Will linking to my citation sources help google recognize them / credit my places account?

[adriandg]

Or will those sources be discounted by google then similar to how google discounts link exchanges?

I have noticed some pages, like mapquest, don't really have a directory, so google might not be aware of their content unless it is linked too???

In this type of a case, would it help to link to mapquest's search results? then the citation will get picked up by google?

Example: http://www.mapquest.com/?hk=6-i30tP49i

[tylerfraser]

I have had this same issue and recommend that you not link back. But I also think it's a simple enough situation for google to understand what is happening and not dock your links in any way.

I would not link to mapquests search results though. This is very minor.

[adriandg]

If you don't know what a citation is (from previous question you answered) then why are you answering this one? you obviously don't know what you are talking about!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Storwell,

Google's decision as to what qualifies as a citation source is not in your hands and Google has not given a definitive public explanation as to how a website becomes deemed appropriate as a citation source. It's an interesting suggestion that if enough people linked back to a certain source, Google might eventually come to recognize that source as a trusted citation provider. This might be a factor in their determination process (i.e. if enough links are indicating that a source is of importance, some type of consideration might be triggered  at Google). Interesting idea, as I've said, but I have never read or heard anything to indicate that this is true or correct.

Your best bet is likely to devote your time to getting your business cited by those entities that Google already considers to be appropriate for your industry and region. Using Whitesparks' Local Citation Finder tool will get you off to a very strong start with this process:

http://www.whitespark.ca/blog/post/2-using-the-local-citation-finder

My feeling is that your results will be most effective if you focus on what Google feels are the best citation sources, rather than trying to find a way to convince them that some other source should be included. Hope this suggestion is helpful to you.

Per your response, to Tyler Fraser, let's keep the conversation positive and friendly here in Q&A. Everyone is here to learn and help and we appreciate everyone's participation.

[adriandg]

Thanks Miriam,

I have been trying to get a definitive answer on that question for several months now, which is probably why i came off a little bit aggressive towards Tyler.  For that i appologize.

Back on topic though:

I have already gotten our business information listed in 95% of the recomended sites on whitespark and getlisted.  But i find that google still only lists our business as having 4 or 5 citations, most of them are not from any of those recognized sites, but from other random extraneous places.

My idea was not so much about pushing google to recognize other websites citations, but to make it pick up citations on the big directories where we are already cited but not yet credited in google places.

I know most people say it takes time, but we are about 5 months in from submitting our info to all those directories and still nothing has showed up on our google places account.  So i was looking for ways to encourage google to pick up those citations that are already out there.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Storwell,

Thanks for being a good sport, and it definitely sounds to me as if you are experiencing heavy lag time between citations being created and being imported into your Place Page. It can take months for this to happen. Given the vagaries of Google's Local product, your other citations could show up tomorrow, next month or never. I know how frustrating this is. I wonder, have you started a thread about this at the Google Places Help Forum to see if you can trigger a response from a Google rep? It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does and you may either get A) a response or B) a spine tingling mysterious edit. I've seen both happen.

If you do decide to create a thread there, make it as simple but thorough as possible. Obviously, give your business info and link to your Place Page. Then, I would suggest that you cite the 5 biggest citations sources where you are cited but which aren't being shown on your Place Page. I would put them in a simple list, with links to the citations.

My bet is that you will get other forum members chiming in over there with, "it takes patience, just wait it out." But, if you could ask a rep for a general idea of when you might expect to see these appearing on your Place Page, you just might get a response.

Good luck!