After my short post yesterdday, I say this posting, with
8 steps to ranking well on local search

Local search has got to be one of the best bargains out there! Here are some local search results I noticed this morning.

Submitting to Google local search is free and ranking is easy.

A recent study by comScore found:

63 percent of U.S. Internet users (or approximately 109 million people) performed a local search online in July, a 43-percent increase versus July of 2005.

Not only is local search increasing fast, the people that perform local searches are highly attractive to web merchants:

During the second quarter of 2006, 47 percent of local searchers visited a local merchant as a result of their search behavior, while 41 percent made contact offline. More than one-third (37 percent) made contact online as a result of conducting a local area search.

During the second quarter of 2006, 47 percent of local searchers visited a local merchant as a result of their search behavior, while 41 percent made contact offline. More than one-third (37 percent) made contact online as a result of conducting a local area search.

Why local search?
Local Search has been growing for a while and the reasons behind it make sense. If I am looking for a local merchant, or service, a website gives me a much richer experience than a yellow pages ad.

In addition, the only option a yellow pages ad gives me is to call, which I may not be prepared to do because I want to browse and check out other merchants first.

Combined with a marketing campaign targeting location keywords, you can get twice the real estate on the front page!