SEO credentials?

[Sarah FBM]

I have been working on citations for about 9 years now, and when I started I was a grocery store cashier. It started basically as data entry, without a firm grasp on what exactly I was doing. Over those years my department has seen people come and go, but I have managed to stick around with an actual interest in this field. I have done a lot to learn more specifics than just "copy and paste the info into Brownbook" and such. Everything I have learned over the years has been through independent research and forums like this one.

I had a client recently asking about all of our employees credentials and I was like... well I am Google Ads certified! But that didn't apply specifically to citations. As someone basically self taught, I tend to have imposter syndrome even after nearly a decade, so this kind of things keeps me... well keeps me online after already putting in 10 hours!

So are there sources that stay on top of SEO trends regarding citations specifically? Are there "courses" similar to the Google Ads certification that are legit and valid and provide more insight? How do you guys keep up on the changes and know what the best course of action is when it comes to citations?

 

[JeffClevelandTN]

Hi Sarah, I echo Colan's advice, Brightlocal has free academy courses that cover several SEO related subjects: Learn Local SEO the easy way

Not to minimize your desire to learn more about citations, but as far as SEO goes, while citations are still relevant they are decreasing in importance. Both Whitespark and Brightlocal offer very cost effective citation building services that most SEO professionals utilize rather than doing manual citation work as it is typically more time and cost effective. My suggestion is to learn more about Google Business Profiles, Google review strategies, effective content writing and local keyword research techniques. @CarrieHill offers a weekly video/podcast series that covers some great subjects to help you stay current on trending search topics: Blog - Local University

Also, @JoyHawkins produces a free weekly newsletter that also offers trending SEO material: Newsletter - Sterling Sky Inc

Best of luck!

 

[Colan Nielsen]

I would say Bright Local and Whitespark are probably building more citations than most companies out there. Any of their content around citations is worthy of digesting.