Nearly three dozen local search marketers from around the world have shared their opinions on what matters most this year when it comes to ranking well in Google Maps, Yahoo Local, and Bing Local. David Mihm has published the results of the 2010 Local Search Ranking Factors survey.

The survey asks local search marketers to estimate the positive or negative impact of things like claiming a local business listing, having a keyword in your business name, the value of user-generated content such as Google’s “MyMaps” service, and dozens of other potential factors. The respondents surveyed believe these are the strongest factors that help a local business rank better:

1. Claiming your business listing
2. Having your business address in the city being searched
3. Proper categorizing (of your business listing)
4. Number of citations from major data providers and Internet yellow pages sites
5. Off-page / off-listing factors

Perhaps just as valuable as the statistical data is the commentary that goes along with each of the survey results, many of which show the difficulty of trying to deconstruct how local rankings work.

This is the third consecutive year that David Mihm has published the Local Search Rankings Factor survey.

Related Topics: SEO: Local

About The Author: Matt McGee is Search Engine Land's Executive News Editor, responsible for overseeing our daily news coverage. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. See more articles by Matt McGee

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