Citations move rankings; content rarely does
For local service businesses, citations and reviews are 60-70% of local ranking. Content is maybe 10-15%. Most agencies have this backwards.
Case Study · Roofing Contractor · Central Florida
Citations and reviews:
Citations and reviews:
the unsexy work that ranks businesses.
When a Central Florida roofing contractor asked us why their rankings weren't improving despite "content marketing" from a previous agency, we built them a citation playbook and review system — the unfashionable work that actually moves rankings.
What we walked into
- ⨯ Previous agency had been writing blog posts for 18 months. No measurable ranking improvement.
- ⨯ Citation profile had 26 listings, mostly outdated or low-quality.
- ⨯ Review profile: 47 reviews across the main location. Competitor with worse work had 300+.
- ⨯ No system for asking customers for reviews — just hoping they'd leave them voluntarily.
What we did
No silver bullet. Just the methodical, unfashionable work that moves rankings for local service businesses.
01
100-citation playbook (6 tiers)
Mapped 100 priority citations across 6 tiers: Tier 1 (BBB, Yelp, Houzz, Angi, HomeAdvisor), Tier 2 (industry-specific), Tier 3 (local Florida directories), Tier 4-6 (general).
02
Citation tracker spreadsheet
Status, NAP consistency, login credentials, review status per directory. Maintained over months.
03
3-touch SMS review system
Touch 1: Within 24hrs of job completion. Touch 2: 3 days later if no review. Touch 3: 10 days later with a different angle.
04
NiceJob recommended for automation
Chose NiceJob as the SMS/automation platform after testing 5 alternatives.
05
Review response playbook
Templated but personalized responses to positive reviews. Specific, empathetic responses to negative reviews — never defensive.
Takeaways
If you're in a similar situation, these are the patterns we'd want you to know about.
Review velocity > review count
Getting 5 reviews per month for 6 months beats getting 30 reviews in one month and zero after. Google notices the rhythm.
SMS beats email for review requests by 5-10x
Open rate for SMS is 90%+. Email is 20-30%. For review requests timed to right after a great job, SMS wins.
Client name not disclosed by request. All details accurately reflect real work performed. Specific metric ranges anonymized to protect client identity in a competitive market.