All local businesses can use Google Local to their advantage. Online users switch back and forward from global to local search in order to find tricks, information and products. Being able to rank highly in Google Local is the way to achieve success.

There are many different reasons why it is beneficial to have a high rank in Google Local, but some of the best ones are the following:

A lot more customers utilize local search. Online users are always looking for new places to eat, shop and get jobs. A top search will give you the advertising power to be the first business that they will call. You will get on the spot visits from mobile users. More and more people are looking for good bars, restaurants and entertainment spots while they are out and about on the town. They are using their smartphones to get this information. Use this to your advantage and get a top spot on Google Maps for your particular city.

You will get more sales and more exposure. The more popularity your business gets on Google Local, the more feedback, reviews and buzz it will create. This is almost like a snowball effect and Google Local will continue to bring in more sales, if you have a high ranking.

Many companies are seeing the positive effects of Google Local. Although you will have to put in a lot of SEO tactics in order to get a high ranking in Google Local, the following tips can help you to get over on your competition.

Reviews are Powerful in Your Local Community

Ask your customers to give you feedback and good reviews. Google ranks local results based upon three different things which are links, reviews and your content. Good reviews from users that have different profiles are a great way to boost the visibility of your company’s local search.

If you own a bar or restaurant, a discount might help. Or, possibly you might want to waive the tip for customers that give you a good review. If you own a coffee shop, consider giving out samples for good reviews.

Links are helpful for SEO and reviews are good for local SEO. Things such as freebies and discounts are great ways to get the reviews that you want.

Get High Quality Links from Other Local Websites

Is there a local food blog that everyone likes? Maybe there is a bar guide that everyone likes. Valuable links are good for SEO and local links are also very good.

Look for ways to build up local links, especially from publications that get a lot of traffic. Also, get inbound links for your business. Links and reviews are the way to rank high with local optimization.

Be Selective About Your Local Social Media Profiles

Not all social media profiles are good. For example, many business owners do not like Yelp. But, local social media is good for giving you local exposure.

Any type of social media page that gives out an address listing is good for letting Google know that your website is searched for via a certain section of the country.

Pay for Good Offline Advertising

Preparing your website for Google Local involves awareness and is also about getting your customers to link to your website and give good reviews. A lot of them will give a review without you selling to them.

As a result, offline advertising such as billboards and radio ads can be successful for getting reviews and citations. Ads such as these can deliver thousands of reviews for a local company.

Get Local Accounts with Bing, Yahoo and Google

Besides asking for feedback and getting local links, one of the easiest ways to optimize your website for local search is to just ask for a local listing. Google Local lets small companies claim a listing by registering. This can be done with Yahoo and Bing as well.