Over 36% of all search-engine queries request Local Search results; and that percentage is growing quickly. Last year, both Google and Yahoo committed to expanding value of Local Search results they deliver. People want them and are driving trend. Small businesses that don't get aboard risk being left behind (and unfound).

3. Local Search on Cell Phones Google recently offered local search option on cell phones. Given widespread use of cell phones, that new feature will create an immediate impact. People on go (and who isn't, anymore?) will have less reason than ever to look in printed Yellow Page directory. They can conduct Internet searches from their car.

Picture this. A person enters their desired business destination (Thai restaurant) plus their town into their cell phone as a search query. Within seconds, options appear, and customer can select best or most convenient choice. They can even click on their preference to dial for any questions.

4. Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) These are kept up to date (unlike print directories) and can be searched from anywhere. There are a variety of suppliers, so some checking around is required. Some are free or provide a link to your Website. Their usage is growing 25% a year.

Rethink how much you can realistically rely on your Yellow Page listing to provide a steady flow of new business. Merchants who don't want their enterprise to lose ground also need to provide a combination of web-based promotion methods that potential customers can use to find them. If you want to be considered, you need to appear in places where customers visit when they're making buying decisions.

Done properly, local Internet marketing views each business as unique, and creates an affordable, ongoing marketing plan that fits business. Successful elements of mix include such things as optimization of website both for search engines and for customer conversion; carefully-planned pay-per-click campaigns, that deliver quality, rather than quantity, of leads; online publicity; appropriate linking campaigns; submission to local and vertical directories; special website promotions; customer email-marketing, and more. The secret is in getting mix just right for each business, and maintaining an ongoing program to keep business's website front and center before local audience. When carefully-planned and executed it can bring big dividends to a small business.

For many local businesses, question is no longer whether they should begin to market in local online space, but when. Currently, as Neil Street, sales and marketing director of Small Business Online sees it, incredible opportunities are being missed, as consumers search online for local products and services, but businesses do not have an effective online presence to serve those customers. But as success stories such as caterer's, or furniture retailer's, begin to spread, that gap will close, and significant advertising dollars may soon shift to local online marketing.