Creating Local Listings for Small Business Clients - Verifying if phone call is only verification option? Are directory submission services worth it?
-
I'm relatively new to local SEO --- I do a lot of local websites for small businesses (restaurants, bars, hotels, attorneys, dentists) in my area and thought it would make sense to include basic local SEO work with my websites. I have a couple of questions about adding my client's businesses to local business directories...
I've started by adding each business to Google, Bing, and Yahoo business listings. I verified these listings with the postcard option which my clients then email to me.
I've started adding them to additional directories but have found that many local directories require a phone call to the business to verify it (no other options). How do most SEO companies handle this? Do I ask them to forward their phone to mine for a night?
Does it make sense to do local directory submission by hand? I created a spreadsheet for each company and keep track of each directory I submit to (the directory name, verification status, and username & password). I looked at services like Yext but doubt they are as thorough as doing it by hand?
Any other advice on local business directory submission would greatly be appreciated. Thanks.
-
Hi Rusty,
That's great that you're considering amassing the skills you need to begin offering Local SEO to clients. It's a huge, ever-changing form or marketing that requires on-going study. If Local SEO is new to you, I recommend you access the following free resources to kick of your learning process on steady feet:
First and foremost, study the Google Places Quality Guidelines, here:
https://support.google.com/places/answer/107528?hl=en
Here is a recent Moz post I wrote which takes the Top 20 Local Search Ranking Factors and illustrates each:
Top 20 Local Search Ranking Factors - An Illustrated Guide
The above post features ranking factors that are deemed to be most important by the annual Local Search Ranking Factors Survey which is the premiere annual survey in the Local Search industry and must-read stuff for every aspiring Local SEO.
Here is my post on the psychological mindset behind a strong, good Local SEO campaign:
And another on the more technical tenets of a Local SEO/SEM campaign:
As you are also working on the design end of things, I recommend your read Matthew Hunt's article on local on-page optimization:
How To Do Onpage Optimization for Local SEO – The “Perfectly Optimized Local Page” ExampleAnd here's a great one from Darren Shaw on the art of citation building:How To Identify Quality Citations SourcesThere are many other great, free learning resources out there, but I've highlighted here some that will get at the heart of basic good practices for you.Moving along to the specifics of your question: directory submissions - called 'citations' in Local SEO - are one of the key components of any local search marketing campaign. Citations must feature completely consistent data about the business and follow all guidelines for each given platform. Where phone verification is necessary, the best thing to do is to alert your client that he must be ready to answer his phone within a given time window. Do not attempt to redirect the phone number as redirecting numbers are against Google's guidelines (linked to above) and could cause major NAP consistency issues for your client.You can choose to build citations manually. This is often the best way to go. On an agency level, however, you may be so busy that your clients' needs will best be served by you using a third party resource. Yext is such a service. I personally recommend WhiteSpark's service, which is conducted manually and is very highly thought of in the industry. Here's a link:https://www.whitespark.ca/citation-building-submission-serviceIf you do choose to hire a citation building service, be absolutely sure that you are carefully researching your options. Some work better than others and some have known problems. Thankfully, there are various option to choose from!One last tip: success as a Local SEO often depends heavily on knowing what NOT to do, as well as what to do. Studying guidelines and making daily reading of top Local SEO blogs part of your job is going to be a smart way to get started. In this industry, one never stops studying and learning, and changes happen overnight on a regular basis. Exciting stuff!Good luck and happy reading!
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Adding external links to other businesses
Hi,
Link Building | | LisaBabblebird
I'm looking to add some external links to a website. The homepage has a section showing the logos of clients the company has worked with. Is it worth making these logos links to the clients websites? Some of the clients are household names. However, I've noticed that very few websites do this. Would it add any value?0 -
Selling Paid Directories
Hello Mozzers! Like most, we have greatly reduced the number of paid directories in which we enroll our clients. We do, however, still utilize a few. For those of you still using select paid directories, what approach do you take in marketing these sites to your clients? Thanks in advance for your input!
Link Building | | FrankSweeney0 -
This directory looks great - would you agree?
I know people have mixed feelings towards submitting their sites to directories, but this one really seemed special, so I decided to share the opportunity with the Moz community, as well as open up a discussion on the value of being a part of this directory (and similar ones.) We recently submitted our site to Dial a Human (www.dialahuman.com) It is a directory of companies' phone numbers, which go directly to a person (bypassing the machines.) I think this directory actually does provide users with value, and is far from your typical link farm. The Page Authority is 56 and the Domain Authority is 47, and it is a PR5 site. The other companies listed are all extremely reputable (most of them are fortune 500 companies.) The fee to join is $75-$150, but to be included with this group of companies, we felt it was very worthwhile. We would join this type of directory over and over again. Would you? If you have any other directories which are of the same caliber please share!
Link Building | | JMacSupply0 -
Worth paying for directory listings?
I'm going through the recommended SEO directory list but I notice that most of them are paid listings. I have been told that it is not worth spending any money on this, so why are there so many recommended in this list?
Link Building | | BridalHotspot0 -
Dofollow vs nofollow for place listings?
Our travel website has thousands of places, each with an individual page, that users can interact with via our site. The info includes a link back to the place's main web presence if available (homepage, Facebook page, hosted listing elsewhere, etc.). We have no problem passing along PageRank to these sites and setting the link as dofollow. However, due to the sheer number (50k+) of these place pages that have the same anchor text of "Visit Website" in the same location on every page, I fear Google will see us as spammy and ding us. That said, would it be better to set these external links as dofollow or nofollow (or leave them as part of the Javascript as they are now)? Thank you in advance!
Link Building | | brandonRT0 -
Is it risky to be on too many .edu link lists?
I recently heard someone say that if your site is on a lot of link lists (example "Useful Links" pages) this can hurt you. How likely is a Google penalty if your site is listed on tons of .edu link lists?
Link Building | | ProjectLabs0 -
What are the best Article Submission Syndicates?
We are currently trying to ramp up our link building using article submission syndicates. So far I have researched -SeoCosmo -Isnare -SubmitShop What is everyones opinon on these three website for submitting articles. Can anyone recommend any other good Submission websites? Thanks You!
Link Building | | GladdySEO0 -
Do you think it's a good idea to try to find synergy between clients for blog posts/citations/links, or should you keep clients away from each other?
Say you have for example three (in this case) clients, and: Client A sells red widgets Client B is a doctor Client C sellls blue widgets With some research, you find that: Red widgets (A) can make the process of blue widget creation (C) even more effective. Red widgets (A) can protect you from harmful things that doctors (B) are qualified to recommend that you stay away from. Furthermore, there are things that doctors (B) recommend that you do in order to maximize the benefits of red widgets (A) Blue widgets (C) carry with them certain potential health risks, which according to doctors (B) can be minimized using the following means Sometimes blue widgets (C) can be used to effectively repair red widget (A) factories ...and so forth. Sure you're really writing these articles to generate links and exchange authority, and frankly you started with "how can I find synergy between these clients?" rather than a with a great article subject that needed a citation which luckily happened to be another client, but the citations are legitimate and the clients are qualified to speak on the subjects where their expertise and interests overlap. Would you consider going ahead with this? Does anyone have any experience doing it? I could see potential pitfalls if clients were to interact with each other, but keeping yourself as the intermediary might well work and overall it seems like a decent way to grab low-hanging fruit as they say. What do you guys think?
Link Building | | PathMarketing0