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Citations (IYP/ Directories)


    Pie Chart of Whitespark 2023 Local Search Ranking Factors--Citations: 7% Overall

    Whitespark:   Local Pack/Finder (7%)   Organic (7%)
    When local businesses change locations, or their phone numbers or even their website URL, they need to update this information on all the web directories, Internet yellow pages (IYP) and other sites that list them and link to their websites.

    In SEO industry jargon, we call these listing links citations. Cumulatively, they're important location signals for local search rankings, both organic and local pack/finder listings.

    The Whitespark survey has citations at 7 percent importance for both organic and local pack/finder results. We think they may be a lot more important—if you have a problem with consistency. Because if you have different addresses in your citations, how can Google trust your location?

    To have strong, trustworthy signals, your NAP (name, address, phone) information needs to be correct in your citation listings. And to avoid confusion, to signal the strongest possible trust in your location, your NAP information should be presented consistently in all the directories, e.g, if "Street" is spelled out in one place, it should not be abbreviated somewhere else.

    Review HELPER will find and correct all your existing incorrect citations.

    We use use tools, such as offered by Whitespark. We also run manual searches of Google to find the citations. This way we know how Google prioritizes what's important for you and your business category and market.

    Unless we have login info from the client (rare except for Yelp and Google), we need to either "claim" an existing listing or add a new listing, both of which require creating an account and verifying it through email or phone. The phone verifications will require having a contact at each client location who will work with us.

    Duplicate Listings
    A major source of confusion with web directories is duplicate listings. Duplicate listings are common, especially if you've had more than one business address. Where this happens, there are usually errors or inconsistencies in one or both or all of the multiple listings. It's not uncommon for a business get duplicate Google Business Profile listings, and this needs to be resolved correctly.

    Competitive Research & New Listings
    Because quantity of citations is a ranking factor, we'll research your competitors who are successful in Google local packs and organic ranking for your keywords, and for each of your locations. If we find any citations they have that you don't, we submit your listing. By taking this approach, we make sure you're in the directories Google thinks are important for your business category and market.

    At the end of the project, we submit a status spreadsheet document, providing a list of new and updated sites, the status, and the login information for all the accounts we claimed and created.