I think with the economy in the toilet, business owners are eager to expand their online reach, and they’re trying hard to get creative with advertising and promotions. I’ve been getting a lot of questions from colleagues and friends recently about how to best promote their businesses online, and there are a few things I’ve been recommending a lot lately, namely: Local Search. A sidenote: For drumming up business I would also highly suggest testing out targeted geographic ad campaigns with Google Adwords and (if you’re web-savvy) building a presence on Twitter. But today I want to give you a few simple tips on how to easily improve your search engine ranking for free with Local Search.

Want to see your business here?

Depending on the type of business you run, local search results may drive the majority of your web traffic. I’m a one-person, location-independent web freelancer who does the majority of my work via email with out-of-state and international clients, for example, so my local visibility is not as high of a priority as a Sacramento-area magazine or a local small business owner with a brick-and-mortar shop. But I recently read an article by Jacob Cass that explains how local search hits can frequently give you the advantage over your competitors, because local businesses often tend to come up at the very top of search results. In other words, if anyone performs a Google search for something like “yourindustry yourcity” or they search for your kind of business within Google Maps, then having your listing on Local Search means you’ll be one of the first companies that show up! Just look at the positioning Jacob’s business Just Creative Design has on the search results page for Newcastle graphic designers!

So even though my target clients are in the Silicon Valley area or abroad, well outside the greater Sacramento area, I decided to go ahead and list my business in the search engines’ local listings. It can’t hurt, and it gives your clients the ability to rate your business and write testimonials for you! In addition to Google Local Search I’ve also been recommending Yelp to all of my friends with small businesses. While Yelp doesn’t have the same traction here in Sacramento yet as it does in the San Francisco Bay Area or other large metropolitan areas, services like Yelp (sort of a social networking-style local search engine where users rate their favorite hangouts and other businesses) will see increasing exposure in the years ahead and give web-savvy companies the edge as the economy suffers and more businesses decide to make the transition online. Anytime I’m somewhere I’m unfamiliar with, I can easily pull up Google Maps or the Yelp application on my iPhone (available for free at the iTunes App Store) to find out where the nearest Starbucks is, or what hotspots, businesses, and events are going on in my immediate area. And so can your customers! Are you there, ready to be found?

Below I’ve listed the most popular local search engines and most important places to submit your business listing. For most of these services, you’ll need to sign up for a free account, and you should have a brief description of your company, contact information, hours of operation, and company logo or photos to attach to your listing (people always click more often on photos than plain text):

• Google Local Search
  
• Yelp (feeds data to Windows Live and Yahoo)
• Yahoo Local Search
  
• Live Local Search
  
• CitySearch (feeds data to Ask.com and Windows Live)

Additionally, if you do any sort of event marketing, it can be beneficial to get involved on some of the most popular web 2.0 sites such as Upcoming.org, Meetup.com, and Eventful.

Here’s to your entrepreneurial success! If you appreciate this helpful tip, please give me a nod and help rate my freelance web business on Yelp!