Local SEO Citation – Why is it Important?

If you have been in the industry for quite a long time, there is a huge possibility that you have heard or encountered the word ‘citations’ or commonly referred as local citations.

A local citation is any mention of a business’s name, street address, and telephone number on a website or online listing. Citations may occur on websites, in local publications and on social media platforms. Businesses can actively monitor all citations to ensure the data accuracy.

As a business owner, you should know exactly what a citation means, how it should be addressed, the consequences of not responding timely, and how you should go about appealing a citation.

 

The Importance of Local Citation

A common citation type is the business data citation, which highlights business information for quick search in a search engine. Many online citations use the business data citation, which includes the name of the company, contact information, physical address and phone number.

In addition, citations may specify the city, county, state, and district the business owns, operates, or serves. City, county and state citations are important in local search engine rankings because they provide additional detail about the business’s location.

Businesses should be aware that incorrect or out-of-date citations can result in penalties and removal from online and local business listings. Inaccuracies can have a significant effect on rankings and listings, particularly for small businesses that rely on web directories for their marketing campaigns and managing their local business listings.

A professional citation writing service can ensure your company is listed accurately and avoid potential penalties.

 

Does Local Citation Affect SEO?

Many may be aware, but we still need to specify that local citations have a major role in the world of local SEO. These citations are built to help searchers and local users find information and details of a certain business within the local area.

Included in the local citation are the name of the business, the contact details, address, and the business’ website (if available).

Local citation can affect SEO since it actually helps a business attract prospects and possible customers with their local listing.

 

Types of Citations

Citations are divided into two categories: Structured citations and Unstructured citations.

 

Structured

The structured citations are citations that mentions your business on website directories like Yelp, Big, Yellow Pages, Facebook, and more.

The common thing about structured citations is that you need to claim your listing to make sure that it’s properly optimized.  You also need to make sure that all the details given are accurate to maximize its reach.

 

Unstructured

Unstructured citations are citations placed on non-business directory sites. Unstructured citations are often found on blogs, review sites, social media, other non-business directory sites.

If these unstructured citations are optimized well, it can help your business ranking.

 

Building Local Citation

Local citations are the backbone of any great local SEO campaign. The best way to gain local Google page one rankings is to build a solid foundation of local citations first.

If you want to be on top of the search engines in your area, then you must be getting listed on the leading sites and ranking on the first page of Google or your local niche should be in the top ten searches.

A great way to achieve the top rankings is to build a solid foundation of local citations. Local citations involve the use of the business’ information page in your URL, title, description, and tags. If you are listed on high-quality sites, then you will get high, local search engine rankings naturally, without any additional SEO work.

 

Why is Local SEO Citation Important?

Other local SEO Citation strategies include building links to your site from other high-quality websites. If you have a blog or online directory of articles, then submit your articles to online directories.

Online directory submission services are free, and they can really benefit your website by increasing your rankings, and helping you receive more local Google page one search engine rankings.

In addition to articles, you could also use social media marketing in order to promote your business. Local SEO citations work in conjunction with this online directory submission strategy.

Creating business listings on the top-ranking local search citations will lead to higher rankings, more traffic, and more sales. There are a variety of ways to improve your rankings, including effective linking strategies and accurate citations.

With these strategies, you can easily move up the rankings and enjoy increased website traffic, more customers, and higher profits.