In a recent article on Search Engine Journal, Ryan Caldwell offered three keys to success with local search.

local search results

  1. Anchor Text and Authority — get links from authoritative local sites, and make sure the anchor text (the clickable text of the link) contains keywords and, if possible, a geographic reference.
  2. Local Links — see what local sites are linking to your local competitors and get links form those same sites.Ryan also recommends you get links from DMOZ, Yahoo, BOTW and Business.com.
  3. Local Citations — these are like little testimonials, and they can help alot.  Ryan suggests getting people to give you citations at places like Google’s Local Business Center, Yahoo Local, Yelp, SuperPages and infoUSA.