If you’ve ever used the internet to find a good local restaurant, chances are you’ve seen a search result page featuring a map with markers indicating locations of about ten local restaurants.  What you may not know is that the two major search engines, Google and Yahoo, make it easy to create or edit a listing for a local business.  Much of the information in a typical local listing can be added for free.  For a fee you can go even further to stand out from the crowd.

Adding Your Business
Before actually adding a business, you should check to see if it’s already listed.  Chances are it will be, unless your company has just opened for business.  The easiest method is to simply enter your company name and the city and state you are located.  If your business is displayed, you can "claim" its listing.  Otherwise, here’s what you’ll need to do:

For Yahoo!
Go to Yahoo’s Main local listing page at http://local.yahoo.com/.  Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the "Add a Business" link.  Fill out the form.  Yahoo! will review your information; this generally takes three to five business days.

For Google
Go to http://www.google.com/local/add .  Click on the “Add New Business” button.  Fill out the form.  Google will want to verify the business listing; you can choose to do so either by phone or through the mail.  According to Google, mail verification could take as long as three weeks.

To claim a company already listed:

For Yahoo!
Go to the detail screen for your company and click the "Edit Info" link. Select "as the owner or an employee" and fill out the form.

For Google
Simply follow the same steps as above.  You will be given the option to claim a listing that matches the information you enter.

As you can see, the process involves a verification process that could take a substantial amount of time.  This is actually a good thing, as it prevents other people from claiming your company’s listing.

Editing Your Listing
Once you are finished with the process above, you can go in and edit your company’s information at any time, and all changes will be reflected immediately.  To make changes, log into your account and pull up the summary page for your business and there will be links to edit or add information.

What can be edited?  Besides basic company information such as the address or website, you can also associate your company with business categories (thus improving search engine optimization) and upload photos.  Google even allows you to associate your site with YouTube videos.

Speaking of Google…
Google now has a Local Business Center dashboard feature, which in many respects is similar to Google Analytics.  There are charts that display how many times your business appears in a search using either Google maps or the main search engine and how often the listing is acted on (either by clicking through or requesting driving directions).  Perhaps the most interesting feature is the display of zip codes from which driving directions to your business have been requested.

Like Google Analytics, the Local Business Center dashboard is free to use.  For more information, click here to see a recent entry from the official Google Blog.