Is citation quality getting worse?

[sjr4x4]

Perhaps that's because literally every tutorial or guide on citation building says that citations must be absolutely identical absolutely everywhere. People just get obsessed with the details, I guess.

True, but a lot of guides are talking rubbish or semi regurgitating from a few genuine experts. You have to weigh up obsess with common sense. You wouldn't blindly implement all of Googles automated suggestions if you were running a PPC campaign or managing adsense. If you did, you wouldn't last long in the industry.

Do you mind sharing your criteria for a low quality listings? And you really just delete them all?

Criteria is straight forward. Genuine NAP information. Not gamed, careless or half arsed. eg: not Postcode/Zip Code in address line one, not Best Builder in Birmingham as a business name. Not Dentist Inc as a business name, but then listed as a Florist.

If it falls into any of those criteria, delete it. Who wants an extra 1,000 dubious or low quality profiles? Google certainly doesn't.

Genuine business owners spend a little time and understand they are marketing their business. Most find directory listings a dull activity, let's be honest, it is. But they are doing it for a reason.

If you outsource it to someone getting paid pennies, then it's unlikely they will be quite as a passionate or as careful with business details as you are.

I am hesitant to delete them because we're just starting and we really need as many profiles as we can get. I plan to send out emails, asking those dentists to login and complete their profiles. Have you tried something like that? Or is it not worth the effort?

I normally think you actually have an advantage if you are a niche market, as quality always trumps quantity (at least since 2012!) But with quality comes effort. Email 100 dentists and ask them to fill in a profile. Maybe 10 will respond and 5 will be fully filled in?

Instead pick the phone up, every dentist I know has a receptionist. Confirm profile details with them and get a local write up while you are there, local info, services they provide. Use the generic dentist info email (dentists move on, so keep contact details generic). Generate high quality useful listings.

But I'm a bit confused if you are just starting out and going for a global directory. Start small, be niche, be high quality. If you need quality data quickly for your business model, then buy it in (from reputable sources).

IMHO, I wouldn't consider starting a national let alone global directory these days. My current directory projects underway are all niche, local, high quality whilst providing value, which keeps them google friendly and makes marketing so much easier (and cheaper).

Best of luck with the project.

 

[Zhivko]

@sjr4x4 Thank you for the detailed answer. This forum is such a wonderful place, it is hard to believe.

I joined the project just two months ago, when it was already a year old. So far I've been focusing only on onsite optimization. Now comes the hard part with making the directory popular. : )

My temporary solution with all the "empty" profiles was to mark them with "noindex" and remove them from the sitemap until I decide what to do with them.

I also figured (yesterday), that going global would be crazy. My current plan is to start city by city, country by country, with local ads and probably direct marketing... It will be tough for sure but I will have to find a way to pull it off somehow. : )