Check out the article, "Local Search for Little Biz" on the SearchEngineWatch.com website. Here are a few good exceprts:

For many small businesses, commercial transactions don't take place on the Web. Anything that you'd traditionally look for in the print yellow pages becomes a local search on the Internet. For these queries, Internet marketing encourages potential customers to call them or to visit their brick and mortar store. In these cases, all searches that affect their site are considered local search.

Luckily for small business owners, there are steps they can take to influence many of the factors that positively affect local search rankings.

And then she talks about some other things to remember:

• While you're at it, make sure your local business listing is complete, accurate, and up to date.
• Be sure you've categorized your business properly.
• Optimize your Web site for Local Terms

And I like this point:

Your business data gains trust when it's validated by other trusted Web sites, specifically those that provide local business information

She summarizes by saying this:

Local search is an online space where little businesses can definitely gain an advantage over big national chains. Pay attention to the details and take the time to accomplish all of the steps needed to rank well...

And this is what we've seen at MadisonClick.com. Search for something in Madison, WI (like "Apartments Madison WI" in Google) and as of the writing of this post, we're ranked #2 for that search. We've always been high for that search and it's the most popular page on the site, actually. So the point is, local search directories like MadisonClick.com play a key role for local, small businesses. They must be listed there in order to get the traffic that they need.

-Tony