Insidelocal - Enhanced Citation optimization for Local Search Greatness - Sept 11th 2013

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!