There are a number of advantages to getting your small business listed on local search engines. Many people search online for local businesses to buy from. Additionally, local business reviews can drive traffic to your business website. And it’s pretty easy to get listed on local search engines. When the result is more traffic and profits, it’s certainly worth the effort.

Step One: Submit your business to the local search engines. You actually may already be listed. Check quickly to see if your business has a listing. Type in your city and industry, for example ‘pet sitting 49236’, and see if your business comes up in the listings.

If it does, make sure the information is correct and consistent on each local search directory. If you’re not listed, follow the steps to get listed. Again, make sure the information you provide each directory is the same and it matches the information on your website. This is important because the local search engines will index your site’s pages more consistently if your information is accurate and consistent.

Additionally, make sure your address and contact information your website is listed on each web page, in the footer is an easy place. Make sure that the contact information and address isn’t part of a graphic. As of yet, search engines are not able to read graphics.

Each of the major search engines has a local directory submission page. Visit:

• Google.com/places 

• http://local.yahoo.com/

• https://ssl.bing.com/listings/BusinessSearch.aspx

Step Two: Get reviews. Most local search engines place a value on reviews. The more reviews you have, the higher your page ranking. Getting reviews is a personal decision. You can ask for them outright. Or you can wait and cross your fingers. Most happy customers are delighted to post reviews.

Step Three: Content. Search engines, whether they’re local search engines or standard ones, index pages and they index based on content. When it comes to local search your best course of action is to focus on location keywords.

For example, if you have a pet sitting business in Ann Arbor Michigan you want to create some content that is optimized for those keywords, Pet sitting in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Finally, you can also get listed on your local yellow pages directories. It’s generally free to get a basic listing and the local search engines glean some of their information from the same database that the yellow pages do.

Getting your business listed on the local search engines is really only a matter of a few steps. Make sure your information is consistent and check regularly to see where your business is positioned on the search engines. Take time to create local keyword specific content and get those reviews!