One of the sessions at this year’s Search Marketing Expo (SMX) was called ‘Search 3.0: Local Search & Blended Results’ and focused on how local listings are being blended into the regular results of major search engines.

Susan Hallam of Hallam Communications referred to a review carried out by Hitwise, saying that there are several new entrants in the local search industry that should not be overlooked when marketing your business, including Accessplace.com Business Directory (one of the business sites that are powered by Bizwiki).

Businesses are also advised to encourage their clients, partners and customers to submit their feedback and reviews to third party sites, since search engines are pulling in business contact details/ review information and blending them all together.

According to Heini van Bergen of Tribal Internet Marketing, nearly 30%-40% of searches have local intent, and for a local business like a dog grooming business in Leeds it is vital to show-up well in search results when someone searches using a keyword combined with either a location name (Leeds) or a postcode (LS7 or LS22).

Among many useful search marketing tips, several stood out. If you do have a business, ensure that:

- its website is linked to from other local business sites (i.e. Leeds pet owners clubs, Leeds pet stores etc.);
- it is added to local business directories (especially if you don’t have a company website yet or do not intend to have one);
- it is added to nationwide online business directories;
- it gets genuine reviews on independent 3rd party sites.

“Personal reviews are the most trusted form of advertising, and they have to be on third party sites, not your own website. But please, do not be tempted to write fake reviews”, - concluded Susan Hallam. Sound advice for anyone who is looking to promote their business online.

Ready to get started? Add your company to Bizwiki, or start contributing additional information and details if your business is already listed.

Bizwiki.co.uk has once again been mentioned in the Telegraph as a great way for small firms to advertise online.

Being asked for advice on how small businesses can promote themselves on the web, Will Critchlow of online marketing firm Distilled, said that listing in free business directories like Bizwiki.co.uk made sense but questioned the return on traditional paid-for directories. Read the full story here.

The story primarily focuses on promoting your website online. Remember that if you have a website you can add it to your Bizwiki listing at no charge. We’ll even show a snippet of your website’s text in the “From the Website” section on your Bizwiki record.

If you don’t have a website yet you can use your Bizwiki listing to advertise your business online. A Bizwiki listing puts your details in front of potential customers by being distributed to some of the UK’s top local search sites. And it’s all FREE.

So sign up now and add as much factual information as you can. See this post for ideas of what type of information to add to your Bizwiki record and this one for tips on getting it approved quickly.

An article for the British newspaper the Telegraph highlights the importance of Internet Directory sites like Bizwiki for businesses forced to save marketing budgets in adverse economic conditions.

‘Blog on and use web pages to drive up sales opportunities

By Richard Tyler, Enterprise Editor

Given the current economic slowdown and that marketing is often the first expense to be cut when firms face a financial pinch, here is a snapshot of some free services being used by firms on the internet.

Internet directories

Traditional directories have moved online, like Yell.com. New free sites feature highly on natural searches: www.Brownbook.net and www.Bizwiki.co.uk are fast-growing business directories with self-edited listings and customer reviews.’

At Bizwiki, we whole-heartedly agree with his assessment. More and more commerce is moving online, and with all the talk of possible recession and belt-tightening in the wider economy, it makes more sense than ever to take full advantage of resources that are available online for businesses -particularly sites like Bizwiki that list companies for no charge at all.

The first step is to make sure your company is listed -simply use the search form at the top of the page. If it isn’t, you can add it for free in a few simple steps. If it is listed, now would be a good time to add more information and details.

Bizwiki gets a wide variety of users from other businesses owners and managers to researchers to competitors to local councils to suppliers - and perhaps even your next customer.

Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/08/12/ybmedia112.xml