Citations Rule On Google Places Ranking Results Says Google Places Expert

Rank At the Top on Google Places.  Citations Are the Answer

Just got through reading a 3 1/2 year old post by David Nihm, one of the top guru's of the game.  In the post and the dozens of comments to follow, he made the claim that citations a major ranking factor in Google Places.  He noted, and I agree with him, that citations are to local ranking what back links are to national ranking.  A lot has happened since May of 2008.

One of the major changes has been that Nihm and other pundits relegated citations to the "if you have the time" category of ranking factors for Google Places in their May 31 2011 report.  It is the humble opinion of this Google Places expert that Citations are once again a major ranking factor for Google Places.  For all of the reasons sited in 2008 and more, this is the best way for Google to determine the relevance, reality, and importance of one local business vs another.  It won't stop spam, but it will up the ante on getting high rankings if you aren't a real business or if your address is a vacant lot.

And, in fact, it may be the very return to citations that has helped the locksmiths and emergency plumbers get back their rightful standings.  It may explain why Google no longer shows the citations on your Google Places Listing for the whole world to see.  It may explain why some businesses who have not even claimed their listing, who are not near the city center, and who have no reviews rank higher than some well optimized listings.

So, go get those citations.  Sorry to say this, but finding citations is an art all in itself.  This might be the biggest boon to consultants ever.  I will be posting some of the methods in future posts.