When was the last time you opened your closet, pulled out the 3 lb. yellow pages to find a local business?

If you are like me, chances are its been years. In fact, I don't think I even own an updated Yellow Pages anymore.

Looks like I am not alone. You see, more and more people are using search engines to find local business and services. In fact, those who consistently use the Yellow Pages to find business most likely are not going to pick up with the trends as they tend to be older generations.

But as for the rest of us, we use our computers at home and at work, our PDA's, smartphones, and other devices to use the internet to find what we re looking for.

Of the 10 BILLION searches conducted each month in the US, an estimated 40% are considered to have 'local intent', meaning they are looking for local services, businesses, and products. What is encouraging with these statistics, is as more and more people use online searches, and as rising generations use this as their primary source of information, the more important local online searches and listings will become and is why every business should be engaged in Local Search Engine Optimization (LSEO) and Local Search Engine Marketing (or LSEM).

How search engines are growing with local search content

In most cases, a local search query has always been in the form of:

location (such as city and/or state) + your businesses service, industry or product

For example, your customer may be looking for a "dentist in Atlanta" or "personal injury attorney in Las Vegas". As search algorithms have matured over the years, search engines have become smarter at understanding not only the "local intent" portion of the search, but as well as where the search is located through a process called "geo-targeting". You can easily test this by going to a search engine, such as google, and type in any of your targeted keywords. The results can vary, but you can count on results being either organic or paid advertising for a business in your given area.

In order to maximize the chances of your business being visible on local searches, you need to optimize your website for local search. You will also want to optimize the business profiles you may have at other websites (such as Yahoo profiles, and Google Local) and local listings profiles on various search engines.

Getting Started in Local Search Optimization

One way you can get started in dominating your LSEO (Local Search Engine Optimization) is to determine your targeted geographical area. First, head over to www.getlisted.org, input your business name and ZIP code then click on "check listings".  Your listing snapshot will provide a listing score as well as telling you whether you've claimed your business profiles on Google, Yahoo, Bind and Best of the Web Local.  Registering your listings is a vital step in gaining control of your business listings which sends the correct signals to index thus ranking your profiles properly so search engines can find your content quickly. Claiming your listings is also the best way to make sure it doesn't get hijacked or edited by an unscrupulous competitor.

Next you want to focus your efforts on your Google profile. Make this step a priority! You can add photos, videos, list your hours of operations, etc all within your listing. Google also has a coupon feature which will allow you to upload a coupon for your clients to use. A coupon can be created for both online purchases (by using a coupon code) or for offline purchases. If you choose to use a coupon, make certain to issue a new coupon. You may want to create coupon tracking codes which will help you track your local listings effectiveness.