1. The Following Slide Presentation
is Adapted From a Recent
Local Search Webinar. (Sept. 2013)
 Why attention to Local Search is important to SMB’s
 Data to support claims
 Expert opinions regarding data and trends
Contents:

2. Section 1
So why Citations?!(Citations are mentions of one or more parts of your businesses NAP
NAP = Name, Address & Phone Number)
‘Enhanced Listings for Local Search Greatness’
Myles Anderson
Local Search Expert

3. Data drives internet & mobile
 All local sites & services need data
 Location Based Services & apps
need a data layer
 Same data sources feed into web & mobile
 More data sources & outlets than ever before
 More local searches than ever before

4. Mobile driving growth in local searches
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Mobile Desktop
BIA/Kelsey Local Commerce Monitor (LCM) Survey, Wave 16, November 2012
Scale = billion searches/year

5. 169,000,000,000
„LOCAL‟ SEARCHES IN 2015
BIA/Kelsey Local Commerce Monitor (LCM) Survey, Wave 16, November 2012
(169 Billion searchesprojectedworldwide)

6. Citations remain ‘the key’ factor in local search
2008
From Quantity
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
To Quality
#6 ‘Validation
with third-
party
providers’
#2 ‘Citations
from Major
Data
Providers’
#4 Volume of
structured
Citations
#7 Quality of
structured
Citations from
#10 Quality of
unstructured
citations
#11 Volume of
unstructured
citations
#4 Volume of
structured
Citations
#5 Volume of
unstructured
Citations
#5 Quantity of
Structured
Citations
#8 Quality &
Authority of
Structured
Citations
#3 Consistency
of Structured
Citations
#4 Quality &
Authority of
Structured
Citations
#6 Quantity of
Structured
Citations
#14, 16, 25, 39
Source: Local Search Ranking Factors Study – 2008-2013

7. Expert Citation Survey 2013
 17 local search experts
11 questions
Key & common questions
 A big thank you to…

8. Expert Citation Survey - Panelists
Mike Blumenthal
Andrew Shotland
Nyagoslav Zhekov
David Moceri
Mike Ramsey
Phil Rozek
 Laura Betterley
Casey Meraz
Susan Hallam
Mike Bellasco
Matthew Hunt
Brian Coryat
Damian Rollinson
Don Campbell
Jon Keel
Phil Britton
Myles Anderson

9. How important are accurate Citations to
local search ranking?
69%
19%
12% 0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Critical Very Important Quite Important Not Important

10. Are Citations getting more or less important
to local search ranking?
44%
50%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
More Important The Same Less Important

11. What is more important - quantity or quality
of Citations?
63%
19% 18%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Quality Quantity Same Importance

12. Which type of sites are most valuable for
Citations?
19%
31%
25% 25%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Local Dir National Dir Niche/Industry All the same

13. Is it more important to update existing wrong
citations or build new citations?
38%
6%
56%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Existing New Mix of both

14. How important is it to merge or delete
duplicate citations?
31%
19%
38%
13%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Essential Very Important Quite Important Not Very Important

15. Do you think it's best to build citations
quickly or steadily over time?
53%
27%
13%
7%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Build steadily (3-6
months)
Depends on
quantity of existing
Build quickly (1-2
months)
Build as many as
you can now!

16. “We know building citations quickly for new
sites is essential; but equally, citation building is
an ongoing steady process, not a one hit
wonder. A steady approach always wins with
Google! ”
Susan Hallam
“Citation building should be an on-going
process and never end.”
Mike Blumenthal

17. Does address formatting need to be 100%
perfect? (or do small differences not matter? )
31%
50%
19%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
100% Perfect Important but not critical Formatting not an issue

18. “As far as address formatting goes, different sites
tend to use different standards of abbreviation. This
forces sites like Google to use they're own
standardized matching algorithms to yield
better, more unified results. …Moral of the story
is, don't intentionally alternate between Road and
Rd, but don't stress over it if it happens..”
Phil Britten

19. How important is 'richness' of citations?
(I.E. adding 'description', 'photos', 'opening hours‟ etc…)
56%
31%
13%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Very Important Quite Important Not Important

20. How important is it to use different
descriptions across different sites?
30%
26%
17%
3% 4% 4% 4%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Not important
now but may
be in future
Important to
do on high
value
directories
Not important
& time
consuming
Useful to help
citations rank
higher
Important to
avoid dupe
content
penalties
Important
because some
sites check for
unique
content
Don't bother!

21. Only 40% say it‟s important to do….
30%
26%
17%
3% 4% 4% 4%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Not important
now but may
be in future
Important to
do on high
value
directories
Not important
& time
consuming
Useful to help
citations rank
higher
Important to
avoid dupe
content
penalties
Important
because some
sites check for
unique
content
Don't bother!