If you want to rank high in search engines, adding your site to a citation website is one way to go. A citation website, also referred to as an online business directory, is a site that contains a list of businesses in a particular category or niche.
Citation websites require that you input your business details, such as its NAP (Name, Address, and Phone number, as well as its niche or category and other relevant description. Driving directions, images, videos, email address and reviews are other information that may be included. These details which altogether make up the reference of the business online are what is referred to as your business' citation.
Citations help you get backlinks of high quality from websites that have high Domain Authorities. Having your business included in a citation website means making it readily available for location by potential customers. The more reliable citation websites your business' citation can be found in, the more Google trusts your business for recommendation to people who search for your category of business.
There is no overemphasizing the importance of citation websites for optimizing your search rankings. It is essential, however, that you provide accurate information about your business across all citation websites you use. The accuracy of the information you publish in the different sites would either boost or crash your chances of being recommended for patronage on search result pages.
The use of citation websites will no doubt present its immense benefits as long as it is done properly. Citation websites in 2023 that will help you in your feat of achieving high rankings are of quite a number. Some of them have been provided in this list below and are thereafter examined. The Moz Domain Authority rating and Alexa ranking of the sites are given where possible.
Google My Business
Apple Maps
Foursquare
Bing Places for Business
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
Yelp
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Yellow Pages
Insider Pages
SuperPages
BizJournals
Here Maps
BizDirLib
WhitePages
MapQuest
Angie's List
City-Data
MerchantCircle
What better way is there to improve your ranking on Google Search than being enlisted in Google's business directory? The 5 million - 5 billion monthly searches on Google for different businesses, ranging from coffee shops to restaurants, can be taken advantage of in boosting your business. So long as it is listed in Google's directory which has its Domain Authority as 98, your business will make it to the search results and have a good chance of ranking high. Google My Business lets you engage with your potential and existing customers, and it does this for free. Photos, offers, contact details, and reviews are some information ready for display on search results once you have a Google My Business account.
2.) Apple Maps
Maps by Apple, for iOS users, works similarly as Google Maps in helping to discover businesses by their NAP citation. Your business would be exposed to the 23.3million users of Apple Maps if you use it as one of the citation websites your business citation is found in. All you need to do is visit mapsconnect.apple.com to get your business listed in, and then watch as your business benefits from this citation tool that has a fine 100 as its Domain Authority.
3.) Foursquare
With a Domain Authority of 93, this platform is essentially made for search-and-discovery by users. If you have your business listed in the Foursquare database, when its users search for businesses of your category located near them, your business citation pops up. Information about your business is available to Foursquare's about-50million users. This is great for driving traffic to your site and thus, ranking higher in search engines.
Setting up your business listing in this portal is quite easy. With a Domain Authority of 94 and Alexa Ranking of 9, this free service makes your business listing available to your potential customers. A report by Microsoft shows that more than 33% of internet searchers use Bing. So if you want searchers for businesses in your niche to find you, consider adding your business citation to Bing Places for Business in addition to Google and other citation websites.
The Domain Authority of this site is 96. This means it has a good enough chance of having its listings rank high on SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). BBB has a reputation for giving an accreditation that equates to a good NAP citation. This is good for building traffic.
6.) Yelp
In addition to managing your business, you can add up your business citation on Yelp. With its 36.3 million users, Alexa Rank 64, and 93 as its Domain Authority, Yelp lets you promote high traffic to your business website. It also allows customers (or even businesses themselves) to leave reviews on a business. More positive views mean more referrals, which in turn leads to more visits to your website or other forms of contact with your business.
7.) Facebook
Facebook's Domain Authority is 96, while its Alexa Rating is 4. A Domain Authority of 96 means its content will rank high in SERPs. Thus, if your business citation is enlisted on Facebook, there is a very, very good chance that it would appear when your kind of business is searched for. Facebook's Business Directory is, thankfully, easy to access and it allows your customers - existing and potential - in your locality to connect with your business.
8.) Instagram
Instagram is fitting for your business if it is one that involves creativity. This is because of its strong visual appeal. While Instagram ranks 20 on Alexa, its Domain Authority is 93. Once you can present your products and/or services with good imagery, then you should make use of the Instagram business listing. Do this by taking the easy steps to create a Business account on Instagram, and then employ the business tools available on the platform to direct traffic to your website and business.
9.) LinkedIn
Professionalism surrounds LinkedIn. It is specifically designed to address the needs of professionals and businesses. If you own a business, get LinkedIn! This citation site is a business community on its own that has a Domain Authority of 98 and helps to drive relevant traffic to websites. Simply include your NAP citation and other relevant information in the LinkedIn business directory. With that, the 660 million + users of the platform are at your reach and ready to be introduced to your business.
10.) YellowPages
If your business requires some form of problem-solving for market-related issues, consider registering its citation in YellowPages (Domain Authority = 91). There are millions of businesses listed on the site, and even more millions of people who use and access the site. A good fraction of these millions of local searchers could be directed to your business site if you take advantage of this citation website.
11.) Insider Pages
A website with its Domain Authority figuring 73, insiderpages.com focuses on service-providing businesses. Since users provide reviews, other users who see those reviews become potential customers. Once you have your business citation in Insider Pages' directory, your business would come up with other businesses similar to yours among the search results. True, the Domain Authority of Insider Pages is not as high as several other sites on this list. However, the more citation websites your citation can be found in, the better it is for your business rankings.
12.) SuperPages
This is another high-authority citation website where you can include the citation for your business and trust that your citation will be available to the site's users. Its Domain Authority is 85. With SuperPages, it is easy to enter new citations and edit existing ones. Being listed on SuperPages results in high ranking and site authority of your business due to the backlinks the citation website provides.
13.) BizJournals
92 as Domain Authority is a good sign that you should have your citation contained in a citation website's listing. And Biz Journals has that sign. It employs business-growth tools, including its vast directory or business listing. As part of their website, BizJournals has a local directory where you can include your business citation and let users leave reviews on your business on the site. Others can find such reviews and be directed to your site. BizJournals, although free, however, has some paid packages included in its user options.
14.) Here Maps
This platform provides map content about a variety of businesses. Here is one citation website where your business competitors may not think to find a spot in. If that is the case, better for you! It would mean that your business would rank high in search results within the Here Maps website. The Domain Authority of Here Maps is 85 and Alexa Rank is 3756.
15.) BizDirLib
Business Directory Library (BizDirLib) provides details of different businesses in different countries. To be one of those businesses, all that is required of you is to save your citation in their directory.
16.) WhitePages
This site is self-acclaimed to be a site with the largest database that contains information about US and Canadian residents. Having WhitePages as a citation website for your business will be good for your business as the site's users can easily look up your business. Its Domain Authority is 86 and Alexa Rank, 346. Pro and Premium plans on the site would allow for more business-promoting features.
17.) MapQuest
As the name rightly suggests, this is another mapping site. With a Domain Authority of 95 and 527 as its Alexa Rank, your business citation on MapQuest is accessible to tons of users who search for directions to a wide range of businesses. MapQuest may have bigger competitors in the list of citation websites, yet it remains relevant. Consider using it as an added place to profitably include your citation.
18.) Angie's List
Angie's List is many things a virtual marketplace of its nature can be. It is also a helpful citation website. It has a Domain Authority of 89 and an Alexa Rank of 1288. Businesses and companies are sorted by categories on the site. So, your business is spared from having to struggle with thousands of businesses for high ranking. Instead, competition is reduced to those businesses in the same niche as yours. The best way to make the most out of being listed on Angie's is to first find out the size of the competition already existing on the site. If there are a few competitors, fine. If the competition is a large number of businesses, a better course of action would be to find another site. This applies to all local citation websites.
19.) City-Data
City-Data, which has a Domain Authority of 86 and Alexa Rank of 1109), contains information about all US cities. Users would search for data about a region and if your business citation is on their site, it will also be on the search results. The traffic which this site gets would be good for your business, especially if it is a local business with circumstances that fit the usage of the website.
20.) MerchantCircle
MerchantCircle (Domain Authority = 89, Alexa Rank = 10527) allows businesses to form connections. Your business can, thus, benefit the traffic drawn to your partner business(es). The possibility of your business showing up at a good rank in SERPs comes with adding your profile to the Merchant Circle site.
Other citation websites you will find helpful in 2023 include:
eLocal
Local Database
ForLocations
YellowBot
US Directory
Magic Yellow
Opendi
Kudzu
411.info
Brownbook
My Huckleberry
iBegin
Hot Frog
Mojo Pages
Yell
DexKnows
Shop City
Avvo
TripAdvisor
Area Connect
Conclusion
Several other citation websites exist, but the above list contains those commonly used and which have relatively high Domain Authorities for better rankings. Weigh your options and remember that the more, the merrier! Yet, while you cannot list your citation on all the citation websites, you can pick those relevant to and suitable for your business and work with them. Also important to note is that citations must be used correctly, and accurately throughout all citation websites. Else, you would be defeating the very aim you seek to achieve - high traffic and local rankings.