Hey, there.
In the previous article about SEO and local citations for home inspector websites, we talked about how citations can help you grow your online visibility while providing potential clients the information they’re looking for.
Quality vs Quantity
Despite everything that was mentioned about how great citations are for your inspection business, you should not list yours in every directory available. Quality over quantity matters most.
Instead, focus on listing your business only in relevant directories. The best way to approach picking the right citations for your business is by thinking of the directories that you visit for your own needs. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What directories have I looked at in the past?
- Are my potential clients using this directory to search for home inspectors?
- Where do I go to leave reviews after patronizing a business?
- Are there any local non-profits or organizations my business can partner with?
- Does my business have any certifications (More Than 60 Inspector Certifications & Credentials Provided by InterNACHI®) or is it a member of any organizations like InterNACHI (www.nachi.org)?
For example, if you are a licensed home inspector in New York, you would want to list your business on general directories like Yelp, but also on specialized directories like InterNACHI, which is a search engine specifically for certified home inspectors. It’s also a good idea to ensure that you appear on local Chapter websites by joining a chapter in New York. You might even partner with a local non-profit that will mention and link to your business on their site. CCPIA provides a listing for certified commercial property inspectors.
Use Google to Find Citation Opportunities
Search for your business’s services on Google to find which directories show up in the results. This will give you more ideas of places your business should be listed.
As an example, let’s complete a search for “home inspector near me.” In the search results, we get three different directories ranking near the top: InterNACHI, Home Advisor, and Yelp.
If you were a home inspector in the Raleigh area, it would be worthwhile to list your inspection business on these directories.
Keywords
Here are some other example keywords you can search to find citation opportunities:
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chamber of commerce {city} — The search results for this type of query will show you the chamber of commerce website for your city or nearby cities, where you can likely obtain a business directory listing.
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our sponsors {city} — The search results for this type of query may show you organizations or events you can sponsor to generate more citations.
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our donors {city} — The search results for this type of query may show you local sports teams, schools, community centers, and events that you can donate to, which can lead to a citation on a donors page.
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our members {profession directory} — The search results for this type of query may show profession-specific organizations that you can join to obtain more business listings.
General Citation Recommendations
The following are general recommendations for citations that virtually any home inspection business can (and should) list itself in:
- Apple Maps
- Google Business Profile
- Bing Places
- YellowPages
- Yelp
- BBB
- NextDoor
How to Manage Your Local Citations
Once you’ve picked out your citations, it’s time to submit your business listing and ensure that all the information is correct. There are two ways to go about submitting your citations:
- Submit manually
- Use a citation-building service
Manual Listing Creation and Management
If you are going to submit them manually, you should first search for your business on the relevant directories you identified earlier. If there is already a profile for your business, you’ll want to claim it in order to customize the page.
Once you’ve claimed your business profile, you can correct any mistakes and add any other information you’d like potential customers to know. If a business profile doesn’t already exist, sign up for an account and create one, but be aware that there may be a verification process, depending on the platform.
If you decide to go this route, you’ll also need to manually monitor your citations. Your business hours, phone number, or address may change if you decide to move or add another location, for example. If that happens, you’ll need to update your business’s information on each and every citation.
You also should monitor your citations on a regular basis to ensure that any changes you’ve made to your business profiles are updated and accurate.
Get a Free Google Business Profile
Get your business website to stand out on Google with a free Google Business Profile. Convert people who find you on Google Search and Maps into new clients with a free Business Profile for your inspection service area. Personalize your profile with your business logo, photos, services and fees, and more.
Watch this short video on how to connect your Wix website to a Google Business Profile.
Automated Citation Services
It can be very time-consuming to create and update citations manually, one by one. Fortunately, there are services available that you can pay a one-time fee to check all your listings and correct errors.
You can also use a citation-building service to create and manage them for you. Companies like Whitespark and BrightLocal, for example, offer citation creation and management packages.
Local Citations Help Business Owners and Customers Alike
Overall, citations can be an important part of your inspection business’s local SEO strategy. They help you bring your business to a new audience on other platforms, can help your business rank higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages), and can demonstrate that you are a trusted provider in your industry.
Helping People Find You
At the end of the day, you are helping people in your city easily obtain the information they need to decide if they want your services. Everything that you can add to your citations, including business hours and services, and even having reviews on those listings help the user.
Get Quality Leads
These small things can be enough to persuade them to choose your business over others and even deter unqualified leads. This leaves you with more time to prioritize the right leads instead of needing to answer basic questions that your local citations can handle for you.
Learn more about getting new leads for your inspection business by visiting https://www.nachi.org/inspection-leads.htm.
Inspector Websites
This information is provided by Wix. InterNACHI’s Official Vendor for inspector website design (InspectorWebsiteBuilder.com) uses Wix to build fully-customizable websites for InterNACHI® members and help inspectors with their local citations.
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