Citations are basically mentions of your website or business on another website. This could be on a forum, directory or social media site. Citations are seen by search engines as people talking about your website or business. This is different from people linking to you they are just mentioning you.
Citations apparently help your rankings in the local search listings on search engines so they are very important.
MOZ is also a great place to get a citation and is also great to get involved in discussions about SEO topics and show off your skills.
Forums are also a great way to get your name out there whether that is a simple mention of your company or to get involved with other forum members helping them out with your expertise. The UK business forums is a great place to get your business name know.
Trello is a great site where you can organise your projects and share them with other members of your team or with customers. This is Lojix on there.
My Local services is a great site to get your business listed on.
Building Arena is a great place to list your construction business.
DMCA is a great site that allows you to monitor if people copy your content, you also get a backlink to your site on your badge, this is Lojix on there.
Site review software such as this one or this one are great to check on how well you have done the SEO on your website.
Brownbook is a great resource to list your business, here is Cultrix on Brownbook. And so is the Free Index and here is Cultrix on there.
Enroll business is another great site that allows you to submit your business profile, here is Cultrix on there.
SEO audit are really popular and can give you some insights as to how to improve your search engine rankings. Here is Cultrix on Seoptimer and Cultrix on SEO site checkup.
Tupalo is another great local directory to get your business listed on and here is Cultrix on there.
Curlie is the replacement for the DMOZ directory and you can find My Mobility on there.
This business directory has a high domain rating and is well worth the time to get your business listed on it. Business Directory. You can find Cultrix on there too. Also Simplify Engineering, Garden Weddings, Treasurebay, Lojix, Eagle Platforms.
The smart business directory is a great way to get your business noticed, here is Cocorose London on there, Cultrix, Garden Weddings and TreasureBay.
PF Buzz is a great way to check if your website is configured correctly. Here is Cultrix on there. Another site I like is Behance. I also link Linktr as you can bookmark your favourite sites.
I recently came across Link Tree and it is a great place to put all your links in one place, check out Simplify Engineering and Lojix on there, as well as Eagle Platforms and also My Mobility Guide. Garden Weddings.
Zumvu is a great site where you can list your business profile. There are various levels of access but the free option gives you a nice looking profile and link to your website. You need to verify that you own the business by uploading some documentation as proof. Here is Lojix on there.
Slides is a great way to showcase a presentation on any topic you want.
Misterwhat is a great site to list your business on, as is Tupalo and here is Cultrix on there.
My Folio is a great site to get some additional exposure and here is Lojix on there.
Find us here is a great local search directory allowing businesses to promote their services.
I really like Pearl Trees which allows you to organise all your favourite places on the internet in one place.
Issuu is also one of my favourites. Behance is also a great site to sign up to.
Directories are a good way of getting your brand out there and local directories such as Sheffield Company can help raise your brand awareness in the local community by getting you listed in the local maps section on Google.
Wikidot allows you to create your own mini website on a subdomain. You need to know a little about web design but it isn’t difficult as they provide user guides and support. Here is Lojix on Wikidot.
Bombstat is a great site to get on and it will also give you some recommendations on what is or isn’t configured correctly on your website.
ABI Logic allows you to submit articles which means you can get stories out there about your business. Here is Noise Control Solutions, MPC and Select Recording Studios. Great articles include how to write for people and Google and how to choose an IT support company.
If you a keen photographer you might want to check out 500px.
Spotlight is another great site where you can list any business related to casting and music – here is Select Recording Studios on Spotlight
Business directories are another great way to get more online exposure, here are a few examples; Garden Weddings on Smart Business directory, Cultrix on the Smart Business directory, Cultrix on Yellowleaf
All my favs is a great place to save all your favourite places on the internet. Or if you have lots of social media accounts you can have them here all in one place just like these ones.
If you work for a construction company then you can list your skills an your companies details on designing buildings, see Bradfields profile on there.
Folkd is also a great place to save all your favourite sites – here is an example and another example and here is Treasurebay and also this is Mini Beans on Folkd.
Another good one I have found recently is Four Square and this is a profile we did for Select Recording Studios who are based in London.
another profile site I like is Steepster where you can rate your favourite tea! Here is Damp2dry on Steepster.
I also like to use Webwiki and here are profiles for Wakefield Acoustics and Lojix. WordPress is another one and here is a good example.
Below is an example of one that I use and I particular like this site as you get more than one link:
Linkedin is a great website for getting your business out there. You can connect with people or groups but you can also create what are called show case pages. This allow you to show off some of your products or services.
Folkd is a great place to bookmark your links. You can find Cultrix on there.
Other social media sites that are great to get your name out there and help with backlinks to your products or services include Slideshare and Pinterest.
Video is becoming more and more popular and other sites are taking on Youtube for traffic. Vimeo is quite popular and very easy to use.
I hope you get the idea now. As well as citations and local business directory listings another good way of improving your local listings on Google is to encourage people to review your products and services.