As These factors have a global impact, even if we’re not seeing some of the results at the moment, they will certainly trickle down our end of the world soon enough, so if we can be aware of what things are most important to focus on, we’ll be able to stay one step ahead of our competitors.

To borrow a quote from the site:

It is my hope that this study will help small business owners confused by Local Search, or those strapped for time, to prioritize their marketing efforts.

So without any further ado, I introduce you to the report for Local Search Ranking Factors 2009 as compiled by 27 prominent bloggers and local search practitioners.

Within the first week of the integration, a number of noticeable changes occurred:

• previously high listed sites dropping our of the local search results (usually displayed next to a map at the top of the Google search page)
• sites with TrueLocal listings and no Yellow Pages presence dropping out of the local search results alltogether
• new sites popping into the top local listings that co-incidentally had premium Yellow Pages accounts that were nowhere to be seen previously

As you could imagine, this caused a great deal of upset and concern within the local search industry as it indicated that the only way of ranking well in this space was to pay for a premium listing – in a system that Google had always boasted would remain free and unbiased like all the other organic search results.

Some argue that Google and Yellow were trying to test these changes to see if anyone would notice or perhaps it was a manual error with the way the migration of data was handled. The good news however is that these issues have now been fixed and the local search listings and Google Maps business results are back to displaying a cross-section of data as it always has done.

Did Google fix this due to the backlash from people noticing the drastic changes or did they simply notice it through further testing once the migration was complete – we’ll never know, but at least local business owners will not be required to sign-up for a Yellow Pages premium listing just to get into the top local search box.

The reason I mention them here is because as part of the website, there was also a free business directory that Brisbane-based companies could list with. It was a great resource and provided some good value for local businesses, but as of the start of March 2009, there have been some changes.

OurBrisbane.com are no longer accepting directory submissions. They will honour the listings they currently have, but no more will be added.

No reason has been supplied regarding these changes, with a only a brief notice on their website stating:

Previously we have accepted business listings for all types of businesses in and around Brisbane. We have recently suspended this service for new listings, however existing business listings may still be found via our site search.

If anyone has any further information regarding these changes, please let us know.

The directory is well structured and has a lot of trades-people listed, so if you’re looking to have some trade work done, or you’re a tradie and would like more information, have a look at our review of eTradesman or go directly to the eTradesman website.

The site itself has been designed purely in flash, so from a search engine perspective, it’s not doing itself any favours, but that aside, the directory itself seems reasonable.  To find-out more about the directory and its features, have a look at our OfindZ review.

We’ve reviewed some of their features and pricing in our review of Big Roo but would be quite keen to hear what you think.

The competition and website Speak Up Sydney is designed to provide a forum for Sydney residents to share the experiences they’ve had with local businesses and to voice their opinions in an open and honest manner. Why? Well, here’s what a recent survey conducted by research company PureProfile revealed:

1. 95% of Sydney residents feel out of the loop and would like to be more in-the-know about businesses in their local community.
2. 84% of Sydney-siders would like a forum to share their opinions and experiences (good and bad) with other people about the businesses and services in their local area.
3. 76% of people in Sydney currently waste time travelling outside their local area for services such as masseurs and mechanics because they don’t know about alternative businesses within their local area.

That’s why. Sydney-siders are feeling more and more disconnected from the people and businesses in their local community and we want to reverse this trend. Speak Up Sydney is all about getting the conversation going and putting people back in touch with the local businesses in their community.

So to help-out your local community and potentially win $5000+ in cash and prizes…

1. Head on over to RAYV, Australia’s coolest business review website.

2. Register for FREE. It takes less than 1 minute, we promise.

3. Search for (or add) the local businesses you want to review.

4. Start writing! The best review wins $5,000 and gets published!

RAYV was created to take traditional word-of-mouth marketing online and it is quite possibly one of the most opinionated online communities and business review directory in Australia (and soon to be New Zealand). RAYV makes finding recommendations from friends and likeminded people a breeze – with a click of a button you can find 1000’s of reviews on businesses local to you. They might not all be positive reviews. But hey, that’s what RAYV’s all about.

To read more about some of the features, have a look at our review or better yet, why not head over to RAYV and see what everyone is raving about!

To quote clickfind:

We quality control all listings and charge $19.95 a month, considerably cheaper than most other paid listing directories

For that fee, someone gets to list their business and up to 500 products or services.

Worthy of mention is clickfind’s blog which is a fantastic move for local search players in managing PR and simplifying user feedback.

They sent me an email recently with a promotional offer for the festive season which will give you a free Basic Listing (usually $99.00). To claim this offer, enter this promotional code UPG7003 when you sign-up.

The offer ends 31st December 2007 – so be quick to register online with them. Further details about I Need To… along with all the types of listings they provide can be found in our full review of their services.

(Please note that we are in no way affiliated with I Need To… and NO remuneration was received for this review)