Ways to get local search marketing leads are divided into simple steps which we are going to discuss in this article.

• The very basic is to provide your searchers your contact information. Give them a way to contact you. You can use a phone number, a website or blog, email address, or even your Facebook or Myspace name.
• Then offer them something free to gain their interest and keep them coming back. A freebie really helps people sign up. You’ll give them a free report, free audio recording, or free DVD, and they will give you their contact information. One way to find this type of freebie is to search Google for give away rights in your field, such as “give away report teeth whitening” or a similar phrase. You can also write your own or ask the specialists you can find if they have anything they would like to offer that is relevant to your site or business.
• Find a specialist in the area of the product or business you want to focus on. The specialist could be a doctor, a chiropractor, your dentist, a financial planner, or another professional who understands your field. They don’t have to endorse your product, just be in the same field, and you would offer to give their clients a free report on an interesting subject.
• You can use Facebook and Myspace to promote your business. Set up a little display to giveaway the free report at the office of the professionals, or at local restaurants. If you use a doctor or financial planner, you should put the name of the specialist on the cover of the report with a statement such as “compliments of” and the same on the webpage where you give it away, if you choose to do so online. If you have no idea how to do this, just have your local network marketing leads send you a note through your Facebook page, by email, or call you to get the report offline.When someone calls you or signs up to get the free report, you have a new local search marketing lead. The more you do this, the more free leads or nearly free leads you’ll get.

And you can duplicate this in every town and region where your business is located. People see the free ads you have placed around town at specialist’s offices, and sign up. This gives you local search marketing leads, online or offline.

Use your imagination and try out this procedure. You’ll develop more leads, and you’ll build a money-making home based business in your local area, with local leads.

Most small businesses think of the internet only cater to global market. As a result, many are currently missing out on increasing numbers of people using local search.

In order to create a truly effective local service website, you will need the following guide:

Give your website a professional look -
Your website needs to be as professional as you are. Keep it focused on the services you provide, and the benefits your clientele will get. This will convince people why they should choose you above the rest. And people haven’t come to your site to find out about you. They want to know if you can provide them with the services they need. Keep your site focused on three things: the services you can offer to your clients, the benefits these services provide, and the reasons why you’re the best person for the job.

Builds strong customer relationships -
Your website needs to be user-friendly, giving your customers a good purchasing experience. In other words, it needs to do the job that you would do if you were talking to your customer in person. Make sure it provides all the information you would normally share with your clients in person or over the phone.

Make sure you have these on your site:

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). This will provide answers to what clients would normally ask.
• Google Maps. People can easily locate you when you integrate your map on your website. This will also help them for driving directions, parking locations, etc.
• Reviews and Testimonials. Ask for reviews and testimonials from happy customers to prove that other people have benefited from your products or services.

Don’t forget to prominently feature your telephone number and street address on every page of your site. This makes it easy for customers to know how to contact you.

Finally, make sure you include an opt-in form that offers free valuable information, in exchange for your visitors’ email addresses. You should consider this opt-in to be another important function of your website. That’s because your opt-in offer enables you to stay in touch with your potential clients and send them emails filled with even more valuable free information, so you can build a relationship with them over time and present them with more buying opportunities in the future.

Any local business or service provider wants to advertise in the Google Local Business directory, also known as Google Local. This incredible directory automatically appears, whenever a user initiates a search that includes a product name and a locale. Google then automatically displays a map of the area at the top of the page with store location signified by the presence of a map marker projecting out of the almost exact location. The local businesses, that provide the service, are listed to the right of the map, with their phone number and address conveniently displayed.

The local list continues on the next page and beyond, but business owners have rapidly come to recognize the value of first page listings. Business owners have reportedly been netting good on sales generated by top listings on this free directory. With this much revenue at stake, it is no surprise that the competition to get the top listings has increased dramatically, with many businesses submitting multiple listings, and some store owners using helpful tools to get ahead.

So how does a business owner get a top listing on Google Local business directory? First of all you have to fill out an application. Once you have a Gmail account, you will need to go to Google Local business directory. You then click on the “my account” link on the upper right corner of the screen, and a new page will open up. A large box will prompt you to “Add a New Business.” When you click on this link, the local business application will appear. Now just go down the list and begin filling in the various boxes with relevant information.

In addition to basic information about your store location, contact phone number, and store hours, Google will ask you to describe your products and services. This information will tell customers who you are, and will also help the computer determine what searches you should be ranked high on. Google will also ask you to select the categories of business that apply to your company. Additional questions concern your hours of operation, and the forms of payment you accept. You will be able to affix videos or photographs to the application, for customers who open up your listing.

At the end of the application, you’ll have a chance to add additional optional information, of your choice, such as the areas you serve, company specials, and whether or not you provide free estimates. When your registration is complete, you can verify the application through a computerized phone call from Google, or you can request that a 4 digit pin number be sent to you through the mail. Once verified, your listing will appear on the Google Maps, when someone searches for one of your services in your local area.

You must provide the search engine with as much information as possible to get the best possible listing for your business. Take time to answer every question on the form, and do your research ahead of time so you will be prepared to enter a complete description of your business, which contains the important keywords potential customers will be using to search for your services. Remember that the goal of Google is to help online customers find what they are seeking. Be sure to establish your own unique products, and strongest areas of service, and submit information about them on the application.

A keyword or key phrase, which accurately describes the service you provide and excel in, is far more valuable than a generic keyword that gets a lot of hits each month, but only loosely applies to the services you’re offering. You’re more likely to get high ranking on keywords that are in less demand. Also, when a potential customer calls you, he’s more likely to do business with you, since your service is exactly what he is looking for. However, if you’re like most smart business owners, you probably advertise your specialties in free directories such as Craig’s list and yellow pages. Once a month, Google “spiders” the web looking for information about your company, and when they see keywords associated with your business name, that describe your business specialties, then Google is more assured that you actually provide those services, and they will subsequently rank you higher when people search for those specific keywords.

While the best things in life may not come for free, Google Local is proof that sometimes they can and do. Submitting your business to this local directory is well worth the few minutes it will take to do a good job filling out the application.