RebeccaThomas
Junior Member
- Jun 18, 2019
- 147
- 142
I’ve seen quite a few forums threads recently about building citations, what they are (and what they’re not) and how they impact ranking for local map packs.
Some of these tips you’ll be aware of; however, some are things I’ve not seen many people talk about. I can only assume they’re either a well kept secret or my methods are unique. I've also included a technique I've heard nobody talk about that I use myself to avoid to verification by postcode.
Hopefully, if you follow this guide you'll only have to do phone verification.
The original post can be found here: https://www.seowizzbang.com/local-seo-how-to-get-it-right-get-google-verified/
Anyway, here goes!
Building a brand new business website
Are you starting a brand new local business website?
If so, that’s great! Local SEO is something that can deliver a constant stream of customers if you get it right. There are however a number of different things you need to get right to succeed in local search.
Here’s a menu of what I’ll be covering in this guide. This list actually forms the process I follow myself in local search, so use it as a kind of road map as you build your local business website.
What’s In This Guide?
Your new local website doesn’t have to be large, most local websites are extremely small. Personally, I start with something about 6 pages deep consisting of.
Homepage: Likely the page that’s going to rank and welcome potential customers.
About us: Copy about how awesome you are, years in business, awards and qualifications etc etc.
Contact us: Very important from a citation and NAP standpoint.
Terms & Conditions: Most websites have this and it’s helpful for Adwords too.
Privacy Policy: Again, helpful with Adwords and something all websites should have.
Blog/News: If you’re planning on using WordPress (and why wouldn’t you), create the blog on a separate page. It’s handy for publishing company updates, although not strictly needed for local business ranking.
Now, when you’re building this website there are a couple of golden rules you need to follow.
Title Tags That Rank & Convert
You need to include the keyword within the title of your homepage. For example. If you’d eventually like to rank for the term “Dry Cleaners Luton”, you really should use a title that looks like this.
Dry Cleaners Luton | Julie Jones & Daughter | 02399 456879
www.juliejonesdrycleaning.co.uk
What’s happening here, are three things.
Personally, I don’t add the exact keyword in the description tag, just the title tag itself. Different SEO professionals will have their own take on this; however, I try at all times to abide by the 1% rule.
Your exact keyword should only appear 1% of the time within your page copy.
So, let’s take a look at what a description might look like for our wonderful dry cleaners in Luton!
A family run dry cleaning shop serving the Luton area. Great prices and superb quality service. Two for one deals on suits.
Here, we’re doing a number of things.
Page Copy – Sticking To The 1% Rule & Semantic Relevance
Here, you can really let your creativity run wild! There are some basic rules to follow; however, once you’ve deployed them you can choose any design/colours/branding you wish.
Before you get excited, let’s run through those basic rules.
Adding your NAP to the page
As you’ll discover during this guide, NAP listings are vitally important to ranking well in local search. A NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone Number.
For our fictional dry cleaners, here’s what our NAP should look like:
Name: Julie Jones & Daughters
Address: 10 High Street, Luton, LU1 2JN
Phone Number: 02399 456879
The first thing to do when setting up your local business website, is to figure out exactly what your NAP is going to be. For many businesses this will be easy, after all, you probably have a local shop/phone number/address already. For companies who are just setting up, it’s worth thinking about 3 things.
As for where to add your NAP within your website. You really should add it to every single page on your website. Normally, this happens in a few standard locations.
For our fictional dry cleaners, this will look like:
02399 456879
Adding a Google Maps widget to your website
One thing I’ve found hugely beneficial when building a small business website, is adding a Google Maps widget to each page. You can centre this map over your location and display your business address/details once you’ve setup your Google Local Business Account.
This is helpful for a number of reasons:
You can get a Google Maps widget here: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/embed/start
So, what’s all this about keyword density and the 1% rule?
Once you’ve added your NAP and Google Map widget, it’s time to think about the copy for your homepage. Contrary to most SEO practice, you don’t really to go too mad with this.
Okay, you’ve totally lost me now! What’s this semantic nonsense all about?
I know, words like “semantic” sound crazy at first. Don’t panic, let me explain exactly how all this works.
An exact keyword, basically means the word combination most people will search on Google to find your business. For Julie Jones & Daughter, it’s highly likely that most people in Luton will search for “Dry Cleaners Luton” or possibly “Dry Cleaners in Luton” to find a list of local services.
A semantically related keyword, is one that’s related to the product, item or service you’re talking about. For example:
Exact Keyword
A simple keyword tool I’ve used for many years is: https://keywordtool.io/
Setting up A Local Phone Number
I’ve covered this previously; however, if you’re setting up a completely fresh business/website – you might want to know how to go about getting a local phone number.
VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) allows anyone to setup a local phone number that you can answer anywhere in the world. You can do this in a number of different and cool ways.
Simple diversion to a landline/mobile
This is the easiest method and one that many people will be familiar with. You can setup your new VOIP line to divert to any landline/mobile number you wish.
Benefits: Easy to deploy and you can swap the diversion anytime you wish.
Cons: You will pay per minute for the diversion. This is fine for a number that’s unlikely to be called but costs could mount if you become busy. You’ll also have less flexibility to direct calls properly and it won’t be possible to setup your outbound caller id as your business number.
Cloud based VOIP systems
This method is slightly harder to deploy and you’ll still be charged for some extra features you use; however, it does come with benefits.
Benefits: You won’t need your own server as it’s all cloud based. You’ll also be able to operate proper call routing and deliver calls to multiple phones. Features like call waiting, opening messages and holding will be available too.
Cons: This is likely as far as a small business will need to go; however, if you need to operate a small call centre you may need something more involved.
A hosted call centre or PBX system
This is the point where some cost and/or technical skill might be involved to get the results you need. There are some open source call systems, such as VICIDial, Asterisk and Linphone that can reduce the cost though.
Benefits: You’ll be able to run a proper sales line/call centre via this route.
Cons: Can be expensive and if you don’t have experience with SIP routing/PBX systems it can be a huge learning curve. Many call centre professionals spend their careers learning how to extract the best from a hosted system.
Virtual receptionist services
Want someone to answer your calls? With a virtual receptionist service, a person will answer your local number with the business name and take a message for you. Any message taken will usually come via email with all the relevant details.
Benefits: It’s a fit and forget solution which means your phone will always be answered.
Cons: Will cost you per call handled.
For the vast majority of small business websites, a simple diversion or cloud PBX service is really all you’re going to need. For people who already have a local phone number, you can forget all this and use the number you own already.
A receptionist service can be really helpful too, especially for small affiliate sites or technical companies who really don’t want/need to be dealing with the general public.
Setting up A Local Address
If you already have a local address, that’s great! Skip this part and move on.
If you don’t have an address within the area you’re planning to serve then you’ll definitely need one. The main thing Google ranks for within local search, is the proximity of your business address to the local area. With this in mind, how can be grab an address without strictly having that local presence?
A mailbox service
In most urban areas, a company will exist purely to provide a local mailbox services for anyone who wants one. Typically, a good mailbox address will look like this:
Julie Jones & DaughtersSuite 2310 High Street, Luton, LU1 2JN
When mail is delivered to your mailbox, staff will leave it in your box. These boxes are typically locked and you’ll be given a key at the start. Most mailbox companies are open 9-5 Monday to Friday and many will provide a way to access your mail outside of normal business hours.
Benefits: Easy, your mail is kept safe and costs are reasonably low.
Cons: Google is wise to this, it’s better to steer clear of the brand name mailbox services and go with one that’s independent. An even better solution is to pick a mailbox company that has on-site office services. That way it’s quite plausible that your business actually runs an office at your location.
A local start-up/co-working space
Again, many urban areas will have a service such as Techhub or Regus available. Usually, these services will offer:
Cons: Expensive, you might also end up paying for a space you rarely use.
Using a friend/relatives address
This is a good solution if you’re on a budget. Hopefully, you’ll get free/cheap terms with your friend/relative and depending on the circumstances it could be a very stable way to do things.
Benefits: Depending on who you do this with, address stability could be very high. It could work out cheap too.
Cons: Customers turning up at your Grandmothers house could be interesting! There’s also the issue of having an obvious residential property coming up as the Google Street Map image for your company listing too. Some home insurance policies could become void if they believe you’re operating a business at a residential address.
NAP Hygiene
This is one area that business owners can become unstuck with. I’ve seen time and again situations where people become confused between their home, office or whatever other addresses are being used.
In the world of local SEO, there is one golden rule.
Always use the exact same Name, Address and Phone Number on every citation or piece of company stationary you print.
Always remember, Google works by developing a strong correlation between your business and it’s address/phone number. If you break this correlation by publishing different addresses or phone numbers you’ll ruin your good work.
Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t operate in different locations. It does mean you need to view each location as its own distinct entity. By practising good NAP hygiene, you’ll always publish the correct phone number and address for your particular location.
Building Citations The Right Way
For this guide, we’re focusing on a small dry cleaners based in Luton, England. This means that some of the tools I use will be somewhat specific to the United Kingdom.
If you’re ranking a business in America, Australis, Europe or anywhere else don’t worry. Many of the tactics I mention work exactly the same anywhere in the World.
Haven’t you forgotten the most important thing? The Google Local Business account itself?
Ah ha! If you’ve spotted this omission you must be paying attention. Actually, there is a genuine reason why I’ve neglected setting up anything Google related until now.
One of the really awesome things Google can do, is use NAP citations not just to be certain of a business location – but that it exists in the first place. If you follow my guide, setting up and indexing your website, citations and practice good NAP hygiene – there is a huge secret benefit many don’t know about.
If you do the citation and NAP work first, eventually you’ll be able to setup your Google Local Business account with no, or very little verification.
Wow! Didn’t realise this was a thing. So do I actually need a physical address at all?
The short answer, is no you don’t strictly need a real address at all. I’ve personally setup fake addresses and gained verification via good NAP citations and a VOIP number.
The longer answer is obviously to mention that this is firmly within the realms of “black/grey hat SEO”. There’s always the danger that Google will elect to force a mailbox verification of your business too.
Personally, if the business you’re setting up is genuine and will earn a healthy profit – then doing things correctly will save you stress in the long run.
Anyway, let’s get back to citation building
Okay, so you’ve got your website setup and your NAP ready to go. The next step is to start submitting your business to directories and services so that they become indexed by google.
In the United Kingdom, here is my go to list of directories that can quickly get a NAP indexed properly. If you’re building NAPS anywhere else, run a quick search for “NAP citations [Country]”. You’ll soon find a list of major players in your locality.
Anyway, using the example of Julie Jones & Daughter. Our fictitious dry cleaners in Luton. Here’s the services I would use for the UK market.
118 Information
This is the service that runs all 118 directories in the UK. Within a day of submitting your details, you’ll get a phone call to your NAP number to check your details. This is a quick call and once verified, you’ll start to see your NAP appear in all sorts of interesting and cool places – including Bing Maps, Apple Maps and national newspapers.
Be warned though, you will be bombarded by telesales calls for the first weeks – this does calm down eventually though.
Yell.com
Remember the Yellow Pages? Yell.com is the digital version of that booklet and forms a strong part of NAP building in the United Kingdom. The direct variant in the United States would be the White Pages.
Submitting your details is simple, although you may expect a phone call to “verify” your details. By verify, I actually mean Yell will attempt to sell you premium listings you don’t need!
Yelp
Once again, submitting to Yelp is easy and unlike the companies above, you’re unlikely to recieve a sales call.
The also rans, smaller directories you need to submit to
All are worthy of submission too.
MK Live – A local newspaper with its own local business directory.
A full list of possible citation directories (UK & USA)
If you need a quick starter list. Here’s the major business directories in the UK and USA to sumbit your business to.
So what happens once I’ve submitted my details?
Absolutely nothing! Well, not for a few weeks anyway. In the first week, you will be bombarded by sales calls and directories eager to sell you advertising. It’s a pain but I guess these directories have to earn a living somehow!
Be safe in the knowledge that all you need is a free listing to build your NAP. If a directory asks that you pay, ditch them unless there’s a compelling reason why not – such as a powerful backlink.
Patience is key!
Eventually, after a month or two you’ll start to see the fruits of your labour! If we want to find citations for our dry cleaners, we’ll need to use a Google search string that looks like this.
“Julie Jones & Daughter” or the phone number “02399 456879”
Directories come in all shapes and sizes. Some will print your phone number with a space between the area code, whilst others won’t. Some will also add in the country code for your location.
For Julie Jones & Daughter, we would use the country code for the United Kingdom.
“02399456879”
“02399 456879”
“+442399 456879”
“00442399 456879”
Eventually, as time passes you’ll start to see your business pop up in all sorts of weird and wonderful places! Directories frequently syndicate listings and 118 Information propagates to many national directories.
Verifying Your Google Local Business Account
Typically, I tend to wait until Google has filled both page one and two with directory listings for my NAP. Once you get to this point, you should be in great shape to start setting up your account.
Once again, good NAP hygiene is key – make sure your Google Local Business listing matches your NAP perfectly. If your citation building has worked properly, you may even find an automatically generated suggestion. This is a fantastic sign you’re on the right track and Google has “found you”.
Claim your listing and perform any verification you need to.
I’m Not Ranking Yet! What’s Next?
Just as with standard SEO, the true mechanics of what goes on “under the hood” at Google are a mystery to all but a small number of their employees.
You might find that after all the good work above, you’re still not popping up in those coveted map packs. It’s at this point you’ll need to carry out additional work.
Sometimes, a good strategy in SEO is just to sit on something for a while. Not all your citations might have been picked up and/or Google hasn’t quite reacted to your local SEO campaign yet. In my own experience, it can take between 3 and 6 months to see good results from a local mapping campaign.
Be patient and perform tasks methodically and slowly. This method takes time to get right!
Some of these tips you’ll be aware of; however, some are things I’ve not seen many people talk about. I can only assume they’re either a well kept secret or my methods are unique. I've also included a technique I've heard nobody talk about that I use myself to avoid to verification by postcode.
Hopefully, if you follow this guide you'll only have to do phone verification.
The original post can be found here: https://www.seowizzbang.com/local-seo-how-to-get-it-right-get-google-verified/
Anyway, here goes!
Building a brand new business website
Are you starting a brand new local business website?
If so, that’s great! Local SEO is something that can deliver a constant stream of customers if you get it right. There are however a number of different things you need to get right to succeed in local search.
Here’s a menu of what I’ll be covering in this guide. This list actually forms the process I follow myself in local search, so use it as a kind of road map as you build your local business website.
What’s In This Guide?
- Building The Website (On-Page SEO)
- Title Tags That Rank & Convert
- Title Descriptions – Your First Customer Interaction
- Page Copy – Sticking To The 1% Rule & Semantic Relevance
- Setting up A Local Phone Number
- Setting up A Local Address
- NAP Hygiene
- Building Citations The Right Way
- Verifying Your Google Business Account
- Creating Your Google Local Business Account
- I’m Not Ranking Yet! What’s Next?
- WordPress
- A Domain and Hosting account for your new website
- A Google Local Business account
- A local phone number, either VOIP or your existing line
- An address in the locality targeted
- A list of directories (United Kingdom List) and (United States List)
- Google Mapping Widget
- A basic Keyword Density Tool
- A simple Keyword Tool
Your new local website doesn’t have to be large, most local websites are extremely small. Personally, I start with something about 6 pages deep consisting of.
Homepage: Likely the page that’s going to rank and welcome potential customers.
About us: Copy about how awesome you are, years in business, awards and qualifications etc etc.
Contact us: Very important from a citation and NAP standpoint.
Terms & Conditions: Most websites have this and it’s helpful for Adwords too.
Privacy Policy: Again, helpful with Adwords and something all websites should have.
Blog/News: If you’re planning on using WordPress (and why wouldn’t you), create the blog on a separate page. It’s handy for publishing company updates, although not strictly needed for local business ranking.
Now, when you’re building this website there are a couple of golden rules you need to follow.
Title Tags That Rank & Convert
You need to include the keyword within the title of your homepage. For example. If you’d eventually like to rank for the term “Dry Cleaners Luton”, you really should use a title that looks like this.
Dry Cleaners Luton | Julie Jones & Daughter | 02399 456879
www.juliejonesdrycleaning.co.uk
What’s happening here, are three things.
- We’re telling Google specifically that this page is about “Dry Cleaners Luton”.
- We’re giving Google a strong business name suggestion “Julie Jones & Daughter”.
- We’re giving Google a strong phone number suggestion “02399 456879”.
Personally, I don’t add the exact keyword in the description tag, just the title tag itself. Different SEO professionals will have their own take on this; however, I try at all times to abide by the 1% rule.
Your exact keyword should only appear 1% of the time within your page copy.
So, let’s take a look at what a description might look like for our wonderful dry cleaners in Luton!
A family run dry cleaning shop serving the Luton area. Great prices and superb quality service. Two for one deals on suits.
Here, we’re doing a number of things.
- We’re offering up a USP (Unique Selling Point). In this case we’re saying that Julie Jones & Daughter is a family run business. This gives an impression of good service and a local business serving the local community.
- We’ve included the somewhat similar semantic keyword “dry cleaning”. Depending on your niche, you might like to take a look at a simple keyword tool such as keywordtool.io to see what semantic/related keywords could be available for you to use. If this sounds like gobbledygook don’t panic – I’ll explain everything!
- We’re also offering another selling point “Two for one deals on suits”. Again, the related keyword “suits” will help Google semantically, as suits and dry cleaning are related terms.
Page Copy – Sticking To The 1% Rule & Semantic Relevance
Here, you can really let your creativity run wild! There are some basic rules to follow; however, once you’ve deployed them you can choose any design/colours/branding you wish.
Before you get excited, let’s run through those basic rules.
Adding your NAP to the page
As you’ll discover during this guide, NAP listings are vitally important to ranking well in local search. A NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone Number.
For our fictional dry cleaners, here’s what our NAP should look like:
Name: Julie Jones & Daughters
Address: 10 High Street, Luton, LU1 2JN
Phone Number: 02399 456879
The first thing to do when setting up your local business website, is to figure out exactly what your NAP is going to be. For many businesses this will be easy, after all, you probably have a local shop/phone number/address already. For companies who are just setting up, it’s worth thinking about 3 things.
- The proximity of your address to the town/city centre you serve.
- Will you move in the next 12 months? Moving can play havoc with local listings – stability is very important.
- Will you change anything about your NAP in the next 12 months? Settle on your final sales phone number right now! Personally, I prefer using a SIP/VOIP supplier for phone numbers, as you can take these with you wherever you end up running your business from.
As for where to add your NAP within your website. You really should add it to every single page on your website. Normally, this happens in a few standard locations.
- In the footer of every page within your website.
- In the contact us page as main content.
For our fictional dry cleaners, this will look like:
02399 456879
Adding a Google Maps widget to your website
One thing I’ve found hugely beneficial when building a small business website, is adding a Google Maps widget to each page. You can centre this map over your location and display your business address/details once you’ve setup your Google Local Business Account.
This is helpful for a number of reasons:
- Gives Google a massive signal as to your business location, after all, you’re using a Google product to show a map of where your business is located.
- Gives customers a handy visual clue as to where you’re based.
You can get a Google Maps widget here: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/embed/start
So, what’s all this about keyword density and the 1% rule?
Once you’ve added your NAP and Google Map widget, it’s time to think about the copy for your homepage. Contrary to most SEO practice, you don’t really to go too mad with this.
- Ideally, each page should have 1000 words of content; however, some pages just won’t facilitate this. If you’re struggling, ensure your homepage follows this rule and ignore the rest.
- Keyword density should be 1%. This means that in our example, the keyword “dry cleaners Luton” should only appear 1% of the time.
- You should use semantically related keywords within your page copy.
Okay, you’ve totally lost me now! What’s this semantic nonsense all about?
I know, words like “semantic” sound crazy at first. Don’t panic, let me explain exactly how all this works.
An exact keyword, basically means the word combination most people will search on Google to find your business. For Julie Jones & Daughter, it’s highly likely that most people in Luton will search for “Dry Cleaners Luton” or possibly “Dry Cleaners in Luton” to find a list of local services.
A semantically related keyword, is one that’s related to the product, item or service you’re talking about. For example:
Exact Keyword
- Dry Cleaners Luton
- Dry Cleaning Luton Chemical
- Suit
- Blazer
- Jacket
- Trousers
- Prices
- Services
- Opening Hours
- Cleaning Labels
A simple keyword tool I’ve used for many years is: https://keywordtool.io/
Setting up A Local Phone Number
I’ve covered this previously; however, if you’re setting up a completely fresh business/website – you might want to know how to go about getting a local phone number.
VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) allows anyone to setup a local phone number that you can answer anywhere in the world. You can do this in a number of different and cool ways.
Simple diversion to a landline/mobile
This is the easiest method and one that many people will be familiar with. You can setup your new VOIP line to divert to any landline/mobile number you wish.
Benefits: Easy to deploy and you can swap the diversion anytime you wish.
Cons: You will pay per minute for the diversion. This is fine for a number that’s unlikely to be called but costs could mount if you become busy. You’ll also have less flexibility to direct calls properly and it won’t be possible to setup your outbound caller id as your business number.
Cloud based VOIP systems
This method is slightly harder to deploy and you’ll still be charged for some extra features you use; however, it does come with benefits.
Benefits: You won’t need your own server as it’s all cloud based. You’ll also be able to operate proper call routing and deliver calls to multiple phones. Features like call waiting, opening messages and holding will be available too.
Cons: This is likely as far as a small business will need to go; however, if you need to operate a small call centre you may need something more involved.
A hosted call centre or PBX system
This is the point where some cost and/or technical skill might be involved to get the results you need. There are some open source call systems, such as VICIDial, Asterisk and Linphone that can reduce the cost though.
Benefits: You’ll be able to run a proper sales line/call centre via this route.
Cons: Can be expensive and if you don’t have experience with SIP routing/PBX systems it can be a huge learning curve. Many call centre professionals spend their careers learning how to extract the best from a hosted system.
Virtual receptionist services
Want someone to answer your calls? With a virtual receptionist service, a person will answer your local number with the business name and take a message for you. Any message taken will usually come via email with all the relevant details.
Benefits: It’s a fit and forget solution which means your phone will always be answered.
Cons: Will cost you per call handled.
For the vast majority of small business websites, a simple diversion or cloud PBX service is really all you’re going to need. For people who already have a local phone number, you can forget all this and use the number you own already.
A receptionist service can be really helpful too, especially for small affiliate sites or technical companies who really don’t want/need to be dealing with the general public.
Setting up A Local Address
If you already have a local address, that’s great! Skip this part and move on.
If you don’t have an address within the area you’re planning to serve then you’ll definitely need one. The main thing Google ranks for within local search, is the proximity of your business address to the local area. With this in mind, how can be grab an address without strictly having that local presence?
A mailbox service
In most urban areas, a company will exist purely to provide a local mailbox services for anyone who wants one. Typically, a good mailbox address will look like this:
Julie Jones & DaughtersSuite 2310 High Street, Luton, LU1 2JN
When mail is delivered to your mailbox, staff will leave it in your box. These boxes are typically locked and you’ll be given a key at the start. Most mailbox companies are open 9-5 Monday to Friday and many will provide a way to access your mail outside of normal business hours.
Benefits: Easy, your mail is kept safe and costs are reasonably low.
Cons: Google is wise to this, it’s better to steer clear of the brand name mailbox services and go with one that’s independent. An even better solution is to pick a mailbox company that has on-site office services. That way it’s quite plausible that your business actually runs an office at your location.
A local start-up/co-working space
Again, many urban areas will have a service such as Techhub or Regus available. Usually, these services will offer:
- A space for you to work either full-time or part-time each week.
- An ability to register your company at the location.
- Crucially, a mailbox and address for your new company.
Cons: Expensive, you might also end up paying for a space you rarely use.
Using a friend/relatives address
This is a good solution if you’re on a budget. Hopefully, you’ll get free/cheap terms with your friend/relative and depending on the circumstances it could be a very stable way to do things.
Benefits: Depending on who you do this with, address stability could be very high. It could work out cheap too.
Cons: Customers turning up at your Grandmothers house could be interesting! There’s also the issue of having an obvious residential property coming up as the Google Street Map image for your company listing too. Some home insurance policies could become void if they believe you’re operating a business at a residential address.
NAP Hygiene
This is one area that business owners can become unstuck with. I’ve seen time and again situations where people become confused between their home, office or whatever other addresses are being used.
In the world of local SEO, there is one golden rule.
Always use the exact same Name, Address and Phone Number on every citation or piece of company stationary you print.
Always remember, Google works by developing a strong correlation between your business and it’s address/phone number. If you break this correlation by publishing different addresses or phone numbers you’ll ruin your good work.
Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t operate in different locations. It does mean you need to view each location as its own distinct entity. By practising good NAP hygiene, you’ll always publish the correct phone number and address for your particular location.
Building Citations The Right Way
For this guide, we’re focusing on a small dry cleaners based in Luton, England. This means that some of the tools I use will be somewhat specific to the United Kingdom.
If you’re ranking a business in America, Australis, Europe or anywhere else don’t worry. Many of the tactics I mention work exactly the same anywhere in the World.
Haven’t you forgotten the most important thing? The Google Local Business account itself?
Ah ha! If you’ve spotted this omission you must be paying attention. Actually, there is a genuine reason why I’ve neglected setting up anything Google related until now.
One of the really awesome things Google can do, is use NAP citations not just to be certain of a business location – but that it exists in the first place. If you follow my guide, setting up and indexing your website, citations and practice good NAP hygiene – there is a huge secret benefit many don’t know about.
If you do the citation and NAP work first, eventually you’ll be able to setup your Google Local Business account with no, or very little verification.
Wow! Didn’t realise this was a thing. So do I actually need a physical address at all?
The short answer, is no you don’t strictly need a real address at all. I’ve personally setup fake addresses and gained verification via good NAP citations and a VOIP number.
The longer answer is obviously to mention that this is firmly within the realms of “black/grey hat SEO”. There’s always the danger that Google will elect to force a mailbox verification of your business too.
Personally, if the business you’re setting up is genuine and will earn a healthy profit – then doing things correctly will save you stress in the long run.
Anyway, let’s get back to citation building
Okay, so you’ve got your website setup and your NAP ready to go. The next step is to start submitting your business to directories and services so that they become indexed by google.
In the United Kingdom, here is my go to list of directories that can quickly get a NAP indexed properly. If you’re building NAPS anywhere else, run a quick search for “NAP citations [Country]”. You’ll soon find a list of major players in your locality.
Anyway, using the example of Julie Jones & Daughter. Our fictitious dry cleaners in Luton. Here’s the services I would use for the UK market.
118 Information
This is the service that runs all 118 directories in the UK. Within a day of submitting your details, you’ll get a phone call to your NAP number to check your details. This is a quick call and once verified, you’ll start to see your NAP appear in all sorts of interesting and cool places – including Bing Maps, Apple Maps and national newspapers.
Be warned though, you will be bombarded by telesales calls for the first weeks – this does calm down eventually though.
Yell.com
Remember the Yellow Pages? Yell.com is the digital version of that booklet and forms a strong part of NAP building in the United Kingdom. The direct variant in the United States would be the White Pages.
Submitting your details is simple, although you may expect a phone call to “verify” your details. By verify, I actually mean Yell will attempt to sell you premium listings you don’t need!
Yelp
Once again, submitting to Yelp is easy and unlike the companies above, you’re unlikely to recieve a sales call.
The also rans, smaller directories you need to submit to
- Scoot
- CentralIndex
- Cyclex
- Thomson Local
- Hot Frog
- Touch Local
- City Visitor
- Mister What
- FreeIndex
All are worthy of submission too.
MK Live – A local newspaper with its own local business directory.
A full list of possible citation directories (UK & USA)
If you need a quick starter list. Here’s the major business directories in the UK and USA to sumbit your business to.
So what happens once I’ve submitted my details?
Absolutely nothing! Well, not for a few weeks anyway. In the first week, you will be bombarded by sales calls and directories eager to sell you advertising. It’s a pain but I guess these directories have to earn a living somehow!
Be safe in the knowledge that all you need is a free listing to build your NAP. If a directory asks that you pay, ditch them unless there’s a compelling reason why not – such as a powerful backlink.
Patience is key!
Eventually, after a month or two you’ll start to see the fruits of your labour! If we want to find citations for our dry cleaners, we’ll need to use a Google search string that looks like this.
“Julie Jones & Daughter” or the phone number “02399 456879”
Directories come in all shapes and sizes. Some will print your phone number with a space between the area code, whilst others won’t. Some will also add in the country code for your location.
For Julie Jones & Daughter, we would use the country code for the United Kingdom.
“02399456879”
“02399 456879”
“+442399 456879”
“00442399 456879”
Eventually, as time passes you’ll start to see your business pop up in all sorts of weird and wonderful places! Directories frequently syndicate listings and 118 Information propagates to many national directories.
Verifying Your Google Local Business Account
Typically, I tend to wait until Google has filled both page one and two with directory listings for my NAP. Once you get to this point, you should be in great shape to start setting up your account.
Once again, good NAP hygiene is key – make sure your Google Local Business listing matches your NAP perfectly. If your citation building has worked properly, you may even find an automatically generated suggestion. This is a fantastic sign you’re on the right track and Google has “found you”.
Claim your listing and perform any verification you need to.
I’m Not Ranking Yet! What’s Next?
Just as with standard SEO, the true mechanics of what goes on “under the hood” at Google are a mystery to all but a small number of their employees.
You might find that after all the good work above, you’re still not popping up in those coveted map packs. It’s at this point you’ll need to carry out additional work.
- Building backlinks as part of a normal SEO campaign
- Building customer reviews on Google Local Business, Yelp and Yell.com
- Obtaining more citations
- Running an Adwords campaign in your local area.
Sometimes, a good strategy in SEO is just to sit on something for a while. Not all your citations might have been picked up and/or Google hasn’t quite reacted to your local SEO campaign yet. In my own experience, it can take between 3 and 6 months to see good results from a local mapping campaign.
Be patient and perform tasks methodically and slowly. This method takes time to get right!
