What’s better than free traffic?!
Google basically give away traffic to Local Businesses so you would be mad not to take advantage. With Google Local you can create a listing and you will potentially be found in Google organic results with minimal effort (this of course depends on the keyword and location)
Google have made a short video to explain the Local Business Centre.
This can also be found at http://www.google.com/local/add
Google are trying to promote local search and they are giving local businesses an edge over national companies, by this I mean that they are trying to encourage searches for local services. For example a search in Google UK for “Plumbers Leeds” will show local business results at the top of the organic search results. Which is great for local businesses. Similarly if you do a search for just “Plumbers” you should see local results on the first page based on your current location.
Although there is likely to be competition for your industry there is a much greater chance of you appear in the first 10 results for local than for the first 10 in organic search. Also these results will appear first in Google and therefore it is the first thing a searcher will see.
To make the most out of Google Local we suggest that you follow our Free Google Local Guide and make sure that you include as much information as you can about your business, after all the more a searcher knows about you, the more confident they will be of purchasing or using your services.
If you would like some help you can also contact us for advice