Citations are online business listings that contain practical information about a business. Citation building can help companies to take control of their data online to ensure it is accurate, complete and widely displayed. It is essential for a business to have accurate information so that customers can easily find their contact information.
At Unwired Web Solutions, we are experts in local citation building in Canada. We work with your business to:
- create new listings on websites they are not yet listed on
- claim listings that already exist
- update data on listings
- remove harmful duplicate listings from sites
Local SEO Value
Citations are important because they hold local SEO value to help improve ranking in local search engines. Search engines such as Google compare the data displayed on citation sites with the business data it holds. When it sees a high-level updated confirmation, it can then build confidence in the business’s location and services offered. This is when Google will boost the business ranking in local search results.
When it comes to building citations, many local small businesses will build them from a list or use a submission service to take care of it for them. The problem in this comes when a company makes a change relating to the name, phone number, address, or removal of a service that affects their primary category. Even modifying opening hours could cause a problem.
Businesses who are not using services for local citation building in Canada may have to log in to each site and update the details one by one. This creates a process then where you will have to wait for the page to be found and crawled again by a Google bot. The updated details will take some time to start filtering through, with some lower tier sites taking months to be crawled again.
Data Aggregator Submissions
A popular way of building local citations is through data aggregators by API connection or via a custom dashboard. Data aggregators lease their data to various companies, which then creates bulk business citations on a wide variety of sites. This data is then uploaded in bulk through the data aggregators.
Manual Submissions
Some citation builders will update submissions manually. When this is the case, you would want each campaign to be handled by one agent and overseen by a manager to review and approve listings to ensure all submissions maintain the highest quality.
Linking To Website
While citations are not linked to a website, they can contain a link to the main business website. These listings can appear on many websites, including online directory’s, event sites, news and blog sites, and review sites.
Our experts in local citation building in Canada understand the complexities of handling all information across various platforms. A business must have the same information across the web so that search engines can recognize it and can relay it to their customers on Google Local/Maps.
Contact our team at Unwired Web Solutions today to learn more about citation building for your business.