Local Citations Workbook by Dennis Yu - HTML preview

Citation QA Checklist for Business or Agency

Owners

☐ Authority & Traffic

Check the Authority: Verify that the citation site is recognized as an authoritative source in your industry.

Traffic & Keywords: Ensure the site has significant traffic and is ranking for relevant keywords.

☐ NAP (Name, Address, Phone) Information

Accuracy: Double-check that the Name, Address, and Phone number are correct and consistent with your official business records.

Formatting: Ensure the NAP information is formatted correctly and uniformly across all citations.

☐ Social Media Links

Include Social Profiles: Be sure to link to your official social media pages (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) where allowed.

Verify Links: Test each social media link to confirm they direct to the correct pages.

☐ Logo Usage

Upload Logo: Where permitted, upload your business logo.

Image Quality: Ensure the logo is high resolution and properly sized according to the site's guidelines.

☐ Images

Use of Images: Upload relevant images (e.g., product photos, team pictures) where allowed.

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Quality & Relevance: Images should be high-quality and relevant to your business offerings.

☐ Business Description

Include a Detailed Description: Write a clear and concise description of your business.

SEO Optimization: Incorporate relevant keywords without keyword stuffing.

☐ Service Areas

Define Service Areas: List the geographic areas you serve.

Accuracy: Ensure these areas align with your actual service locations.

Comprehensive Listing: Provide a detailed list of the services your business offers.

SEO Considerations: Include service-related keywords to enhance search visibility.

☐ Final Review

Cross-check all Details: Before finalizing, review all information to ensure it's accurate, consistent, and complete.

Test Links: Verify that all external and internal links work correctly.

Check Visibility: Ensure all elements (NAP, images, social media, etc.) are visible and formatted adequately on the citation site.

This checklist should help business or agency owners maintain high standards for their online citations, ensuring they are both practical and accurate.

Important Note While Doing QA for Citations:

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Remember, not every directory is the same, and not every citation is a directory citation. For example, some citations can also be social profile citations. If you mention your NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) in a YouTube description, it will also count as a citation.

Similarly, adding your business information on Facebook or Pinterest will be considered a citation.

One of the biggest myths in local SEO is the belief that citations are only made on directory sites. However, citations can also be found on social sites.

Not every site allows you to add all social profile links, and some sites may not permit a logo. To ensure the citation is perfect, log in to the directory while doing QA and check the listing form to verify that everything is correctly added.

Sites like Crunchbase may require regular activity; otherwise, your listing might be disabled. You can reactivate it by signing into your account.

Additionally, not every site allows login with just an email and password. The best way to do QA is to use another browser, log in with the Google account associated with the citation, and access it by signing in with Google if direct email and password login doesn't work for you.

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