I came across and learned alot about Google Places optimization from a few threads here (thanks), and noticed the importance of 'citations' (directory) in order to boost your GP rankings up.

I am wondering how these 'directories' are different than creating a regular webpage with your address on it? How does Google differeniate it if they are really different?

THanks

Can someone please share their inputs on this?
Thanks in advance.

Basically, the more "places" that Google Places finds online when you setup the Places page, that MATCH your listing address and phone in the same structure as your business, the heavier weight Google will give you and possibly place you higher. When it comes down to it, the difference sometimes in deciding who gets position 1, 2, 3, 4 or whatever in the Google 7-box, is the number of reviews and number of citations it finds about you.

Directories are the best way to do this; there's a spreadsheet floating around in the download section of the top 120 directories sorted by pagerank. Go manually list your business on each one. Make EXACTLY sure that the way you enter your business name, address, and phone number, is EXACTLY the way you are listing it on the Google Places page. These are citations. Ideally you will build these first, give it a week to 10 days or so to get indexed (pinging your listing on each directory helps), then build your Google Places page. Google will find the citations and correlate it to your business.

Thanks for the advice.

So what makes 'citiation' directories different from regular sites (blog for example), beside the fact that these so-called directories have a huge database of business name/address and a form for business owners to fill?

Cant I use AMR to blast my name/address/phone number to article directories etc.?

Dont take me wrong, i have zero intention of challenging you theory, but i am keen to understand how google looks into citations and regular sites etc.

Thanks

And is it any good to use foreign directories for your Google Places local listing?

When I use the word citations, I’m talking about mentions of your business on directory sites like the Yellow Pages, BBB, Yelp, Citysearch, and more.
Google uses this information to figure out:

A) If your business is real
and
B) What your business does


In order for Google to “credit” your Google Places listing with a citation, they need to be certain that the citation is referring to your business. This means that your business name, address, and phone number must be identical to the information listed in Google Places.

The easiest way to think of a citation is as a reference to your business. In the offline world a reference won’t usually be a link. Instead it will be a mention of your business and will include the following:

1. Business Name
2. Business Location
3. Business Telephone Number

When Google finds a citation or reference to your site you receive a point, you get this point even if that site fails to link directly to you. The more points you have the higher you will rank. Citations act as a vote of confidence in your listing, therefore citations from authoritative sites are worth more than less authoritative ones, for instance a link from your local chip shop’s website is not going to be worth the same as a link from your Chambers of Commerce. This means that quality is far more important than volume, so having citations therefore has a positive effect on your Google Places ranking.

Originally Posted by Balthazshar

When I use the word citations, I’m talking about mentions of your business on directory sites like the Yellow Pages, BBB, Yelp, Citysearch, and more.
Google uses this information to figure out:

A) If your business is real
and
B) What your business does


In order for Google to “credit” your Google Places listing with a citation, they need to be certain that the citation is referring to your business. This means that your business name, address, and phone number must be identical to the information listed in Google Places.

The easiest way to think of a citation is as a reference to your business. In the offline world a reference won’t usually be a link. Instead it will be a mention of your business and will include the following:

1. Business Name
2. Business Location
3. Business Telephone Number

When Google finds a citation or reference to your site you receive a point, you get this point even if that site fails to link directly to you. The more points you have the higher you will rank. Citations act as a vote of confidence in your listing, therefore citations from authoritative sites are worth more than less authoritative ones, for instance a link from your local chip shop’s website is not going to be worth the same as a link from your Chambers of Commerce. This means that quality is far more important than volume, so having citations therefore has a positive effect on your Google Places ranking.

Thanks for the excellent response once again.
Now i know in general terms, citations are classifieds as yellow pages, BBB etc.

What about putting our business name, business address, business telephone numbers on web2.0 such as blogspot, hubpages etc. Do they count as a 'vote' in google's eyes?

If thats the case, I believe we can then do what we are doing for SEO (SERP), but instead of linking/writing articles, we can blast our business name/address/numbers all over the internet = hence, we get more citiations?

Thanks again

There's a spreadsheet floating around in the download section here, of the top 120 directories sorted by pagerank. Go manually list your business on each one. Make EXACTLY sure that the way you enter your business name, address, and phone number, is EXACTLY the way you are listing it on the Google Places page. Google will find the citations and correlate it to your business. End result = everyone happy.

Originally Posted by SuperNoobInc

Thanks for the excellent response once again.
Now i know in general terms, citations are classifieds as yellow pages, BBB etc.

What about putting our business name, business address, business telephone numbers on web2.0 such as blogspot, hubpages etc. Do they count as a 'vote' in google's eyes?

If thats the case, I believe we can then do what we are doing for SEO (SERP), but instead of linking/writing articles, we can blast our business name/address/numbers all over the internet = hence, we get more citiations?

Thanks again

I've found that putting your address "citation" in articles, posts, etc. is helpful for GP... however, it is not nearly as powerful as having your citation listed in a well known authority directory like those already mentioned.

It's been my experience that doing both is a benefit, but you MUST have citations in real business directories to be highly ranked in GP.

Originally Posted by MagicMike

I've found that putting your address "citation" in articles, posts, etc. is helpful for GP... however, it is not nearly as powerful as having your citation listed in a well known authority directory like those already mentioned.

It's been my experience that doing both is a benefit, but you MUST have citations in real business directories to be highly ranked in GP.

Should I register for Google Places first, then put my business info on other directories

OR should I do the other way around?

Thanks

Definetely do the citations first. Then ping them using PingFarm, wait 2-3 days, and then ping them again using something link IndexKings.com. Wait 2-3 days again, THEN create your Google Places page. Google will go out and find your citations and it will bode very well on your Places page.