Local Search may be the big wave for 2009.  When we talk about local search, we are not talking about general search on the major search engine.

For example when we search for “vinyl window Tacoma”, results will show “Local Business result”, sponsor links at the top and far right, and the organic search results.  If your business is West Coast Vinyl as an example, you may be shown in the google maps, organic, and sponsor links if you were advertisisng. We are going to talk about just the local business result, otherwise known as the “google maps” which is the local search.

Getting on this result is quite easy, it is just submitting your info to google local business.  Whats important to know is the relevancy. So remember to input correctly in the:

• appropriate category
• full title of your business
• name, address, phone number
• include zip code, this may be a big factor for the geographical result.
• descriptions
• photos – another important key

What you need to do next is to submit your business profile to the following local business directories as well:

• Yahoo! Local
• Bing Maps
• SuperPages
• YellowPages
• SwitchBoard
• CitySearch

These directories is a start, and good ones due to their ranking power. There are smaller directories at the local level that you would have to search for.  The idea is to create as many of these profiles, it is the key to getting your business exposure on the internet, especially in the local search.