Promoting your brand and growing the business can be done in many ways. Many techniques and solutions are on the table. But the general idea is to go with the most effective way. One of the most useful ways to raise awareness of your business is via citations. If you choose this strategy, you should know that there are two options to choose from manual citations and data aggregator submissions. We will cover both in this article, and answer one of the most important questions – do manual citation submissions perform better than data aggregator submissions?
What are the manual citations?
Citations are short pieces of text that contain important information referencing your business on other websites. They are extremely useful for business promotion. The first type of citation to cover today is manual citations. This will need a person to go by themselves on the website and see if there are citations. And if not, create the account themselves, list their business information, and verify the account. This 5 step process is simple, but it consumes a lot of time. Because manually submitting citations to most sites is absolutely free. Several businesses make that choice to save money.
However, rely on how many submissions you need and whether the company has the appropriate people for the assignment. The overwhelming workload may outweigh the financial benefits. While personally submitting listings can provide a company more control over their advertising, they can still be overtaken by different databases.
Data aggregator submissions
As opposed to manual citations, data aggregator submissions are done by companies called Local Data Aggregators. These LDAs collect information about local businesses and distribute or sell them to networks of search engines, mobile apps, GPS, or third-party companies. If you want to use the services of an LDA company, simply create your account with them, and update your information. They will take care of the distribution for you.
In the United States, data aggregators are effective and one of the most significant strategies for ensuring that a local business is found online. By submitting a local company’s NAP to these sites. The information can be shared with a variety of people – and the right people. Clients’ trust in a local business can be higher by submitting data to data aggregators. Did you know that when consumers read contradictory or inaccurate information online, they lose trust in local businesses?
Local Data Aggregators save time
When businesses rely on manual citation submissions, they must manually enter data into other websites. This is a time-consuming process. Most sites require multiple stages of verification. Data aggregators, often known as local data aggregators, make things a little easier. A local firm can use data aggregators to promote their NAP to a variety of sources with little effort. Simply said, data aggregator submissions handle verification stages and distribute information significantly faster than human methods.
Of course, data aggregators aren’t the only option. While they do a wonderful job, it’s still necessary for local businesses to apply to other sites. If you do the basic math, you will see that local data aggregator companies save a precious amount of time. Manual citations take between 10-20 minutes to submit, and that’s per site. If you want to post your data on 500-1000 websites, that can be translated into 10-20 hours.
Submitting to one LDA website takes approximately 20 minutes. If you know and think about the fact that there are 4 LDA companies in the US. All of the work will be done in 80 minutes. From that point on, they do the rest. You can visit professionals at AZ Citation Services for help and more information that will make you go to the top of all listings.
What is the difference in cost between manual citations and LDAs?
When we talk about manual citations, the price changes based on the type of payment. For each listing they produce or change, you usually pay a per-site cost. The costs range from $1 to $5 per listing. To estimate the overall cost. You’ll need to figure out just how many sites and places you want to apply to. There are usually no ongoing costs because this is a one-time cost. If you want to make changes in the future, you can do so. If you change places, for example, you just pay for the service again. Most Manual Submission Services charge a regular monthly subscription price. So, you will get free updates while you are paying to be a member.
Some offer a fee per site, that can be between $3 and $5. Others offer a monthly fee, where the average is $20-$40. Finally, you can pay for a whole year, which can cost you anywhere from $400 dollars and up. When it comes to LDA companies, Foursquare charges $15, Neustar Localeze $297, and InfoGroup and Factual are free of charge.
Do manual citation submissions perform better than data aggregator submissions?
The main question still remains – do manual citation submissions perform better than data aggregator submissions? It is not only important to find the best way to post citations but to also identify quality citation sources. There are a couple of factors that affect the final outcome.
Controlling where you see your citations
With manual citations, even though they consume a lot more time, you can pick where you want to display your information. Not to mention, you can build your citations one by one. When it comes to LDAs, you cannot choose websites to post. They have their own database and customers they work with. From that perspective, you will have a closely-targeted group of locations for your business information if you go with manual citations.
The issue with duplicate citations
Creating duplicate citations is not good. If the information is not up to the current date, customers can look up old data which will be bad for the business. A good thing is that LDAs have an algorithm that will remove duplicate citations from their websites. However, if multiple LDAs have the same customers, both can create a separate account on the same website. If you want to remove manual duplicate citations, you first have to contact the manager of the website or hire professionals to do citation cleanup. This will help you save time and make sure that the job is done correctly.
Which option allows for a wider spread of citations?
When it comes to manual citations, there is no limit to how many websites you can post, as long as you have enough time. However, a good rule is to post on the top 40 to 50 websites to get the best results. However, one benefit of data aggregator submissions is that they can reach where manual citations cant. Some websites do not allow manual citations and only work with LDAs.
The control of business listings between manual citations and LDAs
When you do a manual citation. You have full control over it. Therefore, you can claim that listing. However, listings on the LDA websites are “unclaimed”, since there is no actual account created. A downside of this is that a completely random person can claim your business on that listing, and use it for evil purposes.
What happens after one year of using LDA services?
This is an important question to ask. After your yearly subscription ends, the listing loses its authorized status with an LDA company. What they do next is, look for listings on other websites in order to keep the information up to date. And that can lead to many problems. With that in mind, it is smart to renew your subscription every year, so you can update information on your own.
Can I choose where the aggregator submissions will post?
Personally submitting to internet websites has the advantage of allowing you to select which sites receive your company’s information. Businesses can choose how many sites to publish to and who are the most important to them. However, because many other directories and data sources accept submissions from other sources or scan the web, the company could still end up on a site it doesn’t want to be on — just something to keep in mind if you go the manual way to have better control. The company loses some control when they choose to go the data aggregators route, but they gain far more. The data supplied to the aggregators in the United States will be sent to a network of sites that can fix any errors that is previously put onto the internet. Think before you choose between manual and aggregator submission.
Can I remove my Data Aggregator Submissions?
Until a business has either closed or relocated, it is usually impossible to delete a listing. This applies to both manual and submissions. The goal of databases is to offer their users a thorough set of business listings. As a result, removing a listing goes against that goal, and also because your company information is public, getting them to do so is difficult. This is why your local citation is important to your business and needs to be accurate. You do not want false information to be online about your business. This will make you lose business and future customers.
You need to choose what is right for you
For just a small business owner, choosing how to apply to local business websites can be a difficult task. Starting with the most crucial sites, such as Google My Business, Bing, and Yelp is a good place to start. Then, as your budget grows, you can expand by using a professional service. Getting there next is an excellent move because data aggregator submissions include a wide range of sites. Without the hassle of doing it by yourself. Although in the end, you need to decide on which submission you love more. What is perfect for your future goals and how much time and money do you want to spend on it. The results will be there no matter what you choose to go with. You just need a little time so the data will speak for itself.
Is outsourcing to manual citation submission companies a good idea?
Besides talking about manual citations and LDAs, it is important to cover the outsourcing of manual citation companies as well. This can be a good idea for a few reasons:
- it saves you a lot of time
- professionals write your citations
- you get the quality and control of manual citation services, with the added help
If you have additional questions regarding this outsourcing process, it is recommended to contact a professional citation service company and find out everything you need.
Which one to use?
As you can see, both options have their pros and cons. Whether manual citation submissions perform better than data aggregator submissions depends on your needs. Our suggestion is to use a mixed variety of both – LDAs are better for a wider reach, and manual citations for more control on the top 50 websites. Also, it pays off to use Google Adwords as well. Also, when you are using both of them or rather said a mix your business will go from the last to the first in no time at all. The results will be there for you to see in a month. And you will be surprised at how much this can affect your rank in the search results.
