What Matters in Local SEO in 2009

If you’re a small business owner, chances are pretty good that Local SEO matters to you. If you think it would help to understand how Google and Yahoo rank web sites in their local search results, please check out the Local Search Ranking Factors 2009, published today by David Mihm.

I’m one of 27 SEOs that David invited to contribute to this year’s survey. He sends us a huge list of factors that may affect how a web page is ranked in local results, and we respond by rating each factor and giving opinions to support our ratings.

It’s something you’ll want to bookmark and re-read a few times. Not that any of the 27 of us have the exact secrets from Google and Yahoo’s algorithms, but there’s a lot of experience in that list of panelists and you’re sure to end up smarter by reading it.