Here’s an easy do-it-yourself SEO tip for small, local businesses: Fix Your “Citations”.

They are simply your business’s name, address and phone number (or NAP) on respected websites – typically business listing websites like Yelp or your local chamber of commerce.

Google is at war with spam websites that are trying to infiltrate page one search engine results. For local businesses, the one thing that Google uses to determine if your website belongs to a legitimate business is to look for citations. If your business’s NAP appears on quality websites – like association websites, business listing websites and other respected websites, then Google feels comfortable showing your website on Page One.

Google’s objective is to present relevant results to Google users, so they need to safeguard against the cheaters and spammers. Citations are one way Google verifies your website and business are legit.

All other things being equal, if Business A and Business B are in the same industry, but Business A has their NAP on 100 respected websites, and Business B only has their NAP on their own website, what website do you think will be on Page One?

Here’s one way:

This process takes time, so just try to do a few each week. Start with the important websites first – Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, YP.com, SuperPages.com, Angie’s List, etc….

(Another way would be to hire someone that does Local Search Engine Optimization for Small Businesses.)

We hope this helps!

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