Four Steps Every Business Can Take to Improve Local Search Results

In the past the greatest value in having a web site was that you were reaching a worldwide market. A business that served a local market might have avoided the web because it brought in inquires from a worldwide market they did not serve, and did not want to spend time dealing with. If this is the way byou are thinking, it's time to change your thinking.

Patricia Hursh has an excellent article on Clickz that discusses "Four Steps Every Business Can Take to Improve Local Search Results". If you are targeting a local market you need to be showing up in the local search results. This article provides the best suggestions I've seen for accomplishing this. Here suggestions are:

"Update your business directory listings. Visit the Amacai, infoUSA, and Acxiom Web sites."

"Submit your site to local search engines. Submit your Web site to local search engines such as Google Local, MSN Local, Yahoo Local, Ask Local, and TrueLocal."

"Update your IYP [Internet Yellow Pages] listings. Likewise, find and update your listings at YellowPages.com, Verizon SuperPages, and SwitchBoard.com."

And don't neglect to "Feature your address on your Web site."