The current state of the economy has made things tough for businesses of all sizes, but it also provides the opportunity to find new customers, especially in your local area. A growing number of consumers are searching for local providers of products and services on the Internet, and this trend is increasing every year.

 
Source: comScore® qSearch March 2008

In fact, in 2008, over 50% of consumers with Internet access used search engines and other online resources to find local businesses, compared to 30% who used printed yellow pages and only 3% who used local newspapers*.

So how do you tap into this opportunity? The best way is to appear near the top of the local results in search engines like Google® and Yahoo!®. The local results are the ones that generally appear with a map showing the locations of the businesses listed.

Appearing in local search results is not the same as being listed in the standard results on search engines, so even if you have submitted your Website to search engines like Google™ and Yahoo!®, your business may not appear in local search results. Local search listings are created when search engines find information about businesses from sources such as online business directories. If they find multiple references to your business on the Internet, they will give you more credibility and your position in the results will be higher. 

You must have a physical address for your business to be included in local search results. If your address isn’t listed in any online directories, the search engines may not find and display your business at all. In this case you will need to submit your business for consideration. Search engines have a special submission process for local listings and usually require business information such as your address, hours of operation, products and services, affiliations and other important details. You can submit your business to the three biggest search engines, Google™ Maps here, Yahoo! ® Local here, and MSN®  Live Search™ Local here. which will ensure that they have accurate information about your business.

In addition to submitting your business directly to the search engines, you should also submit it to online business directories to gain credibility and help boost your position in the local search results. There are many thousands of directories on the Internet, so you should aim to get listed in some of the larger general directories such as YellowPages.com™, CitySearch® and ThinkLocal®. Each of these will have a different submission process, so unless you use a local directory submission service, you will need to create an account with each directory. In addition to this, try finding specialized directories that are related to your business and the products and services you offer, or that cover the geographic areas where you are looking for new customers. DMOZ is an online directory that has a list of business directories to consider, and you can also submit your business for inclusion in DMOZ’s own directory.

As a business owner, it is important to adjust your marketing strategy to keep up with the changing ways people find local products and services. Local search marketing is a simple, cost-effective strategy which, if implemented correctly, can have a long term impact on your ability to put your products and services in front of new customers. It may take a few months for you to start to see results, but over time, you should start to see qualified leads and new prospects walking through your doors.

* Source: eMarketer, October 2008