Trusted Tips and Resources

Trusted Tips & Resources

Citations, mentions, and SEO - how being a Trusted Saskatoon partner positively impacts local Google rankings

Citations, mentions, and SEO explained by Sara, owner of Trusted Saskatoon. 

There are many benefits to being a Trusted Saskatoon partner. My local team spends all of our time and energy promoting the Saskatoon partners on the directory as the best options in their industry in Saskatoon and the surrounding area. Once a business passes our unique verification process we invest in consistent advertising and we promote them both individually, and as a community as trustworthy, reputable locally owned, and accountable businesses. We do not do this because they ' bought our favour', we do it because they have proven themselves to be trusted.  Each of the businesses listed on Trusted Saskatoon has signed a contract where they agree to uphold the 5 Trusted Guarantees of Service. 

There is a lot of work and effort that goes on behind the scenes that may not be immediately obvious or understood by our Partners. In this article, I explain how my team helps our partner's websites rank higher in local search independently of their listings on our Saskatoon directory.

 

The SEO Impact Being Trusted Has On Our Partners Local Search Rankings

The key to being found online is having correct, consistent information online. That combined with fresh\new, relevant content on sites that are both yours and NOT yours, is what the internet and search engines really value!   
This is where local SEO citations and mentions on high-quality local directories such as Trusted Saskatoon, on social media, and other trustworthy websites and sources come into play.

What are citations and how do they impact local SEO?

Citations are online mentions of your business on 3rd party websites. If your business is listed on Trustedaskatoon.com, that counts as a local citation. The same goes if your business information is mentioned or featured on 3rd party blog posts or online newspaper/media articles- such as the Star Phoenix new faces new places for example. Citations and online mentions are important for local businesses online since they send out signals that tell Google and the other major search engines they can trust your Saskatoon business.

Why do we recommend focusing on citation building?

We all want to be on the 1st page of Google for our category in our local market for our main target search keywords. If your website ranks higher in search, then it should attract more visitors, generate leads and that should lead to more business. 

To be well ranked in local searches, you need to make sure the search engines have all of the correct information they need about your business. If your most important data is not consistent, the search engines are less likely to put your website forward as a high-ranking option for local prospects searching for your products and/or servcies. 

How The Local Search SEO Point System Works

Google is essentially the head librarian of the web, and as there are over 570,000 new websites added per DAY to the internet it’s a HUGE job! As such, Google has lots of 24/7 ‘library assistants’ helping with the massive and ongoing task of ranking the approximate 1.7 billion websites currently listed on the world wide web. If these assistants, or ‘web crawlers’, find links on 3rd party websites that link back to your business’s website, then they know it is trustworthy and you will earn an SEO point. If that backlink is on a quality local website, like www.trustedsaskatoon.com, then you are awarded additional, highly valued local SEO ‘points’. The same is true for citations; if web crawlers find your business information listed in important online directories, mentioned on other people's blogs, and featured in articles / local news, it solidifies the fact that they can trust your business information to be correct.

Citation building is a small but important piece of the local search marketing puzzle. Our team is working on our clients' behalf to ensure the information we have about them on Trusted Saskatoon is up to date and relevant.

Check out the video below for more information, and if you have questions please do reach out to our team!  

What’s the difference between online citations and online mentions? 

An online mention is when a business or brand is referenced, or "mentioned" on the internet. While often referring exclusively to social media mentions, they also count every time an online publication, website or blog ‘ mentions’  a brand or business name. If the mentions are combined with backlinks to your website and over 300 words of rich locally-focused content all the better.  By rich, we mean that the content includes elements such as quality, copyright-free images, relevant keywords, embedded videos, location-specific words, etc. If that is the case, then the value of that mention increases A LOT! This is why we ask our Partners to work with us to provide information about their specific business/ industry. We take that information and write quality Trusted Saskatoon Tips that feature them as the local experts in their industry!  

When we tag our Partners on our Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter platforms the search engines and the web crawlers take note, this, in turn, adds additional SEO POINTS and improves their website’s organic search value. Their business and websites gain more ‘authority' within their respective industry categories in local search. Positive SEO leads to increased visibility, which can then prompt more mentions and further increased SEO points. Less is definitely NOT more when it comes to citations, mentions, and links to websites.

If Partners want to make the most of our expertise, promotions, and online klout, then they need to provide us with more information in the form of interesting, helpful and engaging expert tips about their industry. Our team will do the rest, we know how to take the content and get as many ‘ SEO points ‘ as possible. We then pay to promote that content locally so it reaches your ideal prospects. The more we can help our clients build a solid citation and link-building foundation the better they rank in local searches for their categories.  Our goal is that our Trusted Saskatoon Partners get their unfair share of leads in their categories locally online! 

About Trusted Sara

The founder of Trusted Saskatoon, Sara Wheelwright has over 25 years of marketing experience. A multi-award-winning entrepreneur and marketer, she expanded Trusted’s services by launching a full-service Saskatchewan digital marketing agency, Trusted Marketing Services in 2014. The success of Trusted is a testament to the importance of having business integrity in a digital age, where access to free-flowing information is constantly influencing consumers. Her experiences and insight are relevant to all business owners interested in progressive marketing strategies. Her biggest strength is being able to communicate the complexities of online marketing and how the internet works to local business owners in a way that they can fully comprehend. This, in turn, empowers them and helps them compete in this new marketing landscape.


The Trusted Saskatoon 10th Anniversary $10,000 10 week giveaway and introducing the Trusted Troops

Trusted Saskatoon Celebrates Our 10th Anniversary In Style With a MEGA Giveaway! 


" Time definitely flies when you are having fun. On June 1st 2021, it will 10 years since I took the leap of faith and launched TrustedSaskatoon.com to the world! Over the last decade our service has helped 10'000's of local consumers, just like you, find trustworthy local businesses in and around Saskatoon. Over that time, we have promoted and supported 100's of wonderful family, small and locally owned business operated with integrity. I call them our Trusted Saskatoon Partners because they are so much more to our team than 'just clients.' Many of the Partners have been with me for the full 10 years,  and I am eternally grateful to everyone who has been part of this amazing journey! " - Sara Wheelwright 

Trusted as a company has grown from a 1 person business, from the kitchen table of our founder Sara Wheelwright. Now 'Trusted' as a company has lovely offices in downtown Saskatoon and we employ twelve local people. We expanded out of Saskatoon and have a Trusted directory franchise in Regina and a full-service marketing agency, Trusted Marketing Services, that offers everything from social media to animated videos and website development.  

Over the last 10 years, we have been fortunate enough to win multiple awards for entrepreneurship, marketing, and community support. This includes two prestigious Saskatchewan Chamber ABEX Awards, a SABEX Award for Marketing,  and, in addition, Sara has been the recipient of several entrepreneurship awards both locally and internationally. Trusted has donated $10,000's to local non-profits and folks in need, and our local team members have collectively volunteered 1000's of hours in the community. We have also given away $10,000's in prizes to 100's of lucky winners over the years.  We love what we do, and we appreciate every fan, every website visitor,  every Trusted Saskatoon Partner, and every Trusted team member, both past and present! 

Two Trusted Announcements 


To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we are launching our Trusted Troops program AND our 10th-anniversary contest, where we are giving away $10,000 in prizes over 10 weeks!


Q: WHY Enlist As Trusted Troop

A: More chances to WIN & support local! 

By enlisting in our new Trusted Troop program, you will be subscribing to our quarterly newsletter. In our newsletter, we will be sharing exclusive offers and opportunities with our Trusted Troops. This includes Trusted Partner News, exclusive giveaways, Trusted insider information, and offers.  You will also be automatically entered into every contest from now on; no need ever to enter again! If you choose to also enter contests on Facebook and other social media channels, then you DOUBLE your chance of winning! 


Unfortunately, we can't guarantee every one of our fans and troops gets a prize, but we can guarantee that if you DON’T enter or enlist, you definitely WON’T win! 

10th Anniversary, $10,000 GiveAway  - 10 Weeks of Winning


We really love to give and get so much joy from making other people happy. If that supports our Trusted Saskatoon Partners that we promote and partner with, heck, that's a WIN-WIN! We will be announcing the weekly contest every Friday, starting May 28th; we will also share posts about the prizes to be given away that week - all the prizes are from Trusted Saskatoon directory partners and include items as well as gift cards!   


Starting June 2nd, and EVERY week after that until August 4th - 5 winners will be announced. 


There are 3 ways to enter:  


  1. Enter weekly on the Trusted Saskatoon Facebook Page 
  2. Enter weekly on the Trusted Saskatoon Instagram Page  
  3. Enlist as a Trusted Troop - why? 3 Trusted Troops each week will be randomly announced as winners! 


All you have to do to be entered to win is:

  • Comment on the weekly Contest posts on Facebook and Instagram with what you LOVE about Saskatoon
  • Tag A Friend 


Then every Wednesday, starting June 2nd, we will reveal the weekly winners! 

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...




Remember, it ALWAYS pays to be a fan of TrustedSaskatoon.com. 

Supporting Saskatoon businesses, consumers and the community is what we do BEST! 




TRUSTED CONTEST RULES

  • 1 weekly Facebook and Instagram entry per person  - any double entries on a platform will disqualify you that week. 
  • 1 Trusted Troop sign-up per person - any double subscriptions will disqualify you.
  • Winners must pick up their prize IN Person and bring ID within 7 days of winning or forfeit the prize. 


CONSIDERING ENLISTING AS A TRUSTED TROOP? 


BE ASSURED YOU CAN TRUST US. 

  • NO RANDOM SPAM - Just 1 newsletter per quarter ( we all hate too many emails, right?), and the info will be quality, relevant and interesting. 
  • YOUR DETAILS ARE SAFE WITH US - we have a secure and monitored system managed by Trusted IT professionals.  
  • WE WILL NOT SHARE TROOP INFORMATION (Email/ name etc. with a 3rd party) 


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ADDRESS

S & E Trusted Online Directories Inc
TrustedSaskatoon.com
310 Wall St #209
Saskatoon, SK   S7K 1N7
Ph: 306.244.4150

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