Problems listing with some Citations

[Phil Rozek]

@mikepcservice: you claim a listing that already exists.

 

[mikepcservice]

Well guys, here's a major twist to the local citations listings. I tried listing on Super pages just now but there wasn't an option so I contacted their support. The agent showed me live in his scan that some of my listings which I had done weeks ago was not showing up. He said it's up to each site when, if and what info they wish to display.

I had thought that once you register the site then it would be displayed and that's that.

He said that they have a software which costs $59 per month which will right away have your site show on all 70 local citations but if you cancel then you would be left up to the mercy of the bots and whatever else which can change your info. Yext charges around $200 per year for this same service.

Either way guys so if this agent's info is accurate, I am wondering if I should even bother going through all of the work and effort to list on the 70 sites knowing there is a 50/50 chance the site won't be displayed?

 

[Susan]

@mikepcservice, there should be a link that reads, "See a problem? Let us know." It'll take you to Submit a request – MapQuest | Help, where you can contact Mapquest.

I actually used the SEE A PROBLEM with mapquest yesterday and they already corrected the error.

 

[johnlavapie_SEO]

Well guys, here's a major twist to the local citations listings. I tried listing on Super pages just now but there wasn't an option so I contacted their support. The agent showed me live in his scan that some of my listings which I had done weeks ago was not showing up. He said it's up to each site when, if and what info they wish to display.

I had thought that once you register the site then it would be displayed and that's that.

He said that they have a software which costs $59 per month which will right away have your site show on all 70 local citations but if you cancel then you would be left up to the mercy of the bots and whatever else which can change your info. Yext charges around $200 per year for this same service.

Either way guys so if this agent's info is accurate, I am wondering if I should even bother going through all of the work and effort to list on the 70 sites knowing there is a 50/50 chance the site won't be displayed?

I will NEVER subscribe to Yext or other citation services who will not give me full control of my citations. There are better ways to spend money than paying those subscriptions.

I have 3 suggestions for you:

1. Manually Build your Citations/Listings. This is a grind, but will only cost your time. Here is a list of articles to know where to start:

20 Web Directories You'll Still Want To Use

Looking for web directories to list your website? Learn about 20 directories that still attract traffic and offer value to websites and businesses.

www.searchenginejournal.com

Citation Sites by Industry - BrightLocal

Here you’ll find the top citation sites for a wide range of different industries. By only adding your business to the sites that are a good match to your business type, you can make sure you’re building the most powerful and beneficial citation profile.

www.brightlocal.com

Top Free USA Business Directories - BrightLocal

50 of the top free local US business directory sites that will give potential customers a better chance of finding you online.

www.brightlocal.com

2. Pay Citation Builder services that will not OWN your listings. I used Bright Local from the past. They will set up an email that they will use to register for different citations. They will provide the login info for that email address. Also, they will give you the ways they were able to make the citation (either the website does not require making an account or what username and password they used). I know Whitespark and Moz Local has them too, but others can chime in on how their services work.

3. Place "Building Citations" in the last of your priority. Except for those High-Value websites. You will know if they are valuable if (1) they can show in your Branded SERP, (2) if they are used by other high-value sites/services (Example is Yelp which is used by Apple Maps), (3) Niche directories where potential customers usually get information of vendors.

After reading the articles below, I doubt that Mid-Low Value Listings make a significant improvement for Local SEO:

The History and Value of Citations, or Citations are Dead, Long Live the Citation | Street Fight

David: Mike, hope you had a fun and productive MozCon last week and a smoother trip home than our friend and your GatherUp colleague Aaron Weiche. Mike: Before Moz, Dar and I kayaked in the San Juans for four days, camping. That was the first time I had been cell-free for quite some time. And

streetfightmag.com

Do local citations matter anymore? Five local SEOs sound off

A range of opinions about how much attention to devote to citations.

searchengineland.com

 

[mikepcservice]

Thank you very much for all of the above. To clarify I can manually list on every one of those 50 sites listed in the Brightlocal site and that should be it for local citations?

 

[johnlavapie_SEO]

Thank you very much for all of the above. To clarify I can manually list on every one of those 50 sites listed in the Brightlocal site and that should be it for local citations?

Bright Local will make the listings for you. (Just to be clear, I am not an endorser/employee of BL - and was just happy with my past experience). Your part is to pay and wait (it took 4 days for the majority and 12 days to complete. You can also follow up with them using a form and they got back to me fast).

They will make listings on what they consider their highest-quality rated sites. They guarantee the number of sites you paid for - so if you paid for 50 listings but they weren't successful for 5, they will look for the 5 next high-quality sites and complete the 50 listings. Included also is if you already have listings but with inaccurate NAP, they will fix some for you.

However, if you want to do it manually - you can do so as well.

I may not have explained everything, but I recommend you attend their free demo Get A Free Live Demo Of BrightLocal's Tools & Services | BrightLocal

You can ask questions from them. FYI - you can avail just their Citation Builder without paying for their full service.

------------------
Is that it for local citations? I would say not - but I will put it in low priority. Whenever you have extra time. It's good to also know Niche Citations that may apply to your business or upcoming ones that may show in your Branded SERP.

 

[mikepcservice]

My friend got this email from Yelp below. I am thinking they are trying to make him pay for a listing but I know of other service providers who don't have a physical location who have been on Yelp for years without any issues?

Hi,

We are writing you to let you know that we have removed AG Electrical Services Inc from Yelp Search and your access to that page because it does not appear to meet our business page guidelines.

Yelp is primarily intended for the review of local consumer oriented businesses. Generally if a business has a primarily online-oriented service, does not have a verifiable physical location, is not primarily a consumer facing business, or is direct-sales or multi-level marketing oriented, it will not appear in our directory and will not be eligible for a Business Account. Visit our Support Center for more info: What are the guidelines for adding a business to Yelp? | Support Center | Yelp

 

[Rich Owings]

I've seen that happen before. Does the business have a website?

 

[mikepcservice]

yes it has a site and is a registered legit licensed and insured business just that he is an onsite heating repair tech so does not have need for storefront place of business. I have written to their Support, waiting on their answer.

 

[Rich Owings]

If that doesn't work, you might try submitting again and make sure the profile is complete, add photos, etc.

 

[mikepcservice]

The profile was totally complete with his full address so that was not the issue. I am thinking it's an attempt to get paid listings

 

[mikepcservice]

Ok moving on. I am trying to do HubSpot next but according to their page here:

Create and add your profile to the HubSpot Solutions Directory

Learn how to create and add your partner profile to the HubSpot Agency Directory to share information about your business and make it easy for HubSpot customers to find you.

knowledge.hubspot.com

If you're a member of HubSpot's Partner Program or an agency that's inbound certified, you can create a profile with your company information to share publicly on HubSpot's Agency Directoryand make it easy for HubSpot customers to find you.

is there a way for me to add the business listings without the above requirements please?

 

[mikepcservice]

Also, the attached screenshot shows what I am seeing on Super Pages. Is that the only info which shows for FREE listings?

 

[Logan Torres]

Guys, I am trying to list on Mapquest but when I go there I am not seeing the "Claim your business link", any ideas please?

Yext Listings

listings.mapquest.com

 

[mikepcservice]

Facing similar issue, I contacted their support and they created the listing for me so you can try that.

 

[mikepcservice]

Just got this from Yelp but that's hogwash as my other client who is a service provider without a storefront has many Yelp reviews and has been on there for years now. This is a ploy in my opinion to subscribe:

Hi Mike,

Yelp is primarily intended for the review of local consumer oriented businesses. Generally if the "business" is a provider of a service, they are not eligible to be listed on Yelp and typically only the local business itself can be listed.

 

[mikepcservice]

Hey guys, if I were to remove my friend's street address from all of his local citations listings, will that cause any problems? Especially for Apple Maps, Google Maps and Mapquest?

Since he is an onsite heating technician so no need to have a storefront he would not like to have his house street address being displayed online anywhere.