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Citations are an essential part of any local search strategy and they're increasing in importance. In the 2013 Local Search Ranking Factors Study, Citation factors fill 3 of the top 6 slots for the most influential local ranking factors. But researching, building & optimizing citations remains a confusing process for many SEOs. What should you tackle first? How important is cleaning up citations vs. building new citations? etc… In this webinar we examine why citations are so important, how to create a highly effective citation strategy and advanced tips to optimize citations to dominate search results for your clients.
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Sept 11th 2013
‘Enhanced Citations for Local Search Greatness’
‘Enhanced Citations for Local Search Greatness’
Agenda:Why are citations so important
Citation Building Strategy
Advanced optimization techniques
Presentations and Q&A
– 3 sections to webinar– 3 Presentations
• Mini Q&A after
– Full Q&A session at end
House keeping…
Webinar is being recorded
Recording available on Monday
No webcam view (boo…)
Slidedeck uploaded to slideshare.net
Follow up email with all details
Speakers
David MoceriHeygotomarketing.com
Nyagoslav Zhekov
Ngsmarketing.com
Hosts
Myles AndersonBrightLocal.com
Linda BuquetLocalsearchforum.com
Section 1
So why citations?!
‘Enhanced Citations for Local Search Greatness’
Myles AndersonBrightLocal.com
Data drives internet & mobile
All local sites & services need data
LBS & apps need a data layer
Same data sources feed into web & mobile
More data sources & outlets than ever before
More local searches than ever before
Mobile driving growth in local searches
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 20160
20
40
60
80
100
120
Mobile Desktop
BIA/Kelsey Local Commerce Monitor (LCM) Survey, Wave 16, November 2012
Scale = billion searches/year
169,000,000,000‘LOCAL’ SEARCHES IN 2015
BIA/Kelsey Local Commerce Monitor (LCM) Survey, Wave 16, November 2012
Citations remain ‘the key’ factor in local search
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
#6 ‘Validation with third-party providers’
#2 ‘Citations from Major Data Providers’
#4Volume of structured Citations
#7 Quality of structured Citations from
#10 Quality of unstructured citations
#11 Volume of unstructured citations
#4Volume of structured Citations
#5Volume of unstructured Citations
#5 Quantity of Structured Citations
#8 Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
#3 Consistency of Structured Citations
#4 Quality/Authority of Structured Citations
#6 Quantity of Structured Citations
#14, 16, 25, 39
Source: Local Search Ranking Factors Study – 2008-2013
Expert Citation Survey 2013
17 local search experts
11 questions
Key & common questions
A big thank you to…
Expert Citation Survey - PanelistsMike Blumenthal
Andrew Shotland
Nyagoslav Zhekov
David Moceri
Mike Ramsey
Phil Rozek
Laura Betterley
Casey Meraz
Susan Hallam
Mike Bellasco
Matthew Hunt
Brian Coryat
Damian Rollinson
Don Campbell
Jon Keel
Phil Britton
Myles Anderson
How important are accurate Citations to local search ranking?
Critical Very Important Quite Important Not Important0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
69%
19%12%
0%
Are Citations getting more or less important to local search ranking?
More Important The Same Less Important0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
44%50%
6%
What is more important - quantity or quality of Citations?
Quality Quantity Same Importance0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
63%
19% 18%
Which type of sites are most valuable for Citations?
Local Dir National Dir Niche/Industry All the same0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
19%
31%
25% 25%
Is it more important to update existing wrong citations or build new citations?
Existing New Mix of both0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
38%
6%
56%
How important is it to merge or delete duplicate citations?
Essential Very Important Quite Important Not Very Important0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
31%
19%
38%
13%
Do you think it's best to build citations quickly or steadily over time?
Build st
eadily
(3-6 m
onths)
Depends on quan
tity of e
xisting
Build quick
ly (1-2 m
onths)
Build as
man
y as y
ou can now!
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%
53%
27%13%
7%
“We know building citations quickly for new sites is essential, but equally citation building is an ongoing steady process, not a one hit wonder. A steady approach always wins with Google! ”
Susan Hallam
“Citation building should be an on-going process and never end.”
Mike Blumenthal
Does address formatting need to be 100% perfect? (or do small differences not matter? )
100% Perfect Important but not critical Formatting not an issue0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
31%
50%
19%
“As far as address formatting goes, different sites tend to use different standards of abbreviation. This forces sites like Google to use they're own standardized matching algorithms to yield better, more unified results. …Moral of the story is, don't intentionally alternate between Road and Rd, but don't stress over it if it happens..”
Phil Britten
How important is 'richness' of citations? (e.g. adding 'description', 'photos', 'opening
hours’ etc…)
Very Important Quite Important Not Important0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
56%
31%
13%
How important is it to use different descriptions across different sites?
Not importa
nt now but m
ay be in fu
ture
Importa
nt to do on high value dire
ctorie
s
Not importa
nt & time co
nsuming
Useful to help cit
ations rank higher
Importa
nt to avoid dupe co
ntent penalties
Importa
nt beca
use some sit
es check
for u
nique content
Don't bother!
0%
10%
20%
30%30%
26%
17%
3% 4% 4% 4%
Only 40% say it’s important to do….
Not importa
nt now but m
ay be in fu
ture
Importa
nt to do on high value dire
ctorie
s
Not importa
nt & time co
nsuming
Useful to help cit
ations rank higher
Importa
nt to avoid dupe co
ntent penalties
Importa
nt beca
use some sit
es check
for u
nique content
Don't bother!
0%
10%
20%
30%30%
26%
17%
3% 4% 4% 4%
Section 2
Citation Strategy – Research & Implementation
‘Enhanced Citations for Local Search Greatness’
Nyagoslav ZhekovNgsmarketing.com
Step 1: Collecting and Sorting Information
Name, Address, Phone number
+Category[1]
Plenitude of Business Data
Collect outdated information
Bonus: Company Information Sheet
bit.ly/CitationsForm
1bit.ly/LocalezeList bit.ly/InfogroupList
Step 2: Discovering Existing Listings1. How business information flows on the web:
Step 2: Discovering Existing Listings (Cont.)
2. It is actually a little more complicated…
Tier 1:- Government organizations (Industry Canada)- Telcos:AT&T, Verizon (US), BT (UK), Deutsche Telekom (Germany))
Tier 2:- Business data aggregatorsInfogroup, LocalEze, Acxiom, Factual, D&B (US), Yellow Pages Group (Canada), LDC, Market Location, 118 Information, Infoserve (UK), Sensis (Australia), Gelbe Seiten (Germany)
Step 2: Discovering Existing Listings (Cont.)
Tier 3:- Major business directoriesYP.com, CityGrid Network, Yelp, Local.com (US)Yell, ThomsonLocal, TouchLocal (UK)*Yellow Pages Group and Sensis are “monopolists” in Canada and Australia, respectively
Tier 4:- All the rest
Step 2: Discovering Existing Listings (Cont.)
Before you start: Prepare a spreadsheetbit.ly/CitationsSpreadsheet
1. Automated phase- GetListed.org – Infogroup, LocalEze, Acxiom, Factual, YP.com- Yext’s “Local Search Scorecard” – a lot of major directories- Bright Local’s “CitationTracker” – Google’s full index
Step 2: Discovering Existing Listings (Cont.)
2. Manual phase- Double-check the most important data sources (Acxiom, Infogroup,
LocalEze, Factual, Citysearch, Yahoo, Yellowpages, Yelp, Local.com, MapQuest)
- Double-check some business directories that generally contain a lot of duplicates: MerchantCircle, MojoPages, EZLocal, Manta, HotFrog, Foursquare, ChamberofCommerce, Yellowbot
- Double-check some business directories that are not well indexed by Google: Insiderpages, Kudzu, Brownbook
- Search for any phone number that has ever been used by the business in the following format: 555-555-5555
- Search for any variation of the business name + ZIP where the business has been located (and any combinations of the two)
Step 3: Fix, Claim, Update, Report
Claim all listings that are claimable:
If a listing is not claimable, report the incorrect information via emailbit.ly/ReportInfoTemplate
Report and remove duplicate listingsbit.ly/ReportDuplicates
Step 4: Discover Additional Citation Sources
1. Important citation sources every business should be listed onbit.ly/CitationSources
2. Citation sources important for specific industry/locationbit.ly/CitationSourcesCitybit.ly/CitationSourcesNiche
3. Check competitors’ citations using CitationTracker and Citation Finder
Step 4: Discover Additional Citation Sources (Cont.)4. How to determine if a citation source is important: Direct competitors have citations there Other businesses from same city/industry are listed there General popularity as a citation source (bit.ly/CitationSourcesPopular) How big the business information database of the citation source is How big their distribution network is How long it takes for Google to pick a citation (bit.ly/CitationsTime) Web traffic to the citation source Domain authority of the citation source Citation source ranks high when using relevant queries on Google
Step 5: Get Listed
1. Use software to help speed-up the work:- Chrome Auto-Fill bit.ly/AutoFillChrome- Roboform bit.ly/UseRoboform
2. Save business directories that require phone verification for the end - LocalEze, Infogroup, Nokia, Bing, Yahoo, Yelp, Citysearch, iBegin, Yellowee, Yellowbot (US)
Yellowpages, WebLocal (Canada)
Step 6: Following Up
1. After 1 week- Check email for updates- Manually go through the listings
2. After 2 weeks- Manually go through the listings- Resend email requests if action hasn’t been taken
3. After 3 weeks- Check email for updates- Postcard verifications should be completed
4. After 4 weeks- Last check for updates- If some listings haven’t been updated yet – report the URLsbit.ly/PageRemoval
Irrelevant Step: About Me
Nyagoslav Zhekovwww.NGSMarketing.cominfo@ngsmarketing.com(+1) 347-535-4535twitter.com/Nyagoslav
Section 3
Advanced Optimization
‘Enhanced Citations for Local Search Greatness’
David MoceriHeygotomarketing.com
Presentations Overview
– How You Should View Citations– Software Strategies– Manual Strategies
How You Should View Citations
– They are Google Checkpoints– Pick Top 10 to 20 to Manage
• Google+ Local – Bing Local – Yahoo Local• Yelp – MerchantCircle – Patch – YellowPages• Facebook – Twitter – LinkedIn – Google+ Page
– Treat Them Like Buffer Sites• Build Links to Them as you Would to Your Site• Buy Fiverr Gigs to Build Social Signals• Put Up Spun and/or New Blog Posts
Put Your Competitors Out of Business!If You’re NOT on the 1st Page You are Done!
HERE IS THE OUTCOM
VERY EXCITING
What You Are Witnessing Is Real
7 - 1st Page Rankings (Usually 5 to 6)
This is a Real Simple Way to Crush It!
These Directories/Citations Have Built-In Traffic & Social Signals Which = Activity!
These are Authority Sites for Local SEO
Results posted at the end
Software Strategies
– Software You Can Use• ScrapeBox • ScrapeJet• EVO Mega Pro• Instant Traffic Software• SE Nuke CrX• Magic Submitter• Just About Anything You Already Own
Software Strategies - Yelp
– ScrapeBox: What to Blog Comment Silver State Smiles
2685 S Rainbow BlvdSte 107Las Vegas, NV 89146(702) 722-2226http://www.yelp.com/biz/silver-state-smiles-las-vegas
Software Strategies - Facebook
– ScrapeBox: What to Blog Comment Silver State Smiles
2685 S Rainbow BlvdSte 107Las Vegas, NV 89146(702) 722-2226https://www.facebook.com/Silverstatesmiles
Software Strategies - YellowPages
– ScrapeBox: What to Blog Comment Silver State Smiles
2685 S Rainbow BlvdSte 107Las Vegas, NV 89146(702) 722-2226http://www.yellowpages.com/las-vegas-nv/mip/silver-state-smiles-463588479
Manual Strategies
– Ways You Can Manually Do It• Add to Curated Content• Add to the Bottom of All Blog Posts• Add to Articles Posts• Add to YouTube Video Descriptions• Add to PDF & Slide Sites• Add to Web 2.0 Properties
Manual Strategies
– Ways You Can Manually Do It• Add to Curated Content• Add to the Bottom of All Blog Posts• Meta Data – (New Method I Been See Results)
Manual StrategiesRespond to All Reviews with KeywordsHere is a Great Chrome Extension to Use
Quick Poll
Which topics do you want us to cover in upcoming webinars? (select 3)
Questions?
Answered questions…
http://www.localsearchforum.com/showthread.php?t=10064
‘Enhanced Citations for Local Search Greatness’
Top 10 Citation Sources
Top 10 Citation Sites
1. yellowpages.com
2.
merchantcircle.com
3. superpages.com
4. yahoo.com
5. manta.com
6. yelp.com
7. facebook.com
8. citysearch.com
9. showmelocal.com
10.
yellowbot.com
Top 10 Citation Sites
1. yellowpages.ca
2. canpages.ca
3. weblocal.ca
4. cylex.ca
5. yelp.com
6. manta.com
7. facebook.com
8. yelp.ca
9. hotfrog.ca
10.
pagesjaunes.ca
Top 10 Citation Sites
1. yell.com
2. cylex-uk.co.uk
3. thomsonlocal.com
4. hotfrog.co.uk
5. misterwhat.co.uk
6. yelp.com
7. independent.co.uk
8. yelp.co.uk
9. qype.co.uk
10. thesun.co.uk
Download top 50 sources
http://www.brightlocal.com/2013/09/11/top-50-local-citation-sites
InsideLocal: upcoming webinars
September 25th – Local Reputation Management– Don Campbell, Phil Rozek, Myles Anderson
Tbc – Google+ Local Advanced Troubleshooting– Linda Buquet + 2 more (tbc)
Register here…
www.brightlocal.com/insidelocal
www.localsearchforum.com/insidelocal-webinars
That’s all folks!
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