In most cases you will find local listings are harder to get ranked in then the organic results, this is because there has never been a sure fire way or getting moved up the rankings unlike the organic results where you usually just have to build links.

One of the most important parts of getting ranked in the local listings are: Make sure you listing is completely up to date and accurate. Also make sure you use the correct categories and you target the keywords you want to rank for in your description similar to the organic On-Page SEO.

Reviews and comments also help but sometimes these are hard to obtain, a tactic I use to get more reviews and comments is simply asking my customers to leave a review or comment after I have provided them with a service and most of the time (if the service was good) they will. You should also add in some pictures to your places listing the more content the better.

Try to avoid using keywords in your business title Google and other search engines don’t like this kind of keyword stuffing unless of course its your business name.

If you concentrate on the above steps, build your reviews up and be patient you will soon see your local listing page rise in the rankings.

If you have just signed up for a Google places listing and you cannot see your listing in the results then try waiting a few days then look again, Google can take some time to add your listing to the results. If you are still not seeing your listing anywhere in the rankings take a look at the business listings guidelines. If you are sure you have followed the guide lines then the next best thing is to report the problem to Google.

Remember anything that involves Google can take some time and you wont see results overnight so try not to beat yourself up too much if you don’t see yourself in the rankings after a day or two, just be patient.

SEO or search engine optimization is one of the many popular Internet marketing techniques used today. Part of its popularity lies with its techniques. Unlike SEM or search engine marketing which deals with paid inclusion, SEO involves the use of techniques that improves the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” or un-paid search results.

SEO also gained notoriety because of its techniques. According to many SEO consultants, such as those from SEO Philippines companies, SEO techniques are divided into two different categories; the one which is recommended by search engines while the other is not. These are called as the white hat SEO and the black hat SEO.