Introducing: iBuildCitations - Cloud Object Storage · 90% of local experts say accurate citations...

IBUILDCITATIONS.COM

Introducing: iBuildCitations

Citations Audit and Directory Listing Service

Nathan Ferguson

September, 2016

iBuildReviews

iBuildAlerts iBuildCitations

iBuildPress

This document is an overview about the iBuildCitations service. It explains about Citations and contains a number of FAQ’s. We reserve the right to change any detail contained within this document without notice. Please contact support with any questions. Copyright 2016 iBuildCitations.com

iBuildCitations.com | Overview 2

Overview __________________________________________________________________ 3

What are Citations? _____________________________________________________________ 3

Overview of the iBuildCitations Service _____________________________________________ 4

5 ‘must know’ facts _____________________________________________________________ 4

Manual Submissions ________________________________________________________ 6

How is each submission handled? __________________________________________________ 6

What happens if you find my listing already on a directory? _____________________________ 7

How do we handle removal of duplicate listings/citations? _____________________________ 7

Can we just submit Manually to sites or via Data Aggregators? __________________________ 8

What Countries Do We Cover? ____________________________________________________ 8

Business information, access rights and IP ___________________________________________ 9

Can I buy extra citations for an existing campaign? ____________________________________ 9

Can I have a list of directories and citation sites you list on? ____________________________ 10

How do you handle telephone verification? _________________________________________ 10

How do you verify new submissions/listings? _______________________________________ 11

Do you guarantee that submissions will result in live listings? __________________________ 11

What information do you submit to directories? _____________________________________ 12

Do you offer new submissions and claiming of existing listings?_________________________ 12

How much does it cost and how do I pay? __________________________________________ 12

Local Data Aggregators _____________________________________________________ 13

What are Local Data Aggregators? ________________________________________________ 13

Aggregator Distribution Network _________________________________________________ 13

After submitting to a Local Data Aggregator can I update my information at any time? ______ 14

Do I need to re-purchase Local Data Aggregator submissions every 12 months? ____________ 14

How do we submit to Local Data Aggregators? ______________________________________ 15

Which countries do Local Data Aggregators work in? _________________________________ 15

How much do Local Data Aggregator submissions cost? _______________________________ 16

Key Question: What happens if I stop using iBuildCitations Service? _____________________ 16

Key Question: I've seen ad's for directory submissions for around $20. Why such a difference in

price? _______________________________________________________________________ 17

What to do next.... _____________________________________________________________ 17


90% of local experts say accurate citations are Critical or Very

Important to local search ranking

86% of local SEO experts say quality of citations is more

important that quantity of citations

- Expert Local Citation Survey 2016

Overview

What are Citations?

Citations (aka Local Directory Listings) are a key part of local search

optimization. A citation is a mention of your business on a 3rd party website –

typically a local directory, event site or review site. These mentions contain

your Business name, Address & Phone Number (NAP) but they can (and

should) contain much more detail such as a description of services, working

hours, images etc…

Having lots of citations which all display the same, accurate info about your

business helps to improve your ranking in local search results. Accuracy &

‘quality’ of your listings is considered the most important factor – sheer

quantity of citations has value but is trumped by quality.

So cleaning up inaccurate data, merging duplicate listings and creating new

listings is a critical part of local search optimization.

However the act of manually going through each site to find, update or add a

listing yourself is very time consuming and repetitive. But there is help at

hand!


Overview of the iBuildCitations Service

We have partnered with an industry leading company which has been building

citations for over 5 years. With an in-house team of 30 submission agents &

managers. We submit direct to site and have a database of 1,600 citation

sites. We also submit to the top 4 aggregators. We have smart & easy-to-use

interfaces for setting up campaigns, selecting citations & detailed reporting.

We operate in 10 countries – and offer clean-up of existing submissions and

new submissions.

With over 300,000 submissions completed for more than 5,000 businesses and

lots of repeat customers. We have a big enough team to deliver citations at

scale but also maintain focus on quality of citations delivered.

5 ‘must know’ facts

We submit direct to each site & claim your listings (currently around

1,600 sites)

We select the top sites for your country and industry

1 time cost – no recurring charges

Guarantee that 70% of submissions go live in 4 weeks of submission

We operate in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Netherlands

(Holland), Germany, Singapore, New Zealand, Ireland


Citation quantity & consistency have a big impact on your ranking in local

search.

We're experts in Citation Management and able help you with all aspects of

improving your local listings -

Clean-up & fix your existing listings

Remove duplicate listings

Build new niche & high value listings

Our Citation service is trusted by over 1,800 agencies for their citation work

and our in-house submissions team handles 30,000 citations every month.

iBuildCitations.com | Manual Submissions 6

Manual Submissions

How is each submission handled?

Our submissions are all done manually by our dedicated citations team who

handle all campaigns. We have a very tried & tested approach to submissions

and deep knowledge of the directories and citation sites we use.

Below are the key steps we take for each campaign:

Identify appropriate citations for your business, we do this by filtering our

citation database using your ‘Location’ and ‘Business Category’ to return

appropriate citation opportunities, then we look to see where you’re already

listed online

Create unique campaign email account for verifications

Check to see if your business is already listed on a directory

Submit business details to directory

Click link in verification email to complete submission

Capture details in report & grab profile URL if listing is created instantly

Provide customer with details of campaign report

Provide customer with details of email account(s) & passwords used


What happens if you find my listing already on a directory?

We always look to see if you have an existing listing before we submit to a

directory.

We do both an automated look-up & manual (‘human’) look-up so we double

check everything.

If we find a listing and the core information is correct then we will skip it and

submit you to a different (‘Replacement’) directory. This means that you

always get the same number of submissions you paid for.

How do we handle removal of duplicate listings/citations?

We handle the removal of duplicate listings (citations) in 3 possible ways –

1. Create account, claim listing and delete it (directly or request to site

editors to delete)

2. Submit a removal/update request via web-form. We give evidence of

duplication and cite your website/Google My Business listing as proof of

incorrect data.

3. Email site editors to request removal/update of listing. We give evidence

of duplication and cite your website/Google My Business listing as proof

of incorrect data.

If we don't get a reply from site editors then we may use a final tactic of

claiming a listing and altering the business details so there is little connection

to the business so it ceases to become a duplicate. But this is a last resort as

it's not helpful for users or the directory.


Can we just submit Manually to sites or via Data Aggregators?

We can submit to sites Manually and/or via Aggregators. Both options are

available.

What Countries Do We Cover?

Currently, we have top citation / directory sites available for:

USA

UK

Canada

Australia

South Africa

Netherlands (Holland)

Germany

Singapore

New Zealand

Ireland


Business information, access rights and IP

Who retains the IP over the information submitted?

You (our customers) do. We simply take the information you provide to us and

submit to the directories on your behalf.

Who retains the access rights to the directory profiles created?

You (our customers) do. We give you the login details for each profile so that

you can access yourself if you need to.

Do you give us access to the email account & directory profiles created?

Yes we do. We give you the login details for the email account so that you can

access it yourself if you need to.

Can I buy extra citations for an existing campaign?

Yes you can.

You may purchase additional citations each month or as you want them.

We keep record of where we submitted to in the last campaign, so it’s easy to

know which directories to select next.


Can I have a list of directories and citation sites you list on?

We can’t supply the full list because it’s pretty valuable to us! But we can show

you an indicative set of directories so you know they types of sites we use.

How do you handle telephone verification?

We don't directly handle telephone verifications.

This is because typically telephone verification requires the co-ordination of

calls and passing of codes directly with business owners/clients. Meaning it

really needs direct client contact to make it work smoothly.

Also a lot of our customers prefer for us to operate as an invisible partner in

the background.

So we found that the best way for us to handle directory websites that require

phone verification, is to complete the account creation & data submission

steps, then pass on the details for you/client to complete the phone

verification step.


*NB: if you prefer not to be bothered with phone verification, we can select

only directories which DO NOT require this.

How do you verify new submissions/listings?

We create a unique email account for each citation campaign. We then create

user accounts on each directory using these unique email accounts.

Any verification emails are sent to these unique email addresses and we click

on the verification links in the emails to complete the submissions.

At the end of each campaign we add the email account details to the report

which you can access.

Do you guarantee that submissions will result in live listings?

We guarantee that 70% of submissions/updates will result in live listings within

4 weeks of submission. If we don’t achieve 70% then we will submit to

additional sites until we achieve at least 70%.

Why not 100%? – We don’t control the publishing policies of the directories we

submit to so we are unable to guarantee listings. However we do prioritise

directories which offer instant or fast listings and those which are high value

sites. When we show you the list of appropriate directories for your business

we put these sites at the top.


What information do you submit to directories?

We submit main business contact details, business address details, a

description of services, working hours, payment methods and up to 4 images.

Do you offer new submissions and claiming of existing

listings?

Yes we can do both of these. New submissions are very straight forward.

Claiming or editing of existing listings is more complicated and the approach

depends on the directory in question.

Some directories allow email verification for claiming listings while others

require phone verification. If we are unable to claim a listing then we will

submit an ‘edit’ to the listing via other means provided.

How much does it cost and how do I pay?

Our Citation service is standalone. No monthly or subscription fees.

Per campaign - Single Location

When you set up a campaign you have the choice of how many submission you

want.

We have set campaign sizes of 30, 50, 75 & 100 submissions.

Update: Please See End of Document for Ordering information.

iBuildCitations.com | Local Data Aggregators 13

Local Data Aggregators

What are Local Data Aggregators?

Local Data Aggregators are organisations which collect data on local businesses

such as their name, address, phone number, opening hours etc.

Local Data Aggregators then verify the data to ensure it is accurate, once this

has been completed they make the data available to Search Engines (e.g

Google) as well as many online directories (e.g YP.com) and GPS services e.g

(TomTom).

Search engines, directories and GPS services then lease this data from the

aggregators. This means they have accurate, verified, up to date data.

Through data aggregators local businesses can make sure they have more

accurate location data across the web for their locations, this in turn helps

them to perform better in local search.

Aggregator Distribution Network

One question we get asked is "Where do local data aggregators distribute my

data?"

This a good question, but one that's tough to give an exact answer for.

Aggregators essentially lease their data to a long list of different sources. This

can be a mix of directories, GPS services and online applications. Because of

the nature of data leasing; the distribution network is constantly changing.

Here's the most recent copy of the aggregator's distribution network, this is

from Q4 of 2015 so certain sites may have dropped out / in since this was put

together - nevertheless this should give you a good idea of what it is you're

purchasing through our aggregator submissions.

http://ibuildreviews.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/17000027136-aggregator-distribution-network


After submitting to a Local Data Aggregator can I update my

information at any time?

This varies for different data aggregators:

InfoGroup - 12 month free updates from point of initial/last purchase

NeustarLocaleze - 12 month free updates from point of initial/last

purchase for all data except for 'Business Name'. This aggregator allows

changes to Business Name for 30 days after payment. All other data can

be changed for free for 12 months.

Acxiom - 12 month free updates from point of initial/last purchase

Factual - perpetual free update (but doing this via iBuildCitations will

incur renewal fee of US$10)

Do I need to re-purchase Local Data Aggregator submissions

every 12 months?

It is advised that you do but it isn't required.

The major benefit of renewing your submission to data aggregators is that your

data retains it's 'trusted' status within aggregator feeds to 3rd party sites. This

means that 3rd party sites see this data as being more 'official' and are less

likely to overwrite it with data scraper/imported from other sources.

Your data won't get deleted from the 3rd parties sites because they buy it from

the aggregators so it's useful to them.

However it does cost to renew your submission to aggregators. The renewal

cost is the same as for initial submission/update.


How do we submit to Local Data Aggregators?

We have partnered with the 4 local data aggregators and can submit direct to

them via API or through a partner dashboard.

When you submit your data to us we first check for any possible errors or

inconsistencies in the data provided.

We then trigger the submission or update into the aggregators.

Which countries do Local Data Aggregators work in?

We provide the following Local Data Aggregators for the US.

Acxiom - http://www.acxiom.com/

Factual - https://factual.com/

Infogroup - http://www.infogroup.com/

Neustar - https://www.neustarlocaleze.biz/

While, currently, only Factual is available for Australia, Canada, Germany,

Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom,

United States

http://www.acxiom.com/

https://factual.com/

http://www.infogroup.com/

https://www.neustarlocaleze.biz/


How much do Local Data Aggregator submissions cost?

Here's what our pricing looks like for Aggregator submissions: (in addition to

our Manual Submission service)

Aggregator Cost per submission US$

Acxiom $25

InfoGroup $25

Factual $10

Neustar (Localeze) $25

All 4 (Bundle) $75

For US based businesses, we provide submissions to the big 4 US aggregators.

For non-US based businesses, at this stage, we only submit to Factual (https://factual.com/)

Key Question: What happens if I stop using iBuildCitations

Service?

As 95% of our submissions are direct to site rather than into aggregators, the

majority of listings are claimed & ‘owned’ by the customer so data remains

intact in future. But for any aggregator listings, after 1 year the feeds from

aggregators into 3rd party sites lose their ‘managed’ status.


Key Question: I've seen ad's for directory submissions for

around $20. Why such a difference in price?

These types of services use software programs to submit only new listings.

There is no manual auditing and no checking for existing, duplicate or incorrect

listing information. Accuracy is questionable and you most likely don't get

access to be able to make changes afterwards. Such services may only submit

to the aggregators, and probably do not verify listings to make them active.

There are numerous concerns for using this level of service. Use at your own

risk. It will probably do more harm than good in the long run for your business.

What to do next....

Our Citation service is standalone. No monthly or subscription fees.

Per campaign - Single Location

When you set up a campaign you have the choice of how many submissions

you would like.

We have set campaign sizes of 30, 50, 75 & 100 submissions. You can order as

many as you need. If you require, or prefer more than 100, have multiple

locations etc, contact support with your request.


We have set campaign sizes of 30, 50, 75 & 100 submissions.

Click to Order:

$190 for 30 submissions




Values in US$ Currency

Factual Aggregator Service is included with any package.

Please connect with us if you have any questions. Kind Regards, Nathan Ferguson.

email: [email protected]

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=JEGCTSQ3CPGPQ

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=5QM37E9NLCS4W

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=SV5BNQ5U77PCJ

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EGUE33RE9KDP6

Introducing: iBuildCitations - Cloud Object Storage · 90% of local experts say accurate citations...

Documents

Transcript of Introducing: iBuildCitations - Cloud Object Storage · 90% of local experts say accurate citations...