Now that you have started your Local Business in San Diego, how do you go about promoting it? You need to get citations, primarily by submitting to Local Business Directories.
What is a Citation?
A citation is a mention of your business name with another piece of business information, such as your phone number, address, website, or a combination of the three. Citations are important for ranking in Google’s local search and map results, so the more of them you have from quality sources, the better your business is likely to rank. Submitting your business to the sites on this page is likely to improve your rankings.
How to Determine the Best Local Citations for San Diego
We searched Google for the most common keywords within 71 local search categories in the City of San Diego. We then scored the sites inversely based on ranking position combined with overall number of occurrences. The sites that appeared most often and with the highest rankings were deemed best.
Listed below are the directory websites that you MUST submit your new small business to if you want to show up in search engine rankings with companies like Google, Bing and Yahoo.
Top Local Citation and Directory Sources for San Diego, CA
- Google My Business
This is obviously the #1 Search Engine and the authority on the internet. Every San Diego business has to get listed on the Google My Business directory. Google is frequently tweaking its small business listing solutions. Google My Business can be used as the hub of their small business online platform. Business owners who’ve been “verified” can tell Google how it wants to be shown on their results pages and see metrics only a verified listing will expose. Verified local businesses will then show up on all Google Properties like search, maps, and Google+, along with updated directions, hours, and phone numbers that the San Diego business owner has told Google to display.
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- Yelp
Yelp is especially important for any Service Base Business in San Diego as many people just look for a Restaurant, Contractor or shop on Yelp right from their phones and can immediately see customer feedback. Local searchers will also use Yelp to find basic information like the business hours, location, menu and if the location accepts credit cards – but mostly, people look at customer reviews. Yelp is known as the go-to resource for people looking for consumer reviews of local businesses. San Diego Businesses who have claim their Yelp profiles can reply to customers who leave reviews, as well as tell potential customers about special offers and events going on with their business.
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- Yellow Pages (or YP)
You may not have opened up a print directory in years, but many people San Diego still hold the Yellow Pages in high regard. More than 70 million people visit YP each month to search through more than 20 million business listings. Local San Diego Businesses can create those listings for free, with Business Profile Pages that include pertinent information like hours of operation, menus, BBB ratings, and links to social media accounts.
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- Citysearch
Citysearch is a popular destination for online searchers looking for fun ideas in San Diego. Small Businesses in San Diego can leverage that by being included in City Guides and their deals database. This is more for restaurants and retailers but all businesses should be visible on anything this big.
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- Superpages
This is similar to the yellow pages. SuperPages is an online resource for consumers looking for information about local businesses. Millions of consumers use the directory to find merchant information, including hours of operation, website links, customer reviews, and driving directions, each month. Superpages has been around for years, making it one of the oldest citation sources on this list.
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- Facebook Local
Facebook is probably the best social media site for San Diego Small Businesses – for some local businesses, a Facebook page can even serve as a starting point to their online presence. Facebook pages give merchants a presence on the large social networking platform and are very easy to set up. Local Businesses can post about their products, services – even things going on around San Diego. Creating a call-to-action button will help customers get in contact.
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- YouTube
You may not believe it, but YouTube has become the second largest search engine. Putting videos on YouTube of your Local Business in San Diego can show potential customers what they might expect from your company or provide examples of your work. Companies also often feature customer reviews and demonstrations on their products or services here.
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- Bing Places for Business
Bing Places for Business is a Microsoft’s answer to Google My Business. San Diego small business owners can add and edit their listings that then display on Bing. Seeing how Bing has grown in market share over the past few years – the search engine passed the 20% threshold for market share in 2015 – it is important for small businesses to properly manage their listings on the platform.
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- BBB
Did you just pay your Business Tax to San Diego? Many people trust the Better Business Bureaus to help them quickly see a San Diego Company’s reputation. Although the BBB has begun to hold less sway – similar to the yellowpages or a newspaper – many San Diego Residents still hold their Grade with regard. Signing up with their website is worth the time so that your company can be seen as Local San Diego Business.
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- Yahoo Local
The last citation source on the list is a little different – IT IS NOT FREE. It is important to add your Local San Diego Company to directories and citation sources that are not free, it shows that you are a real and legitimate business. Search engines sometimes hold more weight to a directory like this, plus Yahoo is used by millions of people. Your San Diego Business will show up at the top of their results, just like Google, if submitted and properly optimized. Rather than signing up directly through Yahoo, we recommend using our Nerdy Power Listings Service, which will sync your San Diego Business across all of the directories above as well as over 60 others – and you only have to submit your information once. There are plenty of other features as well that are listed on the page.
If all of this seems overwhelming – don’t fret! We have put together a step by step guide that you can download by Clicking Here. This will visually show you step by step how to submit your San Diego Local Business to all of the free directories.