RegisterLocal - Centralizing Local Core Business Data

Justin Sanger over at LocalLaunch has done it again, or at least is doing it again with RegisterLocal

Managing your client's local search programs has become very cumbersome. Registering through Google Local, forwarding the PIN number on, managing geo-targeted ppc campaigns in Adwords, Local Match, SuperPages and then on top of that; identifying negative reviews and correcting business meta information is a whole other beast. Well RegisterLocal is allowing SME's the opportunity to blanket each of these local properties in one easy to use process.

Excerpt from the RegisterLocal web site:
"RegisterLocal makes it easy for franchise corporations, national companies with local presence, and other businesses with multiple locations to easily and effectively submit core business information to the leading local search providers. Whether your business has 10 locations or 10,000, RegisterLocal is your source for accurate business information distribution on the Internet."

I went through the entire process of setting up a business profile which until I got to the area where you added the categories, it was very smooth. The category section was a little daunting and almost too specific. If I were John Deli Owner, I am not going to find anything "deli" related in my search through categories. BUT, if I put "meat" into the search, I will find "Luncheon meat, poultry, manufacturing" or "delicatessans primarily retailing a range of grocery items and products" BINGO! We have a winner. The question is, "Is it too intelligent a process for your average SME?" They did a great job of identifying these categories and I would be interested in seeing how these categories were developed and what data they used in this process. Overall the service has great intentions and has taken Local Search and placed it into one integrated tool that will ultimately benefit the SME, while reducing the pains of days spent optimizing our online business data.

Also, when I got to the end, the cost was $1,000.00 not the $129.95/year...???