How to Get Your Business Ranked Higher in Local Google

Having your website show up in local Google maps, now called Google Places, search results can be very beneficial to increasing traffic to your website. There are two main steps to having your local listing show up.

ONE

One way to do that is to fill in as much information as you can on the listing.

1. First find your business on Google maps, or add it here http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter. (Note you will have to verify your address first, either by phone or snail mail.) 
2. Add as much information as you can, fill out every field, upload pictures and logos, even videos if you have them. Make sure your main kp appears as well. Google has a very handy article to help - Google Places Help for Business Owners.

TWO

The other way to get your business listing higher in the local results is to get your customers to write reviews. The more good reviews you have, the more precedence Google will give to your listing.

UPDATE: Here is an excellent example of an insurance agent keeping up with reviews. If you were a customer, wouldn't you be inclined to visit this agency?

1. To find your business listing go to http://maps.google.com and type in your business name and the city and state it's located in. 
2. Once you find it, click your agency's name. This will take your company's page for Google Maps.
3. Copy the listing's web address and paste into an email. This will be a very long link so you will have to use anchor text.
4. Send it to all your customers and even friends and family. Ask to them write a review by logging in to Google and then click on the Write a Review link on your company's page.

That's it! That's all you have to do. Of course you could also spend every waking moment getting anyone you can to write a review for you. But that's up to you.

Similar factors affect Local Yahoo and Local Bing. It only takes a few minutes and is well worth the effort.

Read more about how you can help users find your business on Google.