Posted by Joel LafferSr. Director of Marketing at Yodle

We know that more than 82% of US consumers are now searching online to find local services. As important as it is to have a strong presence in the organic and sponsored sections of the search engine results page (SERP), at the very least, every local business should claim its listing in the maps section of the search engines.

First off, here’s a little explanation regarding the maps sections in general. In order to capture local traffic more effectively, the well-known search engines, such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing created special areas that help searchers find local businesses, like your dental practice. Users can find local listings under the “Maps” section of the Google SERP or on Yahoo Local http://local.yahoo.com/.



The search engines display these local listings next to a helpful local map that has flags or pins popping up all over it. The letter or number on the flag or pin that represents your website corresponds to the letter or number attached to your website address in the search results list. In Google, you can click on the map and find even more local listings.

The great thing about these sites for business owners is that with most of them, at least some level of the listings are free. Just upload the pertinent information about your business to the search engine’s computers, and you’re ready to attract new customers looking for business like yours.

To get your local business on these listings, just go to Google’s Local Business Center or the Basic Listing section of Yahoo!

But getting listed in local directories does not mean you are always going to show up for searches. Because the number of small and local businesses vying to be found through local search is growing every day, search engines are overloaded by the demand. Getting noticed often takes longer than you’d like, but if you’re patient and persistent, you will get at least some level of results. And after all, it’s free!

Here is a list of the local search features of the major search engines (subject to change):

Google Maps: maps.google.com

Yahoo! Local: local.yahoo.com

Bing Maps: bing.com/maps

AOL Local Search: localsearch.aol.com

Ask: City Search: city.ask.com

Get Your Business Listed Today!