Do business citations (without links) on penalised website have a negative effect?
-
Hi there
I've been doing some research into directory sites that my clients are listed on and noticed that some appear to have flat-lined in organic search traffic indicating a penalty.
I would like to know if clients with business citations on these penalised websites (without links to clients websites) will be having a negative effect on SEO?
Thanks
-
Hi Kerry,
Excellent answer from Patrick. I just want to add a bit to it. For local businesses, directories are very much still part
of the picture. I, too, am curious about the nature of the directories your client is listed on. I'm assuming they are not
major directories like HotFrog. Would these be niche directories, specific to your client's industry, or something along
those lines? If so, do you sense that there is something fishy about the directories or the client's presence on them?
-
Hi Kerry
To answer your question, you should be fine. I wouldn't be too concerned if there are no links, but I would keep an eye on it nonetheless, especially if you see historic data that concerns you.
Can you provide a few examples of the types of directories you are looking at? It doesn't have to be your client's citation. Sometimes it's easier to gauge when seeing a couple of examples and looking for a pattern or clue if it's a spam site or not. Something to consider:
Is this citation providing an real value to my business?
In my opinion, if it's not, and it's not relevant to my business, I would ask to have the citation removed; link or no. With Google tightening up quality standard, it's important that citations or mentions are relevant, even if the site is not linking to you directly.
If one of these directories are linking to you
The last few years, directories have had quite a bit of bad press in the way of "spam" and link schemes. That's not to say all directories are bad, in fact, some are incredibly helpful and relevant, having great metrics and providing real value to a certain industry or user type.
A couple of things to consider for your client's site and these directories:
-
Do a quick read about Link Schemes
-
Note the URL
-
Do the words "free", "directory", "directories", "links", "search", "money", "xxx", or pills / porn / poker appear at all in the domain or URL?
-
Run a few of these directories through Open Site Explorer and Majestic
-
Take a look at their backlink profiles / anchor texts / overall topic of their backlink profile (Majestic)
-
Does it appear to be spammy, not relevant to your industry/client, or just "doesn't feel right"?
-
Run your own site through OSE and Majestic
-
Note your own metrics
-
Note the sites / domains that are linking to you
-
Note the anchor text they are using
-
A great link removal resource from Moz
Just something to consider as you look at these directories. I don't know the link to no link ratio, but I figured I would add this in here just in case more questions popped up. Hopefully this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions or comments. Good luck!
-
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
-
Google Is Linking to Wrong Local Page - How To Change?
Hi All Thanks in advance for any support. I've setup two "local" pages to target the next door town for one of my clients. One page targets "t shirt printing" and one page targets "embroidered workwear" However when I search for "embroidered workwear town in question" google connects the search to my t-shirt printing page and not the embroidered workwear page. Would it be possible to advise on what I need to do for the correct page to be linked to the search term? Here is a link to the search term in question **https://tinyurl.com/vvgr5r5 ** and the page that we would like to appear in the results, not our tshirt printing page https://tinyurl.com/s77md9o Thanks in advance for any help
Local Listings | | ruislip180 -
Has anyone tried using AMP links in Google Business Listings?
We have a client with multiple locations, and Google Business listings for each location. We've also created AMP pages for each of those location landing pages, and they're ranking on page one of their main queries, just below the local pack. We're wondering if anyone has tried pointing a GMB website listing at an AMP page, or if there are considerations to keep in mind before testing it out. So far, we've discussed whether to use the AMP url (amp.domain.com) or the Google viewer url (google.com/amp/s/amp.domain.com), and potential concerns for desktop users.
Local Listings | | WompM0 -
Changing the business name in citations and GMB
In Australia, some businesses are Pty Ltd (Proprietary Limited) hence, their business name ends with xxx Pty Ltd. How accurate do we have to be when building citations or updating citations that Pty Ltd is included in the business name? We've got clients who have left out Pty Ltd in their previously built citations and we're wondering if it's worth the time to actually update them to include Pty Ltd. Also, does changing a business name affect its rankings? This is more than just "Pty Ltd", it's changing from XYZ to ABC. We've previously had to change a client's address on their GMB and this had a negative effect on the client's rankings. Will changing the business name have an adverse effect? Thank you in advance for your advices!
Local Listings | | Gavo1 -
Is it possible to be penalised by automating directory submissions via Moz local
Hi, I am currently looking at the domain authority of the site that i have linked to Moz local and was wondering if you can be penalised by automating directory submissions and if so how one would recover? Thanks Nick
Local Listings | | SEM_at_Lees0 -
I am looking for some Local authoritative websites and aggregators of local business data
Does anyone know where I can obtain a list of aggregators of local business data for the UK? I am also looking to understand the best way to find local authoritative websites that I could build backlinks with. Hope you can help. Many thanks Nick
Local Listings | | SEM_at_Lees0 -
Local Search - Multiple Locations, do i link the home page or the inner page?
Hello, For a business with multiple locations that has a web url built for each location such as: Website.com/miami Website.com/los-angeles For local search (Google+, Yelp, etc), is it best to link the local search pages to the specific page of that location? Or is the homepage sufficient enough? I ask that because it is ALREADY touch getting NATURAL links to a location page, so would local search do me good by linking to the exact page of the location?
Local Listings | | Shawn1241 -
Adding multiple locations business to directories
We have multiple locations business.
Local Listings | | VicMark
Adding each location business info to directories. There are same services and everything for each location. Should we keep the same description for all listings or different for each location?
Should we indicate Home Page URL (with 800 number, no address in footer) or location URL?0 -
Convert Google Plus page to Business page
I have a google plus page for my company edspire.com, https://plus.google.com/b/107395030190889162381/107395030190889162381/posts When I created it I don't think I set it up as a business so I'd like to convert to one. As far as I can see it is not possible to do this. What is the recommended process, do I just create a new one and migrate content over or is there some way to merge them? Should I then delete the old one or is it helpful to keep double posting? Thanks, Jim
Local Listings | | yojimbo230