A few basic local search optimization tips

First things first go and claim your listings in Google, Yahoo and Bing. This will get you started out on the right foot. Make sure to fill out your listings as much as possible. Use a detailed description, pictures, videos, coupons and your logo. This makes your listing more trusted and will get you ranked higher right from the start.Next you can start getting listed in all the internet yellow pages and local websites that cater to your service. Sites such as superpages, yelp, citysearch, localize, best of the web and universal business listings will help you on your way to getting a good ranking in the local search results. Be aware those some of the services listed are not free.A couple of more places to promote your local listing would be local classified sites such as Craigslist, Backpage or USFree Ads. People look to these sites every single day. They are trusted by searchers and may bring in more leads and business. To get your listing to be trusted by your customers and respected by the search engines make sure you ask your customers to leave you reviews. Heck even ask your employees and friends to leave a review for you. Just be aware that searchers that see 50 great reviews with not a single negative one will know you are stacking the deck. So yes, even negative reviews can be great and make you look human. No ones perfect and the searchers know that.On your website make sure your business address and phone number are listed and matches your local profile exactly. No toll free numbers, they make your listing look spammy to the search engines. On your contact page have a google or yahoo map with directions. Put your address in the footer of every page. Just a few simple steps can get you ranking well in the local search results.Local Search Optimization has turned out to be incredibly important over the last year. Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook, Twitter just to name a few all have launched local search services. With people performing more and more searches from their phones local SEO is becoming a service the local business owner cannot ignore.Follow these simple steps to get started but ultimately you will want to hire a local search expert to make sure your local listings are optimized correctly.