Local search presents unique challenges and opportunities. With the potential for your listing to show in 3 different areas on the results page, (organic listing, local listings, and paid listings), local search presents an exciting potential to dominate your space. If you‘re a business looking to establish a local presence online, you may want to keep reading.

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Get Listed with the Biggies:

  1. Google Maps: If you were to only use one of these suggestions, this would be the one. Getting listed with Google Maps requires a simple application process followed by verification by mail or phone. Once you are verified, you will be listed within 4-6 weeks in the “Local Listings” area of the SERPs.
  2. Yahoo Local: Similar to Google Maps, minus the verification, Yahoo allows you to create a free business listing. Fortunately, Yahoo’s approves your listing within days rather than weeks.

Get Listed with “Yellow Page” Type Directories:

  1. Yellow Book: A popular supplier of hard copy phone books, YellowBook.com also offers internet listings.
  2. Yellow Pages: YellowPages claims to represent over 100 million local searches per month. They offer a free online listing.
  3. Super Pages: Superpages supplies listings to many well known portal sites, including MSN and About.com. They offer a free, yet very basic listing.
  4. Regional DMOZ Listings: Getting listed still takes forever, but it’s worth the wait if your site gets approved. Navigate to the regional section of Dmoz, and submit your listing in the proper category.
  5. InfoUSA: The InfoUSA business directory powers many high traffic local internet directories, so getting your listing here can result in great visibility.
  6. Localeze: Another widely used local business data repository, Localeze claims to supply 45 of the top local search sites with business listings.
  7. TrueLocal: True Local is a business directory that represents about 14 million US and Canadian business. They offer both free and paid listing options.
  8. Yelp: Originally designed for San Francisco, Yelp now serves most major metropolitan areas with local business listings and ratings. With a focus on customer generated reviews, Yelp is the most Web 2.0 friendly local search property I’ve seen. To add a free listing, navigate to your city, do a search, then click “Add Business”.

Create Optimized Local Classified Listings:

  1. Craigslist: Every business should post an optimized Craigslist ad regularly. Be sure to use your keyword phrases along with your local city and state in the title of the ad. I’ve found that a well optimized Craigslist listing can quickly outrank your own site, so treat it like you would a landing page, with a strong call to action that leads them to your site.
  2. USFreeAds: USFreeAds’s free listing isn’t nearly as good as Craigslist, but it’s still a high trafficked and well-ranked classified site.
  3. DomesticSale: Another nice little free classified site.

Spectramindz is your local search partner working with your business to ensure that you stay one step ahead of your competition with an affordable and effective online advertising solution. No other advertising medium delivers motivated, targeted and qualified consumers than online advertising.

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