One Man Band

Claudia Bruemmer at iMedia Connection talks about steps to take to improve your business’s visibility in local search.

Her first step is to enter your business in Google’s Local Business database:

That database is tied to Google Maps, instantly localizing your business by its address.

The listing for my freelance commercial writing business was posted instantly after a verifying phone call. It appeared in a subsequent search for “cypress california writing.”

Yahoo! Local Basic is similar, but I found the process more frustrating:

• when trying to specify myself as a business-to-business writer: Yahoo’s categories are much more specific than Google’s — it insisted on shoving “writing” under the broader category of “Arts & Entertainment.”

• when listing types of payment accepted: Yahoo does not have PayPal as a choice, nor does it allow cash plus anything else. It allows for only personal checks, not business checks.

• when entering location: Yahoo! would not allow me to use my business post office box. I had to enter a street address. Since I work from home, that meant my home address. I don’t want that splashed all over the Internet, so I had to check the box to hide my business address.

• listing is not immediate. A Yahoo search for “cypress california writing” yielded the Wikipedia entry for the city of Cypress, a string of job posting and resumé companies, and a local bail bondsman!

Ms. Bruemmer also lists other online sites to consider (for example, Local.com) and provides a smattering of content considerations to make your website more attractive to local search (for example, your business address in a footer on every page).