Today's Process: Local Citations Building: Simple Process

Purpose

Building local citations is a crucial step in improving your business’s local SEO. By creating consistent listings across trusted directories and websites, you can enhance your online visibility and attract more local customers. Here’s a straightforward process I follow to build local citations efficiently.

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Prepare a Sheet with Your Business Details

Create a spreadsheet containing your business details such as:

• Business Name

• Address

• Phone Number

• Website

• Operating Hours

• Categories/Services Offered

• Social Media Links

This preparation ensures you have all the necessary information ready for easy copy-and-paste during submissions.

Tool Used: Google Sheets, Excel, or similar spreadsheet software

Step 2: Search Your Service in Google

Search for your core service or product in Google (e.g., “handyman”). This helps you identify competitors and potential citation opportunities.

Tool Used: Google Search

Step 3: Look into Their Referring Domains

Using a tool like Ahrefs, analyze the top-ranking competitor’s website to find their referring domains. These domains often include local citation sites and directories.

Tool Used: Ahrefs, SEMrush

Step 4: Find the 1st Ranking Organic Website

From the search results, identify the first organic (non-advertisement) website. Use this as your primary reference for extracting citation opportunities.

Objective: Benchmark against the top-performing competitor.

Step 5: Extract Domains into Your Prepared Sheet

Extract the referring domains of the top-ranking site and organize them into a separate tab in your spreadsheet for easier access and review.

Tool Used: Ahrefs, Spreadsheet Software

Step 6: Vet the Local Citations Sites

Review the extracted domains to determine their relevance to your business. Prioritize sites that cater to your industry or local area.

Objective: Focus on citations that align with your niche and location.

Step 7: Submit Your Business Details

Use the prepared sheet to copy and paste your information into the selected local citation websites. This step ensures consistency across all listings.

Tools Used: Citation sites (e.g., Yelp, Yellow Pages, Google My Business)

Step 8: Finalize Your Local Citations List

After completing submissions, update your spreadsheet to track the status of each citation (e.g., "Submitted," "Live," "Pending Approval").

Objective: Maintain an organized record for future updates and verifications.

Insights

Building local citations requires significant manual effort, primarily copying and pasting, but it’s an essential task for local SEO. I’ve been learning and refining this process over the past few months and aim to automate parts of it in the future.

Are you experienced with local citations? I’d love to hear your tips and tricks to improve this process further!

Tools Used

• Google Search: Competitor discovery

• Ahrefs: Referring domain analysis

• Spreadsheets: Organizing and tracking submissions

• Citation Sites: Directory listings (e.g., Yelp, Google My Business)

Call-to-Action

Want to improve your local SEO with well-optimized citations? Let me help you implement this process for your business. Contact me today to get started!