Local SEO: The Official Guide to Citations and Ranking in Google

Local SEO: Citations 101 A special presentation brought to you by SEOBulldog

Why citations? • There are several ways to market a business –Radio, television, mail, or numerous online marketing options • A strong online presence is vital to success in today’s world. –Citations (directory listings) are a very effective way to gain this crucial online presence.

What exactly is a citation? • A citation is any time your business is listed online –For a citation to be complete, it needs to have your NAP (Name, address, and phone number). • Often, your website is included, but not always • Partial Citations –Sometimes a full citation isn’t a possibility, and a partial citation is always better than nothing

Citation Formatting • They way you format your citation isn’t important. Pick formatting you like (make sure to take things like spacing and parentheses in your phone number and company abbreviations) and once you’ve picked something, be consistent! • Make sure the information on your company website matches all your other citations exactly.

How do citations help my business? • Search engines like Google use various algorithms to determine which websites are the most relevant –Having several accurate citations on the web can give you a higher ranking than your competitors.

Are all citations created equal? • Different types of citations hold more weight than others. The rule of thumb is, the harder it is to get a citation, the more valuable that citation is. 1. The best type of citations are those through your local chamber of commerce and the Better Business Bureau. 2. Relevant directories are another good citation. For example, a dentist in Spokane should make sure they are listed in a local directory of Spokane dentists

Other Citations • Use sites like getlisted.org to find several citation opportunities –There’s even an option to search for listings by industry • Find other chances for citations –press releases –email signatures –forum signatures –company blog posts –and more! (always be careful that your citations don’t cross the line to spam)

How do I get started? • Here’s a list of important sites to get you started! These sites help out your search engine presence and are high traffic sites that can drive customers to your business. • • • • • Citysearch Google Places Yahoo Local Bing Local Yelp • • • • • Insiderpages Kudzu YellowPages Dex Chamber of Commerce

• For more help with citations and more, contact us at SEOBulldog! (801) 871-9099 www.seobulldog.com tyson@seobulldog.com