{"id":19360,"date":"2023-01-23T11:38:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T18:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/?p=19360"},"modified":"2024-01-18T16:24:50","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T23:24:50","slug":"how-to-acquire-local-search-citations-to-improve-your-business-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/how-to-acquire-local-search-citations-to-improve-your-business-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Acquire Local Search Citations to Improve Your Business SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
Citations & Directories? What are these, how do you acquire them, and what is their value?<\/span><\/p>\n You already know that local SEO is a central factor in the success of your digital marketing strategy and that when you\u2019re learning how to improve local search rankings, there are a few different things you can try. One of these tactics is establishing and properly managing citations, a task that beginner SEO strategists and business owners alike should master.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re going to take a closer look at how to set up citations and why they matter so much to your SEO goals.<\/span><\/p>\n A local citation is created when the name, address, and phone number (NAP) of a local business is mentioned online. Essentially, it\u2019s how online users know your business exists – and how and where they can find you. These citations can be listed in local business directories, social media platforms, and on various websites and apps.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For local businesses, the purpose of local citations is to ensure that online users in their area can easily discover them with relevant local searches. Citations also affect local search rankings, particularly when it comes to ranking on Google Maps.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The foundation elements of a citation are the name, address, and phone number of a business. In many cases, a link to the business\u2019s website is also included. But beyond that, there are many elements that can be added, largely depending on the citation platform and business:<\/span><\/p>\n When it comes to local SEO, citations can be one of the best ways to improve your local search rankings. And because they\u2019re relatively easy to set up and manage, your investment of time and energy (and expense) is generally pretty low – but the payoff is significant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Citations are a multi-purpose method that can drive measurable results across the board, including:<\/span><\/p>\n One of the most important things to understand about citations is that your set-up process is key. Unless you take a smart, systematic approach, dealing with citations can end up being a time-consuming mess.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And just like citations can positively impact your rankings for local results on search engines, they can also have a negative effect. If your listings contain inaccurate information, or you\u2019re listed on poor-quality platforms, or are simply few and far between, your opportunity for ranking well can be diminished.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the end of the day, there are three core reasons you should care about local listings – let\u2019s call them the \u201cThree R\u2019s\u201d: Reputation, Revenue, and Rankings. Citations factor into all of these, making them more than worth your time and effort.<\/span><\/p>\n Ask a few SEO strategists their opinions on the best citation websites, and you\u2019re likely to get a variety of answers. The fact is that there are several different options for citation websites, and there\u2019s also some debate about which ones are the most valuable. But one thing that the SEO community does agree on is that there are a few citation sites you can\u2019t afford to skip:<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s break down the different types of business citations so that you can learn a little bit about each one in more detail:<\/span><\/p>\n There are a handful of local citation opportunities that are a must for every business, many of which are located on a series of core data platforms. These sites include Google Business Profile, Infogroup, Acxiom, and Localeze\/Neustar.<\/span><\/p>\n Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps, and Where To? are just a few of these navigation citations. These platforms are used daily for directions. <\/span>Google Maps citations (and navigation citations in general) are extremely important because potential customers rely on that data to contact <\/span>and <\/b>locate your physical business. Incorrect information can make it impossible to find you – and you\u2019ll lose out on the money they may have spent.<\/span><\/p>\n Yelp, Instagram, Facebook, and Tripadvisor are all great engagement platforms for businesses. These platforms also contain reviews which are a large ranking factor in the local space.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Opendi, Cylex, Hotfrog, and hundreds more! These general citations may not have the engagement or review options but are extremely valuable in keeping location information consistent across the web.<\/span><\/p>\n These are industry or geo-location-specific. <\/span>Local sites, such as chamber of commerce websites, fall into this category, as do the websites of professional guilds and associations related to your industry. For example, a model train store might work on building citations on sites that belong to their town\u2019s chamber of commerce, regional hobby groups dedicated to model trains, local blogs, and others.<\/span><\/p>\n So, is there a minimum number of citations you should be aiming for? Like most questions in online marketing and SEO, there\u2019s not necessarily just one standard answer. Instead, we have two words for you – that you\u2019re probably not going to like: <\/span>It depends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Since the goal of local SEO citations is to maximize your online visibility and position in local search rankings, your \u201cideal number\u201d is going to be based on several factors. Your geographical location and business type will make a big difference in how many local citations are needed to stay competitive. For example, an antique store in a small, rural town in Idaho certainly won\u2019t need as many business citations as a car dealership in Chicago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As you build citations, your motto should be quality, not quantity. Or, at the very least, quality <\/span>and <\/span>quantity. While you should absolutely strive for a robust library of citations, remember that accurate listings on high-quality directories (with higher domain authority) are the gold standard. At a certain point, putting time and energy into an excessive number of listings becomes wasteful.<\/span><\/p>\n Also, it\u2019s helpful to remind yourself that while citations are a key ranking factor for local search, there are also countless others. So, your resources should be spread across the SEO and marketing campaigns that will give you the best results in the long term.<\/span><\/p>\n When it comes to making the most of your citation opportunities, the best first step is to look into already-existing citations. It\u2019s vital that you actively manage citations to make sure that your customers find accurate information with a quick Google search.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Although it would certainly be convenient to be able to build listings and then check the task off your list forever, that\u2019s simply not how it works. Even if you have a single-location business, have no plans to change your contact information or physical address, and have next to no competition in your small town, regularly checking your listings is important.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s why:<\/span><\/p>\n There are three ways to find and edit local citations:<\/span><\/p>\n In order to manually manage your local citations, you\u2019ll need to set up a system to organize and track the location, accuracy, and status of each one – and there can easily be hundreds. Rather than checking every single online business directory and website, you can rely on a few major data aggregators, such as Facebook and Apple Maps.<\/span><\/p>\n As you review your business listings, focus on correcting errors, closing duplicate listings, and updating any necessary information. Keep in mind that this is not a \u201cone and done\u201d task but rather one that will need to become a part of an ongoing to-do list. As new citations are automatically or manually created, or your business details change, you\u2019ll need to prompt edit accordingly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Manually locating, editing, and managing citations is undoubtedly the most challenging and time-consuming method. In fact, the amount of time and effort required is the main drawback to this option. Without the right experience and approach, you can easily make expensive mistakes or become overwhelmed.<\/span><\/p>\n On the other hand, the benefits of manual citation management include having full control over all of your business listings. Rather than work with a third party, you can decide how and when to build citations. This gives you the freedom to easily add your listing to local business associations or industry-specific directories without having any hoops to jump through.<\/span><\/p>\n For some businesses, manually managing citations is the best fit. You might want to consider a manual approach if:<\/span><\/p>\n You also have the option to hire out the task of manual submission and management, if you prefer that over an automatic service.<\/span><\/p>\n A partially automated approach to citations can be an excellent middle ground for a wide variety of businesses. In this scenario, a professional service provides you with automated data pushes and updates on specific platforms. Additionally, they also offer the manual creation of listings on specific platforms that are outside the reach of the automatic data push.<\/span><\/p>\n With this approach, you have the advantage of access to a broad range of citation platforms. The service provider may be able to add your listing to various sites or platforms that you would not otherwise be able to access, including those within niche industry categories and locations. It saves you the time and effort involved in finding these platforms and creating your listings.<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, there are also certain negative aspects. Depending on your budget, you may find that semi-automated management is cost-prohibitive. Also, some services cut corners by using low-quality directories, which generally won\u2019t deliver the results you\u2019re hoping for. For this reason, choosing a reputable service provider is key.<\/span><\/p>\n Semi-automated citation management may be a good fit if:<\/span><\/p>\n You are able to locate a provider that will maximize your ROI.<\/span> Your third option is a fully automated citation management service. All you\u2019ll need to provide is your business information (name, address, and phone number, as well as additional details if needed), and the site will automatically push the data to various platforms. This approach is sometimes called \u201caggregator submission\u201d because it typically utilizes major data aggregators such as BrightLocal or Whitespark.<\/span><\/p>\n This method comes with the widest range of cost and quality, especially because there are many different automated citation solutions to choose from. Everything from your pricing and capabilities to available partner platforms and the actual functionality of your dashboard can vary considerably.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As you would imagine, choosing a completely automated method is going to drastically reduce time spent on your end. An average business could have thousands of duplicate local business listings, requiring more hours than are humanly possible. Efficiency is the biggest benefit – so what could the drawbacks possibly be?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, your experience is going to come down to the provider you select. This is definitely one of those situations in which \u201cyou get what you pay for\u201d applies. It\u2019s up to you to determine if the value provided is on par with your investment; for every business owner, that will be a completely personal choice.<\/span><\/p>\n Automating your local business citation process can be useful no matter the size or type of your business. But if any of the following scenarios apply to you, then you\u2019re likely to find it especially beneficial:<\/span><\/p>\n So how do you go about building a library of citations? There are a few different approaches; you can manually create logins for each directory and update each. This sounds like a solid plan until you have tons of logins and platforms to update if you need to change your information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A more systematic approach that agencies use is some form of listing syndication. A syndication platform allows you to make updates to multiple directories within one dashboard. These platforms are normally contracted to each citation with an API that allows you to push data to multiple citations.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve taken both of the above approaches over the years, and I honestly believe that a mixture of both is the key to local ranking and customer engagement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a short and sweet, step-by-step guide that will help you learn how to get citations for your business:<\/span><\/p>\n Before you jump right into building new citations, you\u2019ll want to see which ones already exist for your business – and whether or not they\u2019re accurate. Once you have a collection of citations, carefully evaluate them to correct any missing or inaccurate information.<\/span><\/p>\n There are some SEO experts that consider Google to be such a fundamental asset, and they wouldn\u2019t even call it a \u201ccitation.\u201d Whether you would personally label Google as a citation or not doesn\u2019t matter; what does matter is that you have a complete and correct Google Business Profile listing. Google is the king of local search, making it the best place to start your local SEO efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n There are a handful of high-quality platforms that are open to virtually any type of local business, including Facebook, Bing, Foursquare, and Yelp. Some are free, while others require paid listings. Aim for accurate listings on the core platforms, and eliminate any duplicates.<\/span><\/p>\n Depending on your industry and location, there will be specialized platforms specifically suited to you. For example, a hotel might create citations on their local chamber of commerce website, community hubs, and travel review websites.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Larger players in the game like Google Business Profile, Facebook, and Yelp have a ton of added value and are worth the additional management effort they require. In a perfect world with a mixture of individually managed citations with a library of citations just focused on the location data of a business would be ideal. This allows an individual to keep their business data accurate and consistent while also working within the platforms with more user engagement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To mention Google Business Profile, Facebook, and Yelp again, these platforms have far more engagement options than lesser-known directories like Tupalo, Cylex, or eLocal. These lesser-known directories hold value because they can be used to keep location data consistent. Why is that important? Google will crawl the web and index information about any business. The more a business populates, the higher the ranking value Google gives the business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So now we\u2019re using the citations and the data within them to our advantage – we have a library of data-driven citations and are also using platforms that users use on a daily to engage with customers. At this point, we have the support of Google with our citation consistency and engagement with local customers. This is a win-win in the citation building game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve created a few new citations for your business, the work isn\u2019t done – actively managing your citations is essential to your search rankings, revenue, and online reputation. Like many aspects of SEO, it\u2019s an ongoing project that you should consider long-term maintenance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Neglecting to manage your citations properly can turn them from a benefit to a risk to your SEO and online presence. From competitor edits to local listings to inaccurate information, there are several issues that can crop up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Learn more about how a professional agency partner can keep your Local SEO citation and directory needs up to date by <\/span>contacting V Digital Services<\/span><\/a> today.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Featured Images: Sammby\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/p>\n Ivanko80\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Citations & Directories? What are these, how do you acquire them, and what is their value? You already know that local SEO is a central factor in the success of your digital marketing strategy and that when you\u2019re learning how to improve local search rankings, there are a few different things you can try. One […] KEEP READING<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":25697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19360"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is a Local Search Citation?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Components of a Local Citation<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Why are Citations Important?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Where Do You Get Local Citations?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Types of Citations<\/span><\/h3>\n
Major Local Business Data Platforms<\/span><\/h4>\n
Map & Navigation Citations\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
Social Networking Citations<\/span><\/h4>\n
General Publishers <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
Niche or Geo Citations<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
How Many Citations Should a Business Have?<\/span><\/h2>\n
How to Check and Manage Local Citations<\/span><\/h2>\n
Why is ongoing maintenance important for citations?<\/span><\/h3>\n
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How do I manage my business citations?<\/span><\/h3>\n
1. Manual citation management<\/span><\/h3>\n
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2. Semi-automated citation management<\/span><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/span><\/p>\n3. Automated citation management<\/span><\/h3>\n
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How Do You Get Local Business Citations?<\/span><\/h2>\n
1. First, check for local citations that already exist.<\/span><\/h3>\n
2. Start with Google.<\/span><\/h3>\n
3. Work on creating core structured citations.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
4. Move on to geo- and industry-specific platforms.<\/span><\/h3>\n
Tip: Not all directories or citations are equal<\/span><\/h3>\n
Managing Your Citations<\/span><\/h2>\n
Partner With VDigital Services for Your Local SEO Search Needs<\/span><\/h3>\n