Same description for all citation posting
-
Can we use the same description for all citation posting websites? Does Google considered it as duplicate?
-
Hi Mark,
Best practice is to create a number of different descriptions - maybe 5-10 of them, just to vary things up. However, you cannot prevent duplication even if you create a different description for each entity, because of the way certain data sources populate the data of other websites. So, duplication, to some degree, is baked into the citation building process and, thus, is unlikely to have a serious, negative effect. So, go ahead and write a handful of different descriptions to use, but don't fret over this area too much, because you can't avoid a certain level of duplication.
-
I've done both but it does give better results if you have different descriptions. Sometimes, they can even rank for your terms so that's a bonus. I never had trouble with duplicates though, it's just more of an "efficient vs effective" thing for me. (I'm assuming that you won't be making hundreds/thousands of the same citations here lol)
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
-
What city to use for citations?
Hey everyone, I have a question about what city to use for citations in this case. My client is a service-area business in the Seattle area. The business is home-based, in Everett, WA, which if you’re not familiar is in the northern part of the Seattle metro area. They only serve clients outside the home. For their GBP that’s no problem, as of course their address isn’t shown. For all the citations we’ll be building though, I’m not entirely sure what we should do. The client does not want their street address anywhere online. So, since their city won't be listed on their GBP, should we still use Everett as the city for all the citations, or should we use Seattle? I'm unsure here because with some citations you have to list a full address, and then you're able to hide the street address later. And since they don't technically have a Seattle address, I'm not if that would be the way to go. But I’m wondering because no one will be searching for “[service] in Everett”, they would search for “[service] in Seattle”. What do you think?
Local Listings | | SamB470 -
Where does the small description on a business listing come from in google maps?
Hi All, Simple question, but I'm struggling to find the answer, so I hope someone is able to help. The business I run is Oakdene Forest Park; Google Maps URL: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oakdene™+Forest+Park/@50.8114372,-1.8598721,18z/data=!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x4873980ce90e4ef7:0x755579d631c25b33!2sOakdene™+Forest+Park!8m2!3d50.8114796!4d-1.8582842!3m4!1s0x4873980ce90e4ef7:0x755579d631c25b33!8m2!3d50.8114796!4d-1.8582842?hl=en Under the business name, it has a small description and for the life of me I don't know where Google is getting it from because a part of it is wrong. It looks like this: Oakdene™ Forest Park Rural Resort with Entertainment & a Spa I would like to remove the term 'Rural Resort' but where do I find it?? Thanks in advance for your help.
Local Listings | | Shorefield_Holidays0 -
How Should We Handle Citations for a New Building?
One of the companies I work with has purchased a business complex they plan to move their offices into. The current tenant is fairly reputable in the community, but ran into some financial issues, hence the sale. For easy, I'll refer to this place as the Simmons Center. So, currently, the Simmons Center has a Yelp!, GMB and other pages devoted to what it offers (mostly restaurants and small shops) but the new company will be turning the location into a large corporate campus. We'd like to bring naming conventions in line with the new center title and remove (where applicable) citations for the Simmons Center. What would be our best way to go about doing this? I'm thinking our best option is to: 1) claim current listings, where applicable, 2) mark the Simmons Center as closed, 3) Create new listings for the new name at the same address, 4) Use Moz Local and Whitespark to help clean up citations where needed. Is this the best approach for this type of situation?
Local Listings | | AtlasGlobal0 -
Can you use Google Posts to make updates about emergency closures?
A client of mine asked about the new Google Posts feature that can be used via GMB. The question is can you use Google posts to give updates to visitors about emergency closures?
Local Listings | | BigChad20 -
Local citations - domain or business name
I have a bit of a tricky situation with a client where there is some history with old domains. But this is the current situation which I need to stick to: Business name (all made up) is Acme Print 2 live websites - acme-niche(dot)com and productsandservices(dot)com Third website acmeprint(dot)com is live and owned by an old partner, different NAP. acme-niche(dot)com and productsandservices(dot)com share the same NAP. Not much traffic and a bit of a poor domain profile for acme-niche(dot)com, so suggest just using productsandservices(dot)com. Also acme-niche(dot)com would be a bit misleading for use for the whole business in any case. However, all content for productsandservices(dot)com refers to Acme Print. Because of all the confusion should we keep the productsandservices(dot)com referring to Acme Print throughout, or update with new productsandservices(dot)com logo, mention that it is a trading name of Acme Print and refer to the trading domain name throughout the content. I want to know the best option for listings and citations - the trading name which is a domain name or Acme Print? I've not worked with a local site where domain name and business name and a separate business with domain are mixed up.
Local Listings | | MickEdwards0 -
Local Citation Building Services Similar to Yext
I have several clients looking for local submission services similar to Yext (since they are already subsribers). Can anyone suggest a service similar to Yext for an SBO. Likewise, do any of you know any local citation services that are similar to Yext, but specifically for the hotel/hospitality industry? I was considering localeze.com, but I'm skeptical because I believe the citations I will be getting there will be similar to the ones I'm getting on Yext. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Local Listings | | maxcarnage1 -
Home Page Online Citations, Blogs, etc
I have 400 backlinks to home page no backlinks to the other 20 pages, i have used yelp, free index and other online citation sources all lead to my home page as do articles, blogs etc. My home page ranks position 1 page 1 google for keyword, should i know start adding backlinks to the other 20 pages via links from blogs, articles, youtube, etc Site is 2 months old thanks
Local Listings | | nickowain0 -
Duplicate Content From Citations?
Hi everyone, A number of citations ask for a business description, so I want to use one from our website. However, would this get flagged as duplicate content or some other problem? Do I need to write unique descriptions for every listing site? Thanks, Ruben
Local Listings | | KempRugeLawGroup0