What is Local Search Marketing?

Over the last couple of years, the big three search engine (namely Google, Yahoo and MSN/Live/Bing) have started to integrate local businesses into their search results.

To see this, do a search in Google, Yahoo and Bing/MSN/Live for "plumbers in coventry" (without the quotes). Near the top of the normal (organic) search results, you'll see a list of businesses that provide plumbing services.

In Google


In Yahoo


In Bing
Local Search Marketing is ensuring that your business is listed on the first page in the local results for each of these search engines and as close to the top as possible.

With more and more people using the Internet to find what they're looking for, making sure that your business can be found easily in search engines can increase sales and profitability.

Here we go...

The aim of this blog is to share my knowledge of Local Search Marketing and encourage discussion within the community of UK small businesses about the topic.

Local Search Marketing is a relatively inexpensive way of helping new customers find your business. A user types in what they are looking for and their region into Google/Yahoo/MSN and (if you've done your job right), your business is one of the top results.

There's a plethora of information on the Internet about Local Search Marketing but most of it is geared towards our cousins in the U.S of A. The advice in this blog will be U.K-centric.