Australian SEO Citations List
Citations is a fancy word for listing your business in online business directories. Being listed in plenty of online directories is particularly useful for bricks ‘n mortar shops and premises, for example:
- Retail shops
- Pizza places
- Accountancy and professional service providers with offices
- Physiotherapists, medical centres and other health providers
- Bike shops
- Gift shops
Anywhere there is a physical location that people can walk into, such as a store, premise or office.
For small cities with a population of under 1 million people, being listed in 30 or so directories is likely to be enough. For larger cities, or very competitive industries, aim to be listed in 100 directories.
How to List in the Directories
One of the important things when creating the listings is consistency. Each listing, at a minimum, will usually require:
- Business Address
- Business Phone Number
- Business Website
- Business Email
- Business Description (100 words is fairly typical)
- Business Logo
Ensure all the above (except the description) are consistent. This is very important.
Each directory will require you to create an account, with a username (usually an email address) and a password. Once you are listed, you are likely to receive a lot of emails from the directory. For this reason it is recommended you create a separate email account just for citation use.
We recommend you go back into the listings once a year to ensure the details are still valid and up-to-date.
Some directories work on a Freemium model, that is, the basic listing is free but to get more exposure or features from the listing you need to pay. For the most part, stick with the free version, unless the listing is particularly important to your business.
Local SEO
Citations are particularly useful for a local SEO strategy. If you are a mobile or online business, citations won’t be as useful to you in your SEO strategy. If you are based in a physical location and having people close to that location is the majority of your customers or clients, a local SEO strategy, including citations, is recommended.
Take a look at our example of a local SEO strategy for Adelaide businesses.
Business Directories
Some of the directories you can list in will be known to you and will be fairly obvious. But there are hundreds that you’ve probably never heard of before. Below are some of the better directories to be listed in for Australian SEO.
There are three types of directories
- Generic
- Geo
- Niche
Generic Directories
Generic directories can be further categorised by:
- Map based listings
- Social Media
- Worldwide directories
Map Based Listings
Google Maps, known as Google My Business, is the most well known of map based listings. But there are several others. Here’s our list of eight:
Social Media
Using your social media pages as a citation reference is a good start, (but don't rely on this as your complete citation strategy):
WorldWide Directories
There are hundreds of worldwide directories. Worldwide directories will often have a higher domain authority than a country specific directory – so look to choose at least a few of these. We’ve picked out the best of the bunch using the following criteria:
- It’s free to list on the site
- The listing looks good
- The site has a high domain authority
- There is a good chance the site will be indexed by Google
Here’s our Top 10
- 1businessworld.com
- artofsaving.com
- find-us-here.com
- globalcatalog.com
- iformative.com
- issuu.com
- lacartes.com
- prsync.com
- storeboard.com
- welocalpeople.com
A number of directories are worldwide, but have a country specific sub-domain. A good example of this is Show Me Local.
Australia: https://au.showmelocal.com/
Canada: https://ca.showmelocal.com/
United Kingdom: https://uk.showmelocal.com/
United States: https://us.showmelocal.com/
Similar, but slightly different to Show Me Local is Cybo, which has each country listed as a child menu of the main domain, for example:
Australia: https://www.cybo.com/australia
Brazil: https://www.cybo.com/brazil
Fiji: https://www.cybo.com/fiji
Germany: https://www.cybo.com/germany
Egypt: https://www.cybo.com/egypt
Both Show Me Local and Cybo are good directories to be listed in.
Geo Directories
Directories that are geographically based are considered geo directories. They may not have the same domain authority as the worldwide directories, as they may not have as much traffic. But they are an important part of the mix for your citations portfolio.
Australian Business Geo Directories
For inclusion in this list, we’ve used the same criteria as our worldwide listings, that is:
- It’s free to list on the site
- The listing looks good
- The site has a high domain authority
- There is a good chance the site will be indexed by Google
Here’s our top picks
The Yellow and White Pages, as available to Australian businesses, remain good listings for SEO purposes, but come at a cost. They have therefore not been included in our list.
Australian City Geo Directories
All capital cities in Australia have their own business directories, for example:
Adelaide, South Australia
To see more business directories for South Australian businesses, check out our Local SEO for Adelaide businesses article.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Canberra, ACT, Australia
WorldWide City Geo Directories
Being listed in directories in your local town, city, state, province or region is recommended as part of your local SEO strategy. Most capital cities have directories specific to them, for example:
Portland, Oregan, USA
Manchester, UK
Wellington, New Zealand
Edmonton, Canada
Google your city name and add in the phrase “business directory” to find the right directory for you.
In addition to the big cities, many suburbs, councils or country regions have their own directories. For example, in South Australia there is:
- Directory for the northern suburbs of Adelaide, Shop Salisbury
- Directory for the country wine region of Clare Valley
- Directory for the Adelaide Hills region
- Directory for the coastal tourism are of the Copper Coast
Be sure to find out what business directories are available in your local area and get listed in them.
Niche Directories
Many of the niche directories require membership, fees or some other sign up process. Some may require you to be a member of their association. Most industries and sectors have their own directory – below is a sample of some of them to give you a few ideas.
Tradies
Health Providers
Freelancers
Gym and Fitness
Real Estate
Business Women
Restaurants and Cafes
Lawyer
Google your industry and add in the phrase “business directory” to find the right directory for your business.
Citation Builder Package
Get your business listed in 35 high domain authority worldwide directories with this Citation Builder package. We'll choose a mix of generic, geo, niche and map directories.
