Local Citations: Why They’re Important & Where to Get Them
So, you’re probably wondering, “what are local citations?”
It’s really important to your success online so this is one aspect of SEO that you NEED to be educated about.
Local citations could literally make or break your SEO strategy. That’s how important they are!
According to WhiteSpark,
[pullquote align=”normal”]A local citation is any mention of a business out on the web, with or without a link. [/pullquote]
An example of a local citation might be online directories, such as the Yellow Pages, where your business is listed, but not necessarily linked to. Citations can also be found on chamber of commerce pages, or on a local business association page that includes your business information, even if they are not linking at all to your website.
So, What’s So Important About Local Citations?
Local citations are a key component of the ranking algorithms in Google. If your competition is following all other factors the same as you but has fewer local citations will not rank as high as you if you have more than them.
Getting local citations from well-established and well-indexed portals (i.e. Facebook.com) help increase the validity of your business’s contact information and categorization. They give Google that extra “proof” that you are who you say you are and provide a level of trustworthiness.
Local citations are particularly important in less competitive industries, like lawn care or plumbing, where many service providers don’t have websites themselves. Without much other information, the search engines rely heavily on whatever information they can find.
Local citations also validate that a business is part of a community. It’s hard for someone to fake membership in a chamber of commerce or a city or county business index, or being written about in a local online newspaper or popular blog.
It’s important that you strive to get as many quality local citations and links from these kinds of websites because they can dramatically improve your local search engine rankings!
Every individual directory that you submit to is another chance to get found online, so it’s important to make sure you’re listed in every directory possible. We have compiled a list of many popular local directories available on the internet.
The Top 43 Local Citations / Directories Local Business Marketing
Below is a list of local directories where you can submit your website. We included a few metrics with each directory that tell us why we need to have our website listed there. Here are a few metrics that tell us why these sites are important to have a link on.
PageRank is a quality metric invented by Google’s owners – Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The values 0 to 10 determine a page’s importance, reliability, and authority on the internet according to Google. The higher the number, the better.
Domain Age is important because Google gives more authority to websites who have been around longer than others. It shows that the website is not a “fly-by-night” website that could be spammy. You want to have your website listed on a site that Google sees as authoritative, therefore, the older the site, the better.
Alexa Rank is an algorithm that determines how good a site is compared to other websites. They combine stats such as pageviews, PageRank, etc to determine how strong a website is. While Google doesn’t necessarily look at how good your Alexa rank it to determine your authority, it is a good metric that we can use to decide how beneficial that website is to be listed on. The lower the number, the better.
Estimated Daily Traffic is a good metric to see when deciding where to submit your listing. If you could get your listing shown to even just a small percentage of these sites, you with get even more exposure to the many who are searching on these directories.
[thrive_text_block color=”blue” headline=”PRO Tip:”]Make sure you record all usernames and passwords as you set up accounts for each site. This way, if you need to login to update information later, you won’t have trouble getting to your account.[/thrive_text_block]
Here we go!
[thrive_headline_focus title=”1. Google My Business” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 9/10
Domain Age: 18+ years
Alexa Rank: 1
Estimated Daily Traffic: 337,911,221
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[thrive_headline_focus title=”2. Facebook” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 9/10
Alexa Rank: 3
Estimated Daily Traffic: 111,625,962
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[thrive_headline_focus title=”3. Yahoo” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 9/10
Domain Age: 21+ years
Alexa Rank: 5
Estimated Daily Traffic: 67,582,244
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[thrive_headline_focus title=”4. LinkedIn” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 9/10
Domain Age: 13+ years
Alexa Rank: 17
Estimated Daily Traffic: 19,698,699
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[thrive_headline_focus title=”5. Foursquare” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 9/10
Domain Age: 14+ years
Alexa Rank: 1383
Estimated Daily Traffic: 238,807
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[thrive_headline_focus title=”6. Bing” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 8/10
Domain Age: 20+ years
Alexa Rank: 13
Estimated Daily Traffic: 25,993,171
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[thrive_headline_focus title=”7. MapQuest” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 8/10
Domain Age: 20+ years
Alexa Rank: 918
Estimated Daily Traffic: 392,979
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[thrive_headline_focus title=”8. Better Business Bureau” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 8/10
Domain Age: 20+ years
Alexa Rank: 2089
Estimated Daily Traffic: 176,903
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”9. Merchant Circle” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 8/10
Domain Age: 12+ years
Alexa Rank: 20,175
Estimated Daily Traffic: 16,778
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[thrive_headline_focus title=”10. Yelp” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 7/10
Domain Age: 12+ years
Alexa Rank: 157
Estimated Daily Traffic: 2,141,737
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”11. Trip Advisor” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 7/10
Domain Age: 17+ years
Alexa Rank: 181
Estimated Daily Traffic: 1,860,433
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”12. Whitepages” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 7/10
Domain Age: 19+ years
Alexa Rank: 989
Estimated Daily Traffic: 390,649
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”13. YellowPages” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 7/10
Domain Age: 20+ years
Alexa Rank: 999
Estimated Daily Traffic: 332,881
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”14. Biz Journals” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 7/10
Domain Age: 16+ years
Alexa Rank: 2,012
Estimated Daily Traffic: 170,997
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”15. Home Advisor” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 7/10
Domain Age: 18+ years
Alexa Rank: 4,131
Estimated Daily Traffic: 65,895
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”16. Superpages” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 7/10
Domain Age: 20+ years
Alexa Rank: 10,439
Estimated Daily Traffic: 36,503
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”17. Citysearch” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 7/10
Domain Age: 20+ years
Alexa Rank: 39,394
Estimated Daily Traffic: 20,468
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”18. Angie’s List” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 6/10
Domain Age: 17+ years
Alexa Rank: 2088
Estimated Daily Traffic: 154,821
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”19. Manta” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 6/10
Domain Age: 12+ years
Alexa Rank: 2,384
Estimated Daily Traffic: 138,121
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”20. Local.com” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 6/10
Domain Age: 19+ years
Alexa Rank: 9514
Estimated Daily Traffic: 42,617
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”21. Dex Media” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 6/10
Domain Age: 14+ years
Alexa Rank: 40,697
Estimated Daily Traffic: 12,014
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”22. Yellowbot” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 6/10
Domain Age: 11+ years
Alexa Rank: 51,347
Estimated Daily Traffic: 19,140
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”23. Kudzu” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 6/10
Domain Age: 21+ years
Alexa Rank: 66,640
Estimated Daily Traffic: 17,367
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”24. InfoUSA” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 6/10
Domain Age: 18+ years
Alexa Rank: 83,965
Estimated Daily Traffic: 8,512
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”25. Thumbtack” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 5/10
Domain Age: 17+ years
Alexa Rank: 4,081
Estimated Daily Traffic: 63,137
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”26. Hotfrog” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 5/10
Domain Age: 13+ years
Alexa Rank: 34,703
Estimated Daily Traffic: 16,935
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”27. ChamberofCommerce.com” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 5/10
Domain Age: 19+ years
Alexa Rank: 39,388
Estimated Daily Traffic: 6,549
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”28. ShowMeLocal” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 5/10
Domain Age: 9+ years
Alexa Rank: 44,452
Estimated Daily Traffic: 17,083
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”29. CityVoter” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 5/10
Domain Age: 10+ years
Alexa Rank: 51,447
Estimated Daily Traffic: 8,370
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”30. Magic Yellow” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 5/10
Domain Age: 14+ years
Alexa Rank: 81,365
Estimated Daily Traffic: 8,451
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”31. YellowPagesGoesGreen.org” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 5/10
Domain Age: 8+ years
Alexa Rank: 161,415
Estimated Daily Traffic: 2,674
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”32. Discover Our Town” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 5/10
Domain Age: 16+ years
Alexa Rank: 193,764
Estimated Daily Traffic: 4,589
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”33. Brownbook” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 4/10
Domain Age: 8+ years
Alexa Rank: 35,850
Estimated Daily Traffic: 25,508
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”34. EZ Local” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 4/10
Domain Age: 14+ years
Alexa Rank: 74,342
Estimated Daily Traffic: 10,697
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”35. CitySquares” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 4/10
Domain Age: 10+ years
Alexa Rank: 79,807
Estimated Daily Traffic: 19,299
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”36. My Huckleberry” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 4/10
Domain Age: 10+ years
Alexa Rank: 105,816
Estimated Daily Traffic: 10,798
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”37. Get Fave” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 4/10
Domain Age: 10+ years
Alexa Rank: 127,806
Estimated Daily Traffic: 3,091
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”38. USDirectory.com” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 4/10
Domain Age: 16+ years
Alexa Rank: 128,893
Estimated Daily Traffic: 3,333
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”39. Judy’s Book” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 4/10
Domain Age: 12+ years
Alexa Rank: 156,890
Estimated Daily Traffic: 4,474
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”40. USCity” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 4/10
Domain Age: unknown
Alexa Rank: 245,479
Estimated Daily Traffic: 4,953
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”41. Infignos” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 3/10
Domain Age: 14+ years
Alexa Rank: 346,617
Estimated Daily Traffic: 1,976
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”42. CitySlick” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 3/10
Domain Age: 10+ years
Alexa Rank: 663,864
Estimated Daily Traffic: 3,993
[divider style=’full’]
[thrive_headline_focus title=”43. LocalStack” orientation=”left”]
PageRank: 0/10
Domain Age: 6+ years
Alexa Rank: 99,547
Estimated Daily Traffic: 918
Making sure that you have a presence everywhere your potential customers might find you is critical to any local marketing plan. Don’t wait! Add your local business to these directories today!
