Your local online advertising could bring people from other cities, states or even countries to your doorstep these days. Why? Because the internet is the first place we turn when planning a trip or a big move.

Imagine you want to take a vacation in Guadalajara, Mexico. In the old days, people would talk to friends who had been, maybe buy a travel guide or hit the library to learn more about their destination. Now, the first place we look is online. You might check Google Earth to see how close Guadalajara is to your hometown, download and print out a Spanish phrase sheet, or book your flight online. But local online advertising will also help you find a hotel to stay at, the nearest internet cafe and top recommended bars in the area.

Now, imagine someone is coming to your town, whether on vacation or to move permanently. Chances are, they will be looking for local businesses and if you have done well with your local online advertising, you´ll pop up when they are looking for your type of business in the area. Really, just about any local business can benefit from local online advertising, from drycleaning to daycare. The internet is the world´s information source now, so you want to be on it.

Local online advertising is definitely something that is becoming more and more invaluable to small businesses. While the Yellow Pages and print ads are still very much in use and will never go away, if you want your business to grow, you really need to be online.

Entrepreneur.com had this to say in a recent article on local online advertising:

What we have now is a complicated world where people use many different sources of information to find local businesses. They’re using the traditional mediums that they’ve always used, but now the internet has become a very powerful–and in many cases, [the] primary–resource for people

People like options and they like having the ability to search more than one medium for what they need. Empower your business through local online advertising and you won´t be sorry. Having your business in front of people, whether they are reading the newspaper or surfing the net is the best way to grow.

Local search engine optimization is the base of most online campaigns for local businesses and while getting ranked nice and high for Chicago Your Biz is great, it isn´t the end of the story. Just because you have done well with one keyword phrase doesn´t mean you should sit back and congratulate yourself . . . there is a lot more work to do.

Once you have ranked for that first keyword or phrase, it´s time to get creative with your local search engine optimization and start aiming for more specialized searches and get that super targeted traffic that is almost guaranteed to net you a sale. And it really doesn´t have to be that difficult.

Let´s say you have flower shop in St. Louis. You rank first for St. Louis flower shop, which is great. But why not branch out a bit and go for your target markets? A flower store would no doubt provide quite a few weddings with bouquets and decorations, so “St. Louis bridal flowers” or “St. Louis wedding flowers” could be the next local search engine optimization phrases to target. Or perhaps you find yourself doing a booming business in funeral arrangements. And don´t forget the romantic Feb. 14th!

By targeting different keyword phrases, you can bring in not just more traffic, but more specific traffic that is looking for exactly what you are offering. This can be a big step in local search engine optimization and one that could bring in a huge jump in business for you if the right keyword phrases are selected.

Though nearly a third of small businesses are getting into local online marketing, the area of local mobile marketing is really just coming into its own. Until recently, it wasn´t very practical to use your phone for internet access, but bigger and better phones, PDAs and Blackberries have made the mobile search a very popular thing.

Getting in on local mobile marketing now is a good plan. The main reason for this is that at the moment, twice as many cell phones exist as PCs . . . . a number that can only increase as more and more people have access to cell phones. This means that local mobile marketing is an area that is set for an explosion of growth and at the moment there is very little competition.

Making sure that you are in on local mobile marketing is a great way to beat out the competition. People are more likely to search for local businesses with their cell phones, too, since they are probably already in the area where they hope to make a purchase. This is obviously in your favor if you are the only ad on their phone!

Local mobile marketing may not yet be a big player in the world of local online marketing, but mark my words, it will soon be one of the best options out there.

Most business owners know that you can really take a hit if you don´t know what you´re doing with local pay per click advertising. It´s something that you really have to be careful of if you don´t want to lose money. One of the most popular local pay per click advertisers is Google Adwords and most of these mistakes are specific to Adwords.

Forgetting to set negative keywords in Broadmatch. While the Broadmatch feature is a good one, allowing your ad can show up whenever your keyword is entered in a search phrase, it does have some setbacks. Using negative keywords helps the search engine avoid non-contextual phrases. So your local pay per click ad for film (as in cling wrap) won´t show up in a search for camera film.

Not testing more than one ad. If you just put one local pay per click ad out there, how can you know if you´re getting the best possible results? Try a minimum of three or four ads, with different headlines, ad text, etc.

Not tracking results. Anyone who runs a local pay per click ad campaign without tracking the results is setting themselves up for failure. You need to know what works best and where. Any statistics you can gather on your ad performance can help you make better decisions in the future for ad wording, keyword selection, etc.

Going for first place. While you might enjoy a little prestige by overbidding and getting your local pay per click ad to the top of the pile, it is often not worth the extra money you´ll be shelling out. Keep your ads cost reasonable and settle for second or third, your ad should perform just as well.

By avoiding these common local pay per click mistakes, you can spend less money and get more targeted traffic, as well as higher clickthrough rates. Knowing what you´re doing really pays off!

There are many facets to local online advertising and using more than one method is always a good idea. However, one area that many small businesses overlook is blogging. A good business blog is an excellent way to market your local business because it provides exactly what people are looking for . . . information.

Let´s say you have a dollmaking business. You could easily blog on collectible or handmade dolls, linking to your catalog every so often. Each blog post should be keyword optimized so it appears in a top position for searches with your keywords. This is usually fairly easy and should get you plenty of search engine traffic.

Having a blog also allows you to build a rapport with your readers, a very valuable tool in local online advertising. You may get some who are just dropping in for a quick fix of info, while others will become loyal followers and subscribe to your feed. Try offering your RSS feed via email to start building a list as well and you´ll have a headstart when you need to start sending out a newsletter.

Blogs are a great way to do local online advertising. Establish yourself as an expert and create a bond with your readers and you´ll find that your local business does far better than with simple pay per click.

Local search engine optimization is all fine and good, but if you really want to grow fast, you need local pay per click, too. Getting ranked nice and high in Google will definitely bring in traffic for your keyword, but it can take a while to get that position in the search engines, whereas local pay per click gives you that extra boost instantly.

Here´s what Pay Per Click Journal has to say about it:

Of course, SEO has been around for a few good years. Pay per click is still relatively new and local search as local search even newer. Most small business owners are just now trying to figure out the search game, period. But if you can beat your competitors to the punch and figure out the rules to local search and local PPC then you’ll have a powerful marketing strategy down pat.

So, learning about local pay per click strategies could really pay off!

If you haven´t been added to Google local maps, you might want to consider it. Google local maps pop up now in the results when you do a local search and if your business isn´t in the running for that prized spot, it should be.

Obviously, not everyone will appear first in the search results, with a Google local map beside the business name, but you can certainly try. Larger cities and areas will have more competition, but smaller towns or areas of a city (Burnaby, Vancouver, for example) will be easier to rank for. You´ll need some very targeted keywords and lots of backlinks to make sure your business has the best chance possible to reach the top spot. So if anyone is searching for your city and your business area (Bedding stores in Houston, for example), having your business pop up with a map is a great boost for business.

Since only 27% or so of small businesses are currently utilizing the power of online advertising, now is the time to get in. You have a bit more time to build great backlinks than those businesses who come in during the new year, giving your business a better chance of ranking high in Google local searches. Definitely something to consider.

Local search engine optimization is something that can be quite elusive if you don´t know what you´re doing. That´s why it is a good idea to use all resources available to you. Reading blogs, like this one, can be a big help. So can using a service to help you find the perfect keyword to drive traffic to your business site.

For business websites that are just getting started, it´s often a good idea to stick to three or less keywords or phrases. Focusing on just one will give you a far better chance of getting into the top Google results, but for most websites, ranking for more than one keyword is best.

For example, if your business is called Las Vegas Floral Shoppe, you might want to use your name as one keyword phrase, and “Las Vegas Flowers” as another. Since more people will be searching for Las Vegas Flowers rather than your actual business name, you want to appear in the search engine results. Getting there requires good local search engine optimization, repeating keywords throughout the website, using the keywords in your meta tabs and headlines and occasionally adding them in bold or another color of text.

Local search engine optimization is possible for any website with the right keywords. If you use them properly, you will, in time, rise to the top of the search results, guaranteeing more business for you.

While your local pay per click ads may not actually be selling a product, they are selling the reader on the idea of clicking the ad to come to your site. However, you don´t want to spend too much money drawing in people who really have no interest in your business. That means you want to word your local pay per click ads very well.

Local pay per click ads have just two lines and a headline to get their point across, so you´ll need concise writing that gets to the point fast. Let´s take a look at the elements involved:

Headline
Your keywords need to appear in the headline, but this short sentence also has to be eye-catching. Without a great headline, your local pay per click ads will not work well. Having the keywords in the headline allows your ad to pop up when people perform relevant searches. For example, if you are aiming for the keywords “Chicago Bottled Water” those three words need to be in the headline.

Ad Copy
The two lines below the headline in the local pay per click ad are extremely important. Overly hyped words won´t work to grab people, they just sound spammy. Avoid using words and phrases like “Incredible”, “Unbelievable” and “Astounding”. They take up a lot of your word count and only make the ad look like a scam.

Instead, make an offer or solve a problem. You might want to divide your purpose and use the first line to state the problem (Are you suffering from obesity?) and the second to offer a solution (Try our free diet program). Letting people know exactly what to do (try, download, read) is a good way to get them to click on your ad.

Writing effective local pay per click ads can take a bit of practice. If you aren´t will to put in the time, you may want to hire a freelance copywriter instead.

A new Yahoo Local plug in for Wordpress blogs is available to boost your advertising power. Basically, the plug in adds links to relevant words in your post and readers can then mouse over the links to bring up a map. There are also product link options, but if you are using your local business blog for advertising, that´s a feature you won´t want to use.

The Yahoo! Search Blog announced their newest feature on December 13th:

Writing a good blog post is more than just putting words on paper. It’s also about rounding out ideas, opinions and thoughts with content that supports your statements — be it maps, pictures or links. And sometimes, the hassle of digging up that supporting content is the most painful part. So, to help bloggers address these pain points, we built Yahoo! Shortcuts for Wordpress — a technology that sits in the background and finds and offers content to help build out your post in real-time. Shortcuts lift the burden of finding additional content and integrating it into your posts so that you can focus on the meat — the writing.

Having a map appear whenever you mention a location can be a big help in letting your readers know exactly where you are located and may be one of the best Yahoo local advertising aides yet. For local online advertising, it could prove to be quite useful, since the reader can then click on the image that pops up to see a larger map, allowing them to figure out how to get to you.

As time goes on, we are seeing more and more features available to those investing in local online advertising and Yahoo local advertising options are getting better, despite rumors that the company is struggling. If you run a business blog, you might want to consider using this new plug in.

The amount of money dedicated to local online advertising is rapidly rising as more local businesses realize the power of the internet. For those who got in early in the game, there is a distinct advantage to be had in being more established, with higher local search engine ratings, etc.

Another factor is knowledge. Businesses getting into local online advertising have a big advantage, according to ClickZ.

“Outside of classifieds, local ad spending online remains relatively immature,” said David Card, VP and senior analyst at JupiterResearch. “For now, online publishers and networks will find better opportunities servicing national advertisers that are aiming at local audiences than they will servicing true local businesses.”

Local businesses may not know how to utilize online advertising, according to Card. “They’re going to have to go through the whole education process that multinational advertisers went through,” said Card. “It’s many years behind where current online advertising is.”

So, if you are still sitting on the fence, not sure whether or not to start a local online advertising campaign, now is the time to get in, ahead of the 77% of small businesses not involved in local online marketing.

There are several ways to build links, an important part of local search engine optimization. Some are more effective than other for search engines, while other techniques are aimed more at bringing in traffic.

Blog comments: While a good way to catch the attention of bloggers who might write about your local business, this is not the best local search engine optimization method. However, you can certainly get traffic and this method should not be ruled out.

Press releases: Press releases are a good way to draw attention to your local business and to get plenty of incoming links, often from higher Page Rank websites, which can boost your Page Rank as well. This is one local search engine optimization technique that should not be ruled out.

Article directories: This is possibly one of the most used ways to build links in order to optimize your business site for local search engines. Basically, you write or hire someone to write a series of articles based on your area of expertise and submit them to dozens of directories. This is not likely to bring much traffic, but it can certainly build incoming links in a hurry.

There are many other methods of local search engine optimization via link building, but these are three of the most commonly used methods. Test them and see how they work for your local business.

How could you use this latest advancement in Google Local Maps to help promote your business? While Google has long had multimedia capabilities, they are beginning to incorporate these into Google Maps, giving business owners a huge advantage.

For local advertising, it is quite simple to create a short video, add it to YouTube and then include it on Google Local Maps. You don´t need a video production studio to create your own local business video, it´s quite easy to do so with a Handycam. There are some cheap or even free video editing software that is easy to learn and just about anyone can hack together a simple video that is worthy of YouTube.

The trick here is to set up a YouTube profile for your business. Include your business contact info and name and make sure you have any other details in the profile that you want the public to know about. Then, upload your video and submit it to Google Local Maps. Having more videos available is even better. They can be on anything local, the park, tourist sights, etc.

Now, when someone looks up your town on Google Local Maps, they will find your videos and hopefully will click on them. This takes them to your video page where your local advertising becomes useful. If viewers enjoy your video, they will click on your user name to see what else you have and to learn more about you . . . which will take them to your business profile. See how easy it is?

Local search engine optimization is comprised of many factors, but keywords are a huge one. Keyword density is one of the most important techniques used to boost local search engine optimization, so it´s a good idea to learn as much as possible about it.

The first step to keyword optimization is to choose the keywords or phrases. Then you need to worry about how often to repeat that phrase on the website. Too many repeats and you will get nailed by Google for keyword stuffing, a practice used by those who are unconcerned with the quality of their content as long as it is ranked high for their keywords. Too few keyword repetitions and you won´t get ranked higher than other websites that have mastered local search engine optimization.

While opinions differ on exactly what is an ideal keyword density, it is generally agreed that between 3-5% is acceptable and high enough to get you ranked by the search engines. Some people, however, claim to have good results with 10% keyword density. However, repeating your keyword 3 to 5 times for every hundred words or so should give you a good balance of content and local search engine optimization.