Every day thousands of internet searches are being performed for businesses and services in local city markets. As more and more people log on and use the internet on a daily basis, the potential for marketing a local business successfully is increasing dramatically.

These days, if you have a leak in your roof, you're more likely to hop onto Google to find a business than opening the Yellow Pages. Doing a search for "Miami Roof Repair" is likely to yield a number of options for you to fix your roof.

How do these businesses get listed on the first page of these search engines?

It's not alphabetical like the phone book. It's not by size. It's not by distance. It's not by any visible method that these businesses are listed.

So, is it simply random, or is it just luck that these businesses come up first?

No and no. There's actually a complex algorithm that the search engines like Google and Yahoo employ to rank these search results.

An algorithm? Okay, that sounds complicated. So how does that help a small business owner?

Well, that's quite simple actually. It isn't necessary to be a math whiz or an internet wizard to understand how the search engines work. With a simple understanding of what factors go into search engine rankings - any business owner can rank highly for targeted keywords that potential clients and customers will be using to search for their business and services.

Back to our leaking roof. When you a do a search for "Roof Repair" on Google, you're likely to pull up a number of results that tell you how to handle a leaky roof or what steps to take to possibly repair it on your own.

But when somebody wants to find a repairman in their area, they're often going to include in their search the city or the town they are looking in. For example: "Miami Roof Repair." This type of search with a city or place to qualify the service is likely going to start locating businesses specifically in that area.

Almost 90% of users click on the first link after performing their search. Think of the calls that would come in and the money to be made if you could rank highly for that term.

At this point in the internet game - the majority of small businesses are not actively seeking to rank highly in the search engines. With a little know how and a nominal amount of time - you can target your website to rank highly for certain keywords and phrases that are going to drive traffic and customers to your website and business.

It sounds complicated.

It really isn't. Even though the search engine's algorithms are complicated - the factors that make up their algorithms are quite simple and easy to understand.

Incoming links.

This is like the popularity contest portion of the formula. The more incoming links, the better. Also involved in this are the types of "anchor text" that those links are using. For example - if another website links to your roof repair business like this: Miami Roof Repair - then the anchor text for that link would be "Miami Roof Repair."

Keywords

Keywords are like the signs and billboards for your internet marketing efforts. Think about it - a potential customer might find your business's website by searching for any number or combination of terms.

1. Miami Roof Repair

2. Leaky Roof Repair in Miami, FL

3. Local Miami Roof Repair

4. Fix Roof in Miami, Florida

And so on and so on. The key is to anticipate which keywords your customers are going to be using - and use those keywords in effective ways on your website so that you will rank highly in the search engines for those keywords.

? Search Engine Optimization For Your Website

Finally, it's important to make sure your website is search engine friendly. There are certain formats and things that the search engine spiders like better than others.

If the search engine's spiders can't read and index your website - then it's going to be really hard for your customers to find it when they search in Google.

By taking the time to focus on a few things with your business's website you could really tap into a whole new market of customers. And the great thing about the internet market - it doesn't matter if you've been around for 20 years or 2 months, you can drive customers to your website and services with just a little bit of effort. Something that your competition probably hasn't even thought of yet.