Create SEO and Promote Your Wix Website for Free by Using Citations
After you have built your Wix website or had a Wix Partner build your website for you, it's time to promote your Wix website to let your potential clients know you're out there!
Of course, the most important site to be found on is Google, followed by Bing and Yahoo. Inbound links are critical for ranking well in organic search engine algorithms. Almost any link, can help a site rank higher for terms that its content targets.
Besides that links help your site rank higher, links that include an address and phone number associated with a particular business also serve to validate that this business exists at a particular location, and in that sense, they make a business more relevant for a particular search.
These links that include a phone number and address are called citations. Besides being important for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), these citations are very important for Google’s Local algorithm (the one that populates maps.google.com).
Building Citations
Get started by gathering all of your business information. You will need the following to build citations:
An email address - Use a business email that is associated with your company domain and not a generic Gmail or Yahoo address. Listing submissions will be more trusted and more likely to go live when you use a domain-based email.
Your Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) - They should be the same on every site. Consistency is important!
Category Selection – Sites where you add your citation often have categories. Try to keep your categories consistent and choose the category that best describes what your business does.
Add as much detail as possible – Add photos, your logo, a full business description, your operating hours, links to your social accounts, and so on.
Claim your listings – Most sites will require you to verify your listing. This is very important! It’s another trust signal and verified listings have more authority.
To create listings you will need an email address. Use a business email that is associated with your company domain and not a generic Gmail or Yahoo address. Listing submissions will be more trusted and more likely to go live when you use a domain-based email.
Your Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) should be the same on every site. Consistency is important, but, don’t worry about minor formatting differences that you’ll see on different sites.
Try to keep your category selections consistent on the sites and choose the category that best describes what your business does.
Add as much detail as possible, add photos, your logo, a full business description, your operating hours, links to your social accounts, and so on.
Claim your listings. Most sites will require you to verify your listing. This can be via email or for bigger sites like Google My Business, Bing, Apple Maps and so on, through phone verification. The company will call your business and have you enter a pin number or give you a pin number to enter to claim your listing. This is very important, it’s another trust signal and verified listings have more authority.
Where to Find Citations Websites?
You will find the best overview of citation sources by country on Whitespark's website. Whitespark is a Canadian company that specializes in local search optimization.
WhiteSpark has an overview of local citation sources for the following countries:
Having a strong citation profile is one of the simplest ways you can optimize for local SEO.
Citations are considered part of the foundational basics when it comes to local search.
Once you have completed your citations you can move on to other areas like link building, engagement, content creation, and reputation management. You shouldn’t have to worry about your citation profile again, unless your business information changes – such as when you move locations, get a new phone number, change your name, and so on.
Would you like us to design a beautiful, functional, and relevant Wix website for you? Contact WixCreate, we will create an online presence that works for you.
