CITATION BUILDING SERVICE
Since the creation of search engines it has been a mystery in regards to how websites are ranked when a user performs a search. Where some find tactics and strategies that work, it doesn’t mean they contain all parts of the equation. Getting your business to rank online has been an art and many companies aren’t doing anything to attempt to increase their visibility.
Think of this situation – you have 20 fishing poles on your boat and you go out fishing. You have enough bait to last you months even though you are only fishing for a few hours. Your goal is to catch as many fish as possible. Do you throw out one line in the water or do you throw out all 20 lines? Obviously, the more lines in the water, the more fish you will catch. The same goes for your business. If you only have your company’s website online, what makes you think you’re going to catch a ton of new clients? You need to get your business name, address, and phone number listed in as many places as possible online – this is called an online citation.
What are Citations?
Citations reference your business NAP or name, address, and phone number along with your company URL to help determine the legitimacy of your business. Having accurate citations in place builds your reputation with the search engines like Google and boost your online rankings. Citations don’t necessarily have to have a link back to your website in order to be valuable, simply having your business name is enough for them to be figured into the local SEO algorithm. In order for the citation to help the SEO of your site, it must match the NAP (name, address, and phone number) you have listed on Google My Business. Here are a few examples of where you can get citations for your site.
- Question and Answer Sites – Quora, Google Answers, Yahoo! Answers, LinkedIn Answers, etc.
- Local Directory Listings – Google My Business, Yelp, Manta, Citysearch, FourSquare, YellowPages
- Guest Post Bylines – These will usually also result in a backlink which is another valuable piece of the local SEO puzzle.
Online Citations for your business are CRUCIAL to get listed and rank online. The more websites that contain your business name, address, and phone number (and other information like operating hours) the more likely you will start catching more clients (fish) because you have more lines in the water. You can list your business information on your website as much as you would like but the thing that matters is other websites and networks need to have your information on them as well. This will prove to Google and other search engines that your business is popular because websites are sharing your information.
The best place to get citations are on local and national directories. Directories include Google Maps, Angie’s List, Yelp, and many others – there are over 200+ directory sites! Anywhere that will allow you to list your information is a great place for a citation and a great way to increase your digital footprint.
Manual Local Citation Building Service
Where doing citations is seen as a simple task, it does come with its negatives. It is VERY time consuming and is EXTREMELY tedious. A lot of these citation locations will allow you to enter your URL, operating hours, logo image, and other information – one mistake or simple typo on ANY of these areas will cause an inconsistency in your brand and may harm your rankings. This is why it is crucial that you do these but do them 100% correctly and with expert knowledge of the process.
By hiring professionals like us instead of doing the work yourself, you can ensure that your information will be accurately and quickly listed on a trust network of high ranking citation websites. Once we get you listed on these directories, you will start to notice a shift in your online rankings and an increase in your traffic reports. Start gaining some link juice and boost your website today by getting citations created.
