Move Up Faster In Google Local Search

With nearly every search on Google having some localization tied to it, it's extremely important that your business ranks highly on Google for those local searches of your products or services.

One major factor that Google considers in local search is the number and quality of your "citations" across the Internet. A citation is where your business information appears. At the bare minimum, you should get your business listed with consistent information across various trusted Google sources as well as directories important to your specific niche.

However, getting your business listed in various trusted sources across the Internet is much like link-building. Not only should you get yourself listed in the same places as your competitors, but you should also find those places that your competitors are missing. You get bonus points if you can make it somewhat exclusive.

An interesting idea is to work up some kind of partnership with a business in an unrelated industry where you might find customers. For example, a hotel would want a relationship with a local arena or convention center, and a restaurant or bar would want a relationship with the hotel. Basically, what it boils down to is networking.

What this does is give you exclusive (or nearly exclusive) sources that Google can use to show that you are indeed a legitimate business and count as a vote that you might just be what the searcher is looking for in the area. There may also be some influence through Google's personalized search feature if, for example, a recent search was for information for a particular hotel and your next search is for a nearby place to eat.