ROCKS DIGITAL  BLOG

Common Citation Complications – Brands Have Bad Data Problems, Too

Brands Have Bad Data Problems, Too – Common Citation Complications
MIKHAIL GRACHIKOV/Shutterstock.com

Although it may seem that I am only referring to local, small business when I speak of bad data issues, the reality is that brands of all sizes have problems too. It all starts with citations.

The Most Common Citation Complications

Managing citations can be complicated for one location. When a brand has multiple locations, the difficulty increases by the number of locations they have. Some of the biggest challenges for brands specifically include:

  • Discrepancies in the way the location names, addresses, and phone numbers (NAP) are displayed online.
  • Name changes due to mergers, acquisitions, or rebranding.
  • New phone numbers or addresses due to location changes or closures.
  • Duplicate or incomplete listings resulting from lost passwords or limited account access.

Simply put, inconsistent local citations are bad for SEO and bad for business. It’s extremely important for multi-location brands to monitor their local citations for accuracy. Dirty citation data can cause real problems for brands and their customers.

Studies have shown that 67 percent of consumers lose trust in a brand if they get lost en route to a location due to an incorrect address online, and 73 percent lose trust in businesses that exhibit inconsistent location details.

If consumers can’t find the location, store or restaurant, how can they spend their money there? Furthermore, when they can’t find the business, they move on to the next business that they can find. Plus, now they no longer trust the first business. This should be alarming to businesses and brands, and the problems are all caused by bad data.

Advice Local Baseline Report

I picked a random brand and generated our online visibility report for just one of their locations. Their overall visibility score for this location was 51 percent. Can you imagine what the other locations’ visibility scores are? I removed their name for anonymity.

Even if only some locations are misrepresented online, having outdated, inconsistent citations or inaccurate information on the web can have a significant impact on the brand’s credibility with consumers.

Brands Create Their Own Bad Data

As mentioned earlier, while that is not intentional, whenever a business moves, rebrands or merges with another company it can create duplicate listings or incorrect citations.

Listings on Google, Yelp and Bing are extremely important.

Advice Local - Local Pages Example

As shown here, this same brand’s location doesn’t have a consistent NAP on their Google My Business Listing or Yelp, and neither listing is 100 percent optimized.

Advice Local - Local Directories Example

The image shows this location is only listed in 15 of the 39 directories our visibility report checked, and their NAP was only consistent in 7 percent of those directories. Without more research, I can’t attest to specifically how this brands data became corrupt, but they definitely have some issues that need to be resolved.

A person wouldn’t move without giving the post office their new address. Essentially, failing to update business information on citations is the same as moving and failing to file a forwarding address.

One of the more common examples of brands creating their own bad data is when an employee creates a listing under their own email account and then later leaves the company. Down the line, the company realizes the listing is now out of date, but instead of taking the necessary steps to gain access to the existing listing, they just create a new one. Problem solved, right? Wrong! Now they have a duplicate listing issue. This could be the case with this brand’s location shown above.

What Is the Solution to Correct This Bad Data?

It would be great if I could tell you to take one or two steps and all the above problems would be eliminated, but I can’t because it just doesn’t work that way. It’s a process that requires a citation cleanup. I can’t even tell you that cleaning up citations is easy, because it’s not. Here’s an in-depth guide, “The Complete How-To Guide for Citation Audit and Cleanup” if you want to take a stab at it.

Most times, the best solution in the long run for multi-location brands is to hire a local presence management solution provider.

Are you working with a multi-location brand on their online presence? Bad data is an issue we can all solve, and it starts with partnering together.

Bernadette Coleman

Bernadette Coleman is a SEO, Local Search, Engaging Content Enthusiast & CEO of Advice Interactive Group, an Inc500 Digital Agency.

More Posts

Download Our SEO Guide

Created in a joint partnership with Advice Local, this guide — What You Need to Know About SEO — provides an introduction to SEO concepts, strategies and best practices for optimizing a website. Complete the form below and get instant access.

    ROCKING DIGITAL SERVICES

    Web Design & Development

    Your website needs to be aesthetically pleasing and functional. We build websites for desktop and mobile that are both.

    LOCAL SEARCH & SEO

    Your website needs to attract search engines and consumers. We are experts in local search and SEO, and can make that happen.

    CONTENT CREATION & MARKETING

    Anybody can write words on a page, but can they write content that integrates SEO best practices and converts? We can.

    PPC & Paid Search

    PPC & Paid Search

    Need more customers? We create paid campaigns to reach your target audience and increase sales.

    Tracking & Optimization

    You need a solid foundation for success online, and our tracking & optimization services get it done.

    Graphic Design Services

    Graphic Design Services

    From logo design to your business card, brochures – and everything in-between for print & web – we can help!

    Here’s What Our Client's Have to Say

    Their Local Business Websites Rock

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital knows how to build local business websites that convert prospects to customers. Not only do I recommend them to work on my reputation management client’s websites, but they work on the Reputation Sensei brand, too.
    - Chris Snellgrove

    They Customize Their Solutions

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital customizes to meet their client’s needs. We needed our existing website optimized for search. We are now placing for more industry keywords and continue to improve. They consult with our in-house team on content optimization, manage our GMB listing & more.
    - Greta Valenti

    Highly Recommend

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages not only the Association of Directory Publishers website, but our Trusted Local Directory. From helping us get our event information on the website to producing guides, blogs and new content, they have what it takes.
    - Cindi Aldrich

    Rocks Digital Is the Best Choice

    ★★★★★
    As a long-term client, when it was time to change the primary focus of my real estate business, and my website, I knew Rocks Digital was the way to go. They took my existing website, gave it a complete new look, and still managed to keep my existing content.
    - David Dorum

    Brought My Ideas to Fruition

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital came highly recommended. Once I started working with them I knew why. They took my ideas for a beautiful website and brought them to the screen. From the design phase to content creation, each component was thoughtfully considered and addressed.
    - Clay Adams

    Conversions Are on the Rise

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages two of my websites. They produce our blogs, our service pages and manage our paid search campaigns. Conversions are up and new patients are coming in the door. I highly recommend their digital marketing services.
    - Dr. Thomas Chacko

    Agency Services Are Top Notch

    ★★★★★
    We shifted to Rocks Digital agency services earlier in the year. We are so glad we did. Our website sessions are up, page views are up, and bounce rate is down. Now we can easily see how many form fills we have had at any given time through their real-time reporting.
    - Kristin Schafer

    Their Local Business Websites Rock

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital knows how to build local business websites that convert prospects to customers. Not only do I recommend them to work on my reputation management client’s websites, but they work on the Reputation Sensei brand, too.
    - Chris Snellgrove

    They Customize Their Solutions

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital customizes to meet their client’s needs. We needed our existing website optimized for search. We are now placing for more industry keywords and continue to improve. They consult with our in-house team on content optimization, manage our GMB listing & more.
    - Greta Valenti

    Highly Recommend

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages not only the Association of Directory Publishers website, but our Trusted Local Directory. From helping us get our event information on the website to producing guides, blogs and new content, they have what it takes.
    - Cindi Aldrich
    Name
    Email
    Review Title
    Rating
    Review Content

    LATEST BLOG POSTS

    Local SEO company strategies.

    What Does a Local SEO Company Do?

    Local SEO is a digital marketing strategy focused on boosting a business’ local search visibility within a particular area. With the successful implementation of proven

    Hire a digital marketing agency.

    Why Hire a Digital Marketing Agency

    Staying ahead of search engine updates and marketing trends is a constant challenge, so it’s no surprise that businesses frequently turn to digital marketing agencies.

    LOCAL VISIBILITY REPORT

    Is your Google My Business listing helping or hurting you? Is bad data causing consumers and search engines to lose trust in your business? This is information you simply must know.

    To get these answers right now, just enter your business name below to run our FREE
    visibility report.


    Need a facelift
    for your website? More search traffic? Need to blog, but don’t have time?

    Our Digital Services Could Be For You
    Get a Free Local Visibility Report Now