Chapter 4: Building Citations with Authority

Ahh citation building. The epitome of local SEO. Citation building always seems to be a heated debate amongst Local SEOers. Is it really necessary? How many citations are needed for a quality citation profile? When is the right time to build citations? We typically shoot to start building citations for a business after the Google My Business profile is set up and after the website/landing page has been optimized for on-page. At that point the business should already be seeing results and the citation building should only add to its success. Plus citation building takes time, lots of time, especially if you’re building them manually, which I definitely recommend.

In this section I’ll go over some must answer questions, along with walk you through the top 25 citations and how to build your profiles for each. Remember Google runs on a trust factor and user experience. The cleaner and more authoritative citation profile you have, the more likely Google will see you as a trusted business that they’ll display higher in the SERPS.

Why build citations manually?

There is nothing better than having full control over your citations. That’s why building your citations manually and keeping track of them in a spreadsheet for potential future changes is especially important. I’ve included a link to our spreadsheet that we use to build manual citations:

Our Citation Tracking Spreadsheet Feel free to download, use, or share it.

Services like Yext submit citations but require a yearly fee, and if that fee isn’t paid, your listings are basically reverted back to what they were before submission depending on the publisher’s policies. Manual citation building vs an automatic submission service? I choose manual every time:

No Yearly Ongoing Fees

Have complete control over each verified citation listing

Won’t lose listings after fees aren’t paid

You get to personalize the listings (VERY IMPORTANT as each citation is different)

That being said, I will recommend certain paid services, such as Moz Local for specific tasks, mainly because of the cost being just $84 annually and they will get your business listed in the main 4 data aggregators: Infogroup, Localeze, Acxiom, and Factual. It would usually cost you the same to get listed in a few of these directly anyways and this way you’re guaranteed an in with no work. We’ll talk about these a little later in this section.

Begin with the Citation Audit

Conduct an audit of the business’ citation profile before doing any new citation building. Not only is this a good idea for long standing businesses that may have a lot of previous citation issues, but also for newly created businesses. Even though no citations have been built manually, it’s likely the new business information has been passed around by aggregators on the internet already. You’ll want to make sure that its clean and the NAP wasn’t incorrectly submitted in any way.

Tools I use to conduct the initial citation analysis:

Brightlocal – one of the best Local SEO tools out there from my point of view – has a great citation analysis tool to compare and steal citations from your competitors (you can get a 30 day trial and prices are reasonable afterwards as well, this is great for agencies)

Moz Local – Great free tool for checking the top guys (google/bing/axciom/etc.)

WhiteSpark – Checks the 50 top citations for your business – will find relevant citations for your industry. A paid service I would also recommend for major data aggregators.

Yext – Yes, you can use Yext to run a quick citation analysis without buying the service After using these tools, you should be able to get a pretty sound idea on what work lies ahead of you.

Top Things to Check for in the Citation Audit

Incorrect NAP info in listings

Closed locations that still exist at same address

Duplicate listings

Tip: Use BrightLocal to Top Your Competitors

I use this step because it’s necessary. Know which citations your competitors have and don’t have, and then you can take make a move to get the citations that matter for your own business. Finding which citations the top ranking competitors have in your business niche is easy just by running a report in Bright Local. Make note of which citations you need to add to match and beat your competitors and add them to your spreadsheet. Save them for later as those will be ones you’ll want to cover after running through my Top 25 list.

It’s Time to Start Building

Now that the audit is completed, you should have an idea of the direction you need to head. There are 3 main types of citations that you should be gunning for as you move forward:

1. Top National Directories (I will go through my recommendations in just a moment step by step; this includes Facebook, Youtube, BBB, etc.)

2. Top Industry Relevant Directories: These will depend on your business niche and you’ll usually be able to find them easily by searching your keywords and cities to see which directories pop up in the top SERPS (e.g. wellness.com for health niche, findlaw.com for lawyers, etc.)

3. Local Relevant Directories: This could include your local city’s business directory, chamber of commerce, etc.

The Killer 15: The Top Citations that give an Edge

We’ve created this Killer 15 citation list to help you get a leg up in your citation building for Local SEO campaigns. These are all high authority and important citations that we have seen kill it for our clients, hence the name. Should you stop after these? No, but creating these citations and personalizing them can go a long ways.

Note: These are high quality citations that also tend to be the high traffic sites. Many Local SEOs as well as myself use a different email address to register citations to avoid spam emails later on, but these citations you will want to have a branded email to help with the verification process. Trust me things will go 100x smoother. Advise your client of the same when doing this. (ex. info@yourdomain.com)

In this section, I’ll discuss the following about each of these top citations:

Citation Name/Domain Authority (DA)

Follow or No Follow Link to Website (Yes, there are some follow options)

Verification Process

How To & Profile Tips for Personalization

Timeframe to Live Listing

1. Bing Places

DA: 97

No Follow

Obviously Bing would be second to Google being a powerful search engine. Registering and personalizing a business citation with Bing is crucial.

Verification Process: By Phone or Postcard (Up to 1-2 weeks)

How to: Bing is similar to Google in the verification process. Head over to bingplaces.com. If you don’t have a Microsoft account, you’ll have to create one. Once logged in, search for your business by name or phone. If it doesn’t pop up, you’ll have to create a new business and go through the steps. If it does pop up, claim it and then go through the verification process.

Fill out the profile info to the fullest, this includes NAP, hours, Social Media Profiles, URL, etc. Bing is one of the high traffic websites, so give it a personal touch. Make sure to add photos.

Timeframe: Upon successful verification, listing usually takes up to 72 hours to go live.

2. Yelp

DA: 94

No Follow

Yelp is high authority and very necessary for many service based businesses, especially restaurants. A high quality source for customers to review and analyze businesses, having a completed profile is a must.

Verification Process: By Phone – Must type in code to Verify

How to: Pop over to Yelp for Business owners, biz.yelp.com/ and search for your business. If it pops up, click to claim it and follow the step by step process. If you need to create a new profile, scroll to the bottom and go to “Add business to Yelp”. Add your info and complete the process.

I would say that photos are going to be the most important info on a yelp page, along with hours and menu if you’re a restaurant.

Timeframe: Same day verification by phone – live within 72 hours typically

3. Facebook

DA 100

No Follow

Facebook isn’t just social network, it’s a high authority citation that needs to have your business NAP info displayed on it.

Verification Process: A couple minutes – there is no current verification process for Facebook, but you should select the option that says that you are a real business venue or establishment

How to: Head over to the Create a Page Option on facebook. Select Local Business or Place or Company, Organization or Institution. Follow the steps. Fill out the profile completely. Remember it is important you put the entire address, phone and website URL in so it will be visible once the page is created on the left hand side of the wall.

Categories again will be key on Facebook, so make sure you’re selecting relevant ones. And please make sure your businesses images look professional. Use the right sizes so they’re not blurry and pixelated.

Here’s an excellent link for a downloadable template to use to frame your Business cover photo: Facebook Cover Photo Template

Timeframe: Live upon creating page

4. YouTube

DA: 100

No Follow

YouTube is a highly effective kill tactic in Local SEO. Not only is it a top citation source, but many people don’t know that you can include your NAP and website info in the description. And they’re owned by Google. Win Win.

Verification: None, but try to attach your Youtube account to your Google+/My Business Account

How to: Well first things first, you’ll have to create a video. Don’t have a video camera? Create a quick slideshow, honestly anything you can get into a video viewing format and post on the site. When editing the description of your video make sure you include following info in the description field:

Full Name, Address, and Phone of Business

Website URL (include http:// in URL as Youtube will automatically turn it into a link after saving)

Biography about your company – including some non spammy local keyword throw ins as well (can’t hurt)

Make sure to geotag your location in the advanced section as well – This can be super clutch.

Timeframe: Live upon video upload and processing.

5. Yellow Pages (YP)

DA: 89

No Follow

The original Yellow Pages still has some value as a top citation to get listed under (for free that is). Would not recommend using their advertising services, but that’s for another day.

Verification: Verify by phone – you’ll have to punch in a code

How to: Head over to yellowpages.com and you can go to “Get Your Free Listing” to start the process. Search for your business to see if it exists already, if anyone would have it, it’s probably Yellow Pages. Otherwise add a new process. Since yellow pages is a high traffic site, you’ll want to customize your listing with as much info as is allowed.

Phone verification will complete it and you’re on your way to a YP citation.

Timeframe: After phone verification, live in up to 72 hours.

6. The 4 Data Aggregators: Infogroup (Express Update), Acxiom, LocalEze, & Factual

Doing a majority of these citations manually is great for personalization reasons and to get listed fast, but the 4 main data aggregators are what hold the true value. Starting early on getting listed with these guys will usually filter your citations down to smaller directory citation sites, even including some on this list.

The problem is, these guys are a PAIN to get listed with manually and some of theme like LocalEze only allow paid listings. This is the only point where I’ll highly recommend you shell out $84 to Moz Local. They’ll submit your information to each of these for you and save you hours of time and outreach.

Time Frame: If using Moz Local, it can take between 4-8 weeks for live listings on all of the aggregators

7. Yahoo!

DA: 100

No Follow

Yahoo is a worst nightmare for manual built citations. They seem to have moved to the mentality that they’ll just wait on approving your listing until you pay for their “Yahoo LocalWorks” which is basically Yext. In fact their feedback forum for Yahoo Local is literally just people going on rants about how no one approves their listing. You can see it here for a good laugh.

Nonetheless, it’s still a very powerful citation that you should attempt to get verified. It is likely if you don’t get verified right away that if you submitted to the data aggregators above that your listing will get filtered into yahoo eventually.

Verification: By Phone after submitting listing or by Domain Email

How To: You’ll have to create a Yahoo ID to begin the process on this one. Head to Yahoo Small Business and search for your business, if found complete the claiming process, otherwise choose add a new business and go through the steps. The verification process is pretty easy, it’s just the approval that seems to take forever. Check on this one every couple months to make sure it’s been approved.

Timeframe: Yahoo is now saying 60+ day turnaround for approval. Ridiculous, I know, but do it anyways.

8. Linkedin

DA: 100

No Follow

Creating a page for your business on Linkedin is a must. It’s a powerful citation source and social media source and can link out to employees across the internet which can really help your visibility.

Verification: None, just clicking accept and submit posting

How To: Head to linked in and click on Add a Company. Add company name and company domain email to certify you’re an official rep for the company. Note** You need an email that is @yourdomain.com, Gmail addresses will not work. Then you’ll have the opportunity to fill out NAP & company info.

Linkedin Profiles are definitely something you’ll want to personalize. Use your logo prominently and create a custom cover photo. Here’s a great link to a downloadable cover photo template: Linkedin Cover Photo Template

Timeframe: Live almost immediately upon creation

9. Angie’s List

DA: 89

No Follow

Verification: By Email

Angie’s list is a site for paid subscribers, so you won’t have much access unless you’re a paid subscriber yourself. However, Angie’s list does let you get a free listing up for your business with minimal info on NAP and Business categories. And it’s very high authority citation once again.

How To: Search for your company to see if it exists in their database already. If not, add your business details and verify that you’re an active part of the company. Angie’s list again is a paid subscriber site with a dedicated user base. You won’t be able to add much info unless you pay for their premium listings.You shouldn’t need to though to just get the citation itself, although some service businesses have found great success with Angie’s list.

Timeframe: May be a few days for listing to be live after initial submittal

10. Manta

DA: 84

No Follow

Manta is all about listing small businesses. It’s a high power citation that is regularly one of the top 20 I’ll recommend.

Verification: You’ll receive an email after submitting your listing with a phone number & 4 digit code. You’ll have to call the phone number from your business line and punch in the code.

How to: Head over to Manta and click Add Business in the top. Ad your company info and submit. You should receive the email not too long after in order to verify your business by phone. Again not a lot of customization that can be done on Manta but just one of those citations you’ll need.

Timeframe: As long as it takes for you or your client to dial the number and punch in the code

11. BBB (Better Business Bureau)

DA: 95

No Follow or Follow

The BBB is one of the most trusted business organizations out there and therefore its citation value is very high. Whether or not you’re actually BBB Accredited, you can still add a free listing for a citation.

Getting BBB accredited and paying the dues might just be worth it if its in your budget since at that point your URL link will turn from a No Follow link to a very valuable Follow Link, and it may at that point be just enough to get ahead of your competitors.

There’s a great deal of heated debate about this since it’s essentially paying for a link, but Google seems to have no problem with it because of the BBB’s trustworthiness. You can read a great deal about it in this informative article on the BBB by Local SEO Expert Phil Rozek.

Verification: Option for Email/Phone/Post Card verification upon Approval

How to: I’m going to just recommend you read this detailed how-to by Mike Munter on How to Submit Your Business to the BBB. He goes into detail on how to submit for free listing and then getting accredited.

Your business does need to be at least 12 months old to be listed on the BBB.

Timeframe: A week or two for initial approval – longer for accreditation process

12. FourSquare

DA: 89

No Follow

Foursquare has recently been trying to rebrand itself after falling a bit in the business directory area. It’s still a top citation you’ll want to have for a business and their verification process is a bit of an oddity as well.

Verification: Pay $20 for instant verification and premium listing, otherwise have to wait for Post Card Verification by mail

How to: Head to foursquare and click on claim your business. If not found, click add business at the bottom, fill out and sign up. Opt for the post card option unless you really want to pay $20 and when it arrives at the business address, you’ll need the code to verify the listing. Be detailed in your foursquare listing and fill up the top pictures options with social media profiles. It’s how you can get the most out of this citation.

Timeframe: 1-2 weeks for post card verification

13. Merchant Circle

DA: 85

No Follow

Merchant Circle has always been amongst the top citations and continues to be. Get a free profile to get that NAP up.

Verification: By Email

How to: Create a free page and add your business info. Be detailed and then click submit. You’ll have to confirm your listing through the email link they send you, but just like that you’ll be up and running

Time frame: Live upon verification

14. Mapquest

DA: 94

No Follow

Mapquest is still relevant as a solid citation but they’ve made it quite difficult to add a basic free listing if your business is new by trying to make it look like they only support paid listings since they’ve partnered with Yext. The trick is just to know which page to go to.

Verification: After sending email with to support with correct info

How to: If your business is already listed on Mapquest, just search for it and when it comes up, click claim your listing and follow the proceedings. However, if you need to add a new business listing on mapquest you need to do a few steps.

You’ll need to Click here to submit a support ticket to MapQuest’s Team and include the following info:

Business Name

Address

Phone Number

Website URL

Up to 6 Business Categories

Latitute & Longitude location coordinates

After you’ve sent the request, you should receive an email back in the next couple days saying that the business has been added and it will be changed in their system over the next 1-2 days.

Timeframe: After addition, 1-2 days for listing to be live

15. Hotfrog

DA 66

No Follow

Hotfrog is still an old and relevant citation site. It’s easy to create a profile for free and you can include a ton of personalized information on it as well.

Verification: By Email

How To: Click on Add Your Business at the bottom center of the homepage. Fill out required info and submit. You should receive a verification email. Once you click the email link you’ll be taken to your profile. There’s actually a good amount of info they require for your profile to get to “100%” but make sure it gets there. Record your login info in the spreadsheet.

Timeframe: Live upon Verification

Continue Your Citation Building

The Killer 15 is a great start for your business but you’re going to have to do a little more if you want to win out in high competition niches.

BrightLocal has a great list of industry relevant citation sites: 1000+ Niche Citation Sites for 41 Business Categories

They also have an incredible list of top US city citations: Local Citation Sites for Top 100 USA Cities

Consider all of these as well as your competitor citation analysis in determining your actual plan for citation building.

Resources Mentioned in Chapter 4

Comparison Between Manual Citation Building and Yext – NGS Marketing

BrightLocal/Moz Local/WhiteSpark/Yext – Citation Analysis Tools

Facebook Cover Photo Template – Inlinevision.com

Linkedin Cover Photo Template – LinkedinCompanyPage.blogspot.com

BBB Accreditation: Boring But Bumps Your Local SEO – by Phil Rozek

How to Submit Your Business to the BBB – by Mike Munter

1000+ Niche Citation Sites for 41 Business Categories – By BrightLocal

Local Citation Sites for Top 100 USA Cities – By BrightLocal