50 Leading Local Review/Citation Sources in the US

[Linda Buquet]

Adam Steele just compiled some interesting citation research. If I understand the explanation right he did it based on which directory/review sites actually show up as links in the 3rd party review section on the Google+ Local pages. Interesting way to do it.

That accounts for the different numbers he got, like Yelp ranking so low and for many key citation sources being missing from his list.

But it surfaces some other interesting data. For instance it shows sites like Giftly.com that I've been seeing show up as a 3rd party review link on G+ Pages a lot even if there are no reviews on the page. BUT the Giftly listing DOES give you a full citation. AND since Google is showing the link on the G+ L page, we know for a fact Google is scraping it, so it must count for something.

Lean Top 50 Best Local Citation Sources in the USA

After 3 months, 450 man hours, 6510 search queries, and the review of 45,570 Google+ Local pages, I have compiled a ton of local search data. Data which I believe provides great insight into the most important citations sources available.

Some month’s back, two gentlemen whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, David Mihm (Moz’s recent acquisition) and Darren Shaw (Mister citation himself) set out on the local SEO, data junkies wet dream of a journey to find the best citations. They leveraged Darren’s Local Citation Finder, and developer know how, and dug around, revealing data worth its weight in gold. You can find the results here and here.

I have tremendous admiration for these guys and the work they do, but I thought it could use a third pair of eyes, and so a few months back I eluded to research of my own on my Local SEO blog. Here is why we did it, how we did it, and the resulting…results:

Check out the list here: Lean Top 50 Best Local Citation Sources in the USA

THANKS ADAM! Great list and I know it was lots of work to compile this!

What do you think?

 

[mborgelt]

This list is great! I am reviewing the list 1 by 1 to see which ones are most valuable for my clients but probably the most comprehensive list I have ever seen. THANK YOU ADAM!

 

[Adam Steele]

Thank you Linda and Michael - I am so pleased that you like it.

As you will soon find out Michael, there is a lot to be learned from this data beyond my simple interpretation.

We have spent the better part of this week digging through it, and one of the more interested observations, and you picked up on it right away Linda, these are not necessarily directories that accept reviews. In fact, there are a ton of sites here that don't and some will serve as excellent citations for those willing to dig a little.

Beyond sharing a number of other interpretations, we have made headway on a couple other studies based on findings in this data. Should make for some interesting posts to come.

Thanks for the link Linda, and do let me know if you have any questions about our findings.

Adam

 

[ARKlady ARKtechCo]

We compiled a list of citations in three locations in collaboration with other local reputation specialists a couple of years ago and appreciate the update.

Yelp is favored by Bing and the consumer market, personally we don't like it based on the filter and integrity issues (ie., pay to have ads remove and the competitors show up in the sidebar). See also my recent reply in the forum.

Anyway, I am guessing that is why it is not showing up high up on the lists these days.

Thanks for the lovely heads up on the list.