Look how old this is! I post at SearchCommander.com now, and this post was published 17 years 5 months 23 days ago. This industry changes FAST, so blindly following the advice here *may not* be a good idea! If you're at all unsure, feel free to hit me up on Twitter and ask.
Your business will have an easier time getting web traffic and customers if you list it in the Google Local directory, Google Maps.
Instead of having dozens or hundreds of competitors in your neighborhood, you may find there are very few.
This option is not available for businesses that are “online only”, and are only for your “brick and mortar” businesses.
Create an account at Google and follow the step by step directions to get your local business listed in a few short weeks. There will be a physical mailer of a post card to guarantee the legitimacy of your submission, so be sure to watch for that.
If you have multiple locations, be sure to list them all. Google does seem to favor listings that are closer to the geographic center of the primary zip code of that city.
