Where Are Citations Going?
You probably know I love a good citation. They were a focus for me back a few years back when they were still making a bigger difference in SEO. I started my second company around them (Loganix) and it quickly eclipsed my first company in revenue.
If you ever followed the Loganix blog, I used to have a lot to say about citations—what they do, why, how to build them. We still have some great resources/guides around there if you’re looking for an introduction or a deeper look. I haven’t been great about keeping up that blog in general but people still send me messages to pick my brain on what citations have been up to lately, and this post is the culmination of all the guilt I feel about not getting back to them.
Where We Are Now
So, back when we used to build these in 2010, 2011, 2012, we used to see a much bigger difference organic “bump” in rankings. I didn’t even like to let on to people how reliable this bump was because…well, it was pretty sweet. Very scalable way to get clients the results they were looking for.
You know how that story goes, though. Google doesn’t like scalable. Google squashes scalable. That is, anything that can be done quickly, and cheaply. Think forum profiles, social bookmarks, etc.
Unlike the aforementioned, I don’t think you’ll ever see a penalty from citation building. However, what I see people doing is they put all their money in a currency that massively inflated. Other factors took a bigger role and some a much lesser role, and that meant a lot of people who relied on citations as their main factor saw their hard-fought rank dissolved. Perhaps for just lack of better ideas, or abilities, some folks just build citations.
This I am starting to see shift. And people are moving onto the next thing, as always, which will too see lesser and lesser returns.
So…Are Citations Dead? No
No. They are very much alive, and a main ranking factor per many of the smart professionals in local SEO. And in practice, I too see them move the needle every day. Even organically, however small that may be. In my mind they are the local algos version of a backlink. A vote of confidence from a more trusted source. A source trusted by Google like the Yelps of the world.
What Do I do with Them Now?
Build the important ones. For any client. Yelp, Yellowpages, all the places that people are still using to find businesses. More relevant directories may perform better than general directories in my opinion, but it can be hard to find them. Don’t bother with spammy/newborn directories anymore because building even a thousand of them will probably make a negligible difference at this point. One of my favorite, and very simple tactics, is just to see what everyone else has who’s winning in my market. Use your favorite citation finder. And don’t forget to look abroad. What are folks in your niche doing in bigger, tougher markets? You just might find your leg up.
For the directories you are choosing, make sure you make them really valuable properties. Plaster some great images of the business on the profile. Update all the information and just do everything you can to make it look like an active page. If you have the means, don’t stop there, see what you might be able to do about linking to these directories you’ve built.
Heck, even if you aren’t a local business and you have an address you can use, get yourself into these directories. If not for rankings, then for what I perceive to be the humanization of your website. The brandification. Set yourself apart from your competitors and appear to be a big brand, with a real location, etc. I don’t see e-commerce/affiliate sites doing this, and it’s a no-brainer.
For now, we press on. We be a bit more selective, a bit more creative, and we don’t forget that there is more to this thing than citation building.
