free advertising opportunities.  You can do this right from your computer at no cost to your business

My thanks to Matt McGee for his original research on local business directories. For additional details, you can see his article at Small Business Search Marketing.