Whether you are an independent small business owner or a local franchise of a national chain, if you want to grow your business, you need new local customers coming through your door on a regular basis. One of the single most important things you can do to ensure local customers discover you, is to maintain your local business listing information. That’s right—before you jump on board with the next local search app or social media tool, make sure you have a handle on how and where your business is listed online.

It sounds simple enough. But if you’ve ever combed through all the possible places to list your business online—local business directories, local search engines, local business portals, social networks—you know submitting even your basic business information (company name, address and phone number) can be an overwhelming task.

And simply being listed isn’t enough. Consistency of your information and the inclusion of enhanced content, like website links, hours of operation, logos and other images also impact your findability in local searches.

Managing all this is a full-time job. But you already have a full-time job. That’s where syndication comes in. To maximize your findability, look for a local presence service provider that can both enhance your business data and efficiently distribute it to hundreds of mobile and Internet portals via the leading business data syndication houses, like Localeze, Neustar and InfoUSA.

If you start with a solid business listings management strategy, one that includes syndication of your enhanced listing, you’ll not only increase your findability in local searches, you’ll be well positioned to capitalize on the wide array of mobile and social marketing tools and practices that can give you an edge in your local market.