Local search engines such as Google Local and Yahoo! Local rely on many sources of to gather information on a business and enhance their local search Listing. One of the main sources used for enhancing business listings are review sites – where users post appraisals and evaluations of businesses and products they’ve used.

More than just enhancing the information in a local listing, reviews can also help persuade searchers to select a business, as other people’s opinions help users differentiate between the many listings that result from a local business search.

Below is an example of some reviews that were picked up by Google Local for a Hotel in Orlando.

In this case the reviews were positive and came from four sources including Mobile Travel Guide, Citysearch, Gayot and Tripadvisor.

Businesses should urge their customers to leave reviews on these sites as if they get picked up they can help build your business listing and in turn help with your ranking in the local search engines.

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