Keywords are absolutely vital when you are using alternative forms of local online advertising, like article marketing. Article marketing can be a very effective method of promoting your business, but you need the right keywords.

Using a service such as KeyCompete or Keyword Discovery can be a big help in finding the right keywords to use in your alternative local online advertising. Using long tail keyword phrases, which are phrases that have three or more words in them, can boost your traffic by quite a bit.

Since you are running a local online advertising campaign, your keyword phrases will most likely include your location. For example, rather than “Babysitting services” you will want to have something like “babysitting services in Chicago”. This is what people will be looking for when they search for a local business. Take advantage of the keywords found with KeyCompete or Keyword Discovery and you will see a boost in sales.

Many websites that offer advertising slots are not local and you would end up paying extravagant amounts of money to advertise your local business to the entire world. It´s far better to find local online advertising opportunities and not only spend less money, but focus on your target market, close to home.

A good way to discover websites that offer local online advertising is to search for your top keyword phrases, including your location. Any search engine will pop up with several websites that you can then contact about advertising.

Another option is to do a search using search terms related to travel and vacations to find local tourist websites that sell local online advertising. If you use the tools available to you, it can be very easy to find websites that are relevant to your product and service, and in the local area.

Obviously, it is easier to find a local online advertising opportunity in a major city like New York or Los Angeles, but smaller town businesses should also be able to find advertising openings like this.

If you have a local business and you want to advertise online, there are two essential resources that you should be familiar with. You will have to list your business with Google Local and Yahoo! Local. These are starting places, however.

Other essential local advertising resources include CitySearch, and other local advertising directories. You should check to see if your local community has a directory. If not, then list your business with Google Local and Yahoo! Local. You can also advertise in niche directories are specific to your business. Why would you do this?

You would advertise your local business in niche industry directories because related, noncompetitive businesses can lead you to customer relationships through their list of networks and contacts. That’s a very valuable way to make connections for your own business. Don’t leave it out.