A Review of the Landscape
Besides familiarizing themselves with local bloggers who have a significant audience – or at least strong opinions on their business category – local businesses would also do well to acquaint, or re-acquaint themselves with other listing services.
1. Google Local Business Listings.
Google may be changing its approach in some ways but the basics still apply. You can get your business listed on Google’s map and show up directly on the search results by registering at the Google Local Business Center.
http://www.google.com/local/add
2. Yelp.
Yelp has recently opened its doors a little more allowing business owners to talk back, Lemons says.
http://www.yelp.com/
3. Yahoo! Local Listings.
Complete with a map and full landing page,
http://www.yahoo.com/
4. Citysearch.
The most important aspect of the site, according to Lemons, is that it shows up well in search for Google and even better in Yahoo.
http://www.citysearch.com/
5. MerchantCircle.
Launched in 2005, this company has been infiltrating search listings and growing ever since, Lemons says.
http://www.merchantcircle.com/
6. Insider Pages.
Insider Pages is an online local search service operated by IAC/InterActiveCorp.
http://www.insiderpages.com/
Another backdoor is getting your business listed on the BBB’s website or InfoUSA.com to ensure a local presence. Reviews are by far the number one factor in achieving top placement in the alphanumeric listing of local business listings/map Listings.