Citations are mentions of your business name and address on directory sites such as CitySearch, Yelp, Yellowpages.com, Localeze and many more. References to your business such as the Chamber of Commerce, your local Patch and other organizations you are listed on are also considered a citation. Citations are a major ranking factor with Google and other search engines. The more sites your business is listed on, the more credible your business is to Google. If you want your business to rank higher in the local search results, you need to build your citations. It is important that the information is correct and consistent everywhere you are listed. Here’s how to get started.
Search for your business
You can do this manually or go to Bright Local who provides a great tool that does the work for you and offers a free trial. Type in your business information and within minutes you have a report which includes the citation source, status, citation value, type of site and more.
Here’s a quick look at a Bright Local Report
Go through your citations to ensure the information is correct about your business. If you find any discrepancies don’t panic, submit the changes. If you do make changes, make sure they are consistent. Your name, address and phone number (NAP) must be the same across all sites; your website, Google Places page, directories, organizations – anywhere you are listed.
Preparation
I find being prepared before starting a project like this saves me time. All citation sites are different on what information you can add and upload. Below is a list of the most common pieces of content I’ve been asked to include. Have it handy and ready to go.
- Business description – have a short (200 character) and long (up to 1,000 character) description prepared. Copy and paste what is needed.
- Categories – Most of the sites have their own categories to choose from. Make a list of the categories you would like your business to be listed under. This will help when your trying to select categories that they provide.
- Keywords – research before hand and make a list of the words and phrases you want to “get found” for. There’s some pretty good keyword research videos on YouTube. The JM Internet Group has some excellent free webinars on keyword tools and how to use them. My favorite tools are Keyword Eye and Google’s Adwords Keyword Tool.
- Photos and videos – not all sites allow you to upload photos and videos. For the ones that do, have your favorites readily available.
- Certifications and memberships – examples are The Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau, 3M Certified Installer, etc.
- Location info – if you are located near a landmark or well know area some sites include this information.
- Social Media – more and more sites allow you to add a link to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Have your links ready.
- Other information – business tag line, hours, payment methods, and year founded.
Top 20 Citation sites
Now you are ready to go and submit your business to the top citation sites. I asked Phil Rozek over at Local Visibility System, a guru on Google Places and citation building, who he considers the top 20 “must have citations”. He provided me with this list and said that he makes sure that all of his clients are listed on these important sites.
More citation lists
Phil also has The Definitive List of Local Citations on his website. It lists over 100 citation sources, data-aggregators, and industry specific sites.
Myles Anderson, Search Engine Land, came out with the Top 50 Citation Sources for UK and US Local Businesses. It’s a great list as well with some industry specific citations.
At elSue we advise our clients to claim or add Google Places, Bing Business Portal and Yahoo! Local to start. We then compile a list of citations we feel best suits their industry and needs. There’s so many blog posts and articles online about citations and how important they are to local businesses. Go ahead and Google “what are citations?” or “the best citation sources” You won’t be disappointed.
Excellent local citation resources
Local Visibility Systems – Phil has an enormous amount of information on his website. It’s one of my favorite online local hangouts!
Bright Local – their tool is a time saver. Start off with their trial and take it from there.
Get Listed – great site, plug your company name in and find out how your business ranks on Google, Bing and Yahoo.
It’s great to find out about new citation sites, especially industry specific such as Open Table, Boorah and UrbanSpoon (restaurant industry). Let us know if you have a list of your favorite citation sites. Or, how you manage your citations. Oh, that’s another post!
