Manta is one of the top 15 most important citation sources for Local SEO.
It’s one of the Internet’s most popular business directories.
- Whitespark puts them number 17 on their list of citation sources for the US.
- They are one of Moz Local’s Direct Network partners.
- We put them at number twelve on our list of best local citations sources.
If you want to perform well in Google Maps and other local search results, optimize Manta listings.
Before you can do that though, you have to find them.
Findings Listings
Go to Manta.com.
Search your business name.
It will try to autocomplete your search with a brand name. The recommendations aren’t always helpful. And you aren’t required to set a location.
Manta is fairly prone to duplicates and errors. It’s also hard to be 100% confident that their search tools find all NAP variations. But it is usually pretty easy to find the duplicates you expect.
When there are a ton of NAP variations though, we find that you get better results when you don’t set a location. You may also have to scroll through several pages of results to find everything. Not fun. But that’s just how it is. 🤷♂️ At least their profile URLs are simple: https://www.manta.com/c/mx4qkt1/greensboro-seo-pro
Google “site:” search is not an effective way to find duplicates. Google usually only has one profile indexed per brand name.
If you’ve found your business on Manta, it’s time to claim it. If not, it’s time to create it.
Manually Claim Listings
Taking ownership of your business listings offers several advantages.
But it can be a tedious process.
Generally, top-tier platforms like Manta are the most annoying. This is especially true if you’ve changed names, numbers, and/or locations often. Depending on your goals, automated solutions like Yext may be tempting.
However:
We have seen Yext fail to suppress duplicates on multiple occasions.
Given Manta’s spot as one of the top local business data aggregators, it’s crucial that your presence there is 100% accurate. So take control of all profiles.
This may be easier if you don’t have any yet.
Create New
Add your business to Manta here
It’s very easy to add and optimize new profiles on Manta.
They have a fairly simple wizard that gets you started.
Then they try to upsell you on Yext:
Just click that “Not right now” link and you’ll come to the dashboard.
From there, you have a variety of additional info you can add.
The full claim process is much the same.
How to Claim Existing
If a profile is claimed you’ll see a check mark beside the brand name.
If not, you’ll see a question mark.
Hover over the little “UNCLAIMED” tag and a message will pop up.
Click the “Claim this listing for free” link. You’ll be brought to through the same wizard you would be for a new profile.
Surprisingly, Manta does not require any sort of phone or domain verification. This makes it one of the easiest top-tier platforms to get control of. On the other side, this makes it easier for duplicate profiles to form.
If you have duplicates, you’ll need to claim one and get rid of the others.
How to Handle Duplicates
Again, Manta is fairly prone to duplicates.
And it may take some work to find them all.
But once you do, getting them removed is easy.
Simply go to the Contact Us page. Fill out your contact details. Set “Profile – Remove” as the inquiry type. Then write them a little message including all of your incorrect URLs. They will respond with an email and support will remove your listings manually.
Removing duplicates on Manta usually takes less than 48 hours. It is a manual process on their end. So you need to check behind them. On one occasion, their support deleted all listings, including the correct one. This has only happened once and we simply created a new one but it is worth considering.
All in all, Manta support is usually prompt, courteous, and helpful.
That’s more than we can say for most online directories.
Whatever your duplicate situation, make sure you get it fixed. Duplicates are terrible for local SEO and Manta has been among the best citations sources for several years.
Our advice:
Do whatever it takes to remove duplicates on Manta.
It’s an important leg of the journey to page one of Google.
Need more help claiming and optimizing your Manta? Leave your questions or comments below. We’ll answer ’em all. Plus, we have more in store for this and our other local SEO citations posts down the road. In the meantime, you might also be able to pick up some hints by taking a look at our marketing company on Manta.com. Or, learn more about our Local Citations Services via our Free SEO Audit.