Research into citation and it's effect on ranking
-
Hi
I'd like to know if there has been any research into citation (brand mentions on external sites) and how it has / hasn't effected ranking, particularly Google Search?
If any body can point me in the right direction, that would be great.
Thanks
-
If your looking for numbers to prove that a text reference to a company on a website causes a site to move up in the SERP, then no I do not believe you will find it.
On the other hand, if you are wondering if a citation on a site causes people to type in a company name in a search box which in turn causes a spike in search traffic, which evidently will cause a movement in the SERP, then yes it does. This is what trending is based on.
Are there numbers to support this? Yes, but those numbers are based on what it is, where the citations are, whether there is a buzz about it, etc, etc,. Every situation will be different and unique.
SEO is about creating more traffic, so in essence if someone reads a post about company XYZ and searches for it by name, there is an increase in traffic.
This is probably not the statistical data you are looking for, and I'd love for someone else to chime in if they have supporting evidence to back up the contrary.
-
Thanks but this still doesn't provide any raw data proving that citation on 3rd party websites actually helps with SEO.
-
Ah ok, thank you for clarifying. What you want to do is watch this SEOMoz webinar by Rand which discusses exactly what you are looking for:
http://www.seomoz.org/webinars/what-signals-could-make-you-a-brand-in-google
-
It's not a local listing but a editorial mention. So for example, if someone interviews you and inserts your company name into the editorial but has no link back to your company website. This is referred as a citation. aka, brand mentions
-
If you are referring to a Google Local Listing you should check out the just released 'Local Search Ranking Factors':
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml
If you are referring to a standard website, not a local business, if there is not a link to the site, but only a citation, it is hard to say. How is it a citation? Does it have a text link that is not a clickable link?
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Why is Google appending a different website's brand name to the end of SERP title?
I've recently been shown some SERP results where Google is appending a different website's brand name to the end of the SERP title. It's actually rewriting the brand's name to that of the other website. (This is obviously not ideal.) Why would this be? The other website doesn't even stock the same product, so there shouldn't be any confusion there. But even if it did, many websites stock the same products. Just confusing...
Branding | | Ria_1 -
Using keywords instead of brand name on G+ to rank for local terms.
I noticed something this morning, when performing a search on Google UK for "Intensive driving courses southend" the first position is awarded to a driving school that is using exact match keywords instead of brand name on their G+ page to rank for local terms. See this for yourself here: https://www.google.co.uk/#q=intensive+driving+courses+southend Until then, my site had held position 1 for this term for well over a year. Every gut instinct I have tells me that this will not work forever and its not something I should implement, however I'm interested to hear if anyone else is using this tactic, and how its working for them? How can I compete with this "grey hat" tactic?
Branding | | Silkstream0 -
Google +1's and Google+ Local
Hi fellow Mozers, I manage 5 brands at the national level, each with their own Google+ profile and then under each brand, there are several hundred physical locations, each with their own Google+ Local page. My question is, should we be encouraging visitors of each location's Google+ Local profile page to +1 the page? Does it have an influence on local rankings and overall SERP results? Our goal is to ultimately get our local websites to rank better than our less targeted brand sites and have our Google+ Local pages show in search results as much as possible. Our local businesses convert to leads, where our brand sites are one step out from that and are used to feed into a "find a location" result that takes the visitor to the local site.
Branding | | dsinger0 -
Getting citations from different cities for a travelling band
Hi mozzers! i play in a band that is based in Austin, TX but travels to all cities across texas. I've been told i need to have citations in place to help my organic rankings in the cities across Texas that i perform in. 1. What are the best ways to get citations to rank locally in each city for my band? i have a page set up on my website for each city that we perform in. Do i set up accounts on local business directories in each city that i perform in with a link to that city page on my site? I have performers that i hire in each city and can use their address for the local address on each business listing but my business phone number would be the same for all cities. I don't want this to look black hat to google by filling out business listings for many different cities with the same phone humber but my customers are in fact in all these major cities almost more than in my home town. 2. Since i can only fill out a google places page for my home city, what other ways can i get citations to help my organic rankings in all the cities that i perform in? Thanks in advance for everyone's input! Ron
Branding | | Ron100 -
What is the weight of .pro domains? Will they rank?
.pro Domains have ben out there for a while but seem to as late started to be adopted. Thoughts and opinions welcome.
Branding | | bozzie3110 -
Do Dashes in Domain names hurt SEO ranking?
I have found conflicting reports online whether or not dashes in domain names hurt/help ranking. Example yourbrandonline.com vs your-brand-online.com? I found Rand's write up on how to select a domain and he suggests staying away from hyphens but mainly because its hard to remember or people my enter it in wrong. Here's his comment. "Reject Hyphens and Numbers
Branding | | JoshKimber
Both hyphens and numbers make it hard to give your domain name verbally and falls down on being easy to remember or type. I'd suggest not using spelled-out or roman numerals in domains, as both can be confusing and mistaken for the other." Aside from people possibly struggling to get there directly because of the domain name, are they OK to use? Or, are domains with hyphens considered spammy? Thanks in advance.1 -
Are there any companies out there that can do Search Retargeting on a local level? I'd like to target a Metro area, or even a large city.
Are there any companies out there that can do Search Retargeting on a local level? I'd like to target a Metro area, or even a large city. I'm talking Search Retargeting, not Site Retargeting.
Branding | | mustang7870 -
How to remove negative media that is effecting the barnd
We have a client that is a reorganised business and brand. But a newspaper has posted some negative video and that is coming up on 2<sup>nd</sup> position when you type in the client name in google. The client also paid a company to try and reduce its positioning but no joy yet on that front. The client is now thinking of rebranding his complete business he also have first page positions on his major keywords but the issue is that when a customer or potential customer reads that story etc it harms them and it will only get worse. The worst example being one of our salespeople sold 10 Items to a customer for £*k and before he got home the customer cancelled saying he had read the story on the internet!! Also our competitors use it in the home to rubbish them all the time. The market this year has been very tough for us and its half what it was last year What would be your advice please ? Should we go for a brand new site with no association with the current brand name? Or how can we remove that one site negative video, we have contacted the editor who has refused to take off the news by the way that news was posted last year.
Branding | | conversiontactics0
