What is Citation?
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It’s a common term used in local SEO that refers to a mention of your business name, address, phone number and website.
What’s the goal of citation?
Simply put, your online visibility becomes clearer the more citations you have. Put in mind search engines love citations that are authoritative and high in quality.
How to get citations?
1. Learn how to use data aggregators such as Inforgroup. Moz confirms aggregator sites syndicate the data to search engines.
2. To improve your search ranking, register to listing sites such as Yelp Business, Google+ Local, Foursquare for Business and more. Remember: It isn’t recommended to register to all sites but it’s helpful to register to selected sites, which are trusted and popular in your city and by category.
3. Make sure all business information are consistent before verifying your registration. NOTE: Only create 1 listing per site. Check if you’re already registered to avoid duplication.
4. Search for blogs in your city. Do they provide similar products and services? If yes, contact them and request if they can either mention your business in one of their blog posts or you’ll post an article on their blog.
5. Register your business to paid local directories. BOTW is an easy-to-use web directory listing, which increases your site’s visibility in search engines.
6. Actively participate in one or two forums related to your business. If the site allows it, make your homepage URL as your signature. Then, find a way to mention your business name while answering threads. The goal here is to inform; therefore, never promote about your business. Simply say what your business can do for them.
7. Be active in Q&A sites such as Yahoo Answers and Quora.
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