In the world of web and online marketing, the need to learn local SEO is an absolute necessity for your business. Local search engines have completely revolutionized the way people approach local business listings, which is why it’s so important for you to understand how to get listed in the best local directories and top search engines. There are many local business listing platforms available today, but not all of them work equally well.

It’s no secret that Google is the king of search engine results. When people search for something on a search engine, most of the time, they are looking for the most relevant, up-to-date lists available. The first place they look is usually the Google local business listings. That’s because they are optimized to provide the best search results. If you want your website to appear for those searches, you need to optimize your site for local search engine listings.

As you probably know already, there are two major types of Internet marketing strategies: organic and paid. Organic SEO refers to using keywords to drive up organic search rankings. Organic listings are completely free for your business owners, because they are provided by the search engines themselves. Paid SEO, on the other hand, involves paying to get your site listed in paid listings. Paid placements are only good for highly competitive keywords, so you need to really target your business keywords before you use them with pay per click advertising. Organic rankings and paid placements are still a very effective partnership, especially when the consumer base for each type of marketing is so very similar.

Today, there are dozens of different local marketing platforms available for business owners to use. Which ones should you use? Many experts would tell you to start with Google, but many others suggest Bing, Yahoo, and the other major search engine giants. Every one has their own strengths and weaknesses, but all three offer useful features that are important for a comprehensive campaign. Here’s a quick rundown of the best ones, both for beginners and advanced marketers alike:

Google’s local search engine is an absolute powerhouse for anyone who wants to tap into their massive potential. It’s free for business owners, so it’s very economical to implement. seo offers both organic and paid placements, allowing you to get your site seen at just the right spots on the search engine results page. Once there, you have to pay for ads to targeted searchers to bring you traffic, but the rankings do not stop there. Even if the searcher is not looking for what you have to offer, having a high rank will get you plenty of exposure. If the searcher then decides to do a search on a gluten free pizza business in his or her area, you’ll be right there among the top results, and you can even get those rankings promoted to other places, bringing even more traffic to your website.

In addition to the above-mentioned organic rankings offered through Google Places, many local search marketing platforms also offer CPC or cost per click advertising. If you use the proper platforms, you can significantly increase your ranking and take advantage of the increased consumer base. When you’re ready to begin paying for these placements, be sure to read the terms of service carefully, since some platforms will only allow ad placements after a certain period of time has passed. The top positions are generally reserved by the most popular platforms first, but there are exceptions, so be sure to check ahead regularly. The top placements are generally well worth the money, as they offer great branding opportunities and higher search engine rankings as well.

There are dozens of social media marketing platforms available today for anyone with a website, blog, or local business. Facebook and Twitter are absolutely crucial for your business, and you should definitely begin implementing strategies to enhance their usage. YouTube may seem a little scary at first, but it actually has several important elements which make it useful for local business promotion. YouTube is also useful as a secondary means to promote your other social media marketing efforts. Whether you prefer blogging, tweeting, or becoming a member of another of the many bookmarking websites, all of these platforms provide opportunities for local SEO promotion.

One final note on local business listings. The Google Geographical Search feature currently offers two different options for submitting your listing: One is the free edition, which only includes business listing information that is supported by the Google map program, and the second is the commercial edition, which supports a wide variety of formats and includes more detailed business information, including unstructured citations and internal linking. Since the introduction of the commercial version, the rankings have begun to favor those directories that offer this type of feature, particularly in regards to the Google Maps program. So although Google Maps still receives strong traffic from its free edition, you may want to consider including a link to your website in order to optimize its placement. As new features and services are added to Google, including more formats such as PDF, it makes more sense to start exploring these options, as well.