Local Citations: What it is and Why it’s Important

If you’re a business owner, you know that local SEO is crucial for your success. One of the most important aspects of local SEO is building citations. But what are citations, and why are they so important? In this blog post, we’ll explain what local citations are and why they matter, and we’ll give you some tips on how to build them effectively. 

What are Local Citations?

Local Citations are simply mentions of your business name, address, and phone number on other websites. These could be online directories, review sites, or even other businesses that list your information in their directory.

Why are Local Citations Important?

Local citations are important for businesses because they help improve the visibility and searchability of your business online. When customers search for businesses like yours, local citations can help you appear in more search results and get found more easily.

Without a doubt, they are crucial for the success of local SEO. According to research, they rank as the fourth-most significant signal for local organic search results and the fifth-most important ranking factor for local pack visibility.

They improve your website’s SEO by increasing its relevance and authority in Google’s eyes. And since Google is the most popular search engine, appearing higher in its search results can lead to more customers finding and using your business.

Finally, local citations can also help build trust and credibility with potential customers. When other websites and directories list your business as a reputable source, it makes your business seem more trustworthy and credible to potential customers. This can lead to more sales and repeat business. If you are having problems with your business’s online reputation, there are many reputation management companies that can guide you in the right direction.

Overall, local citations are a powerful tool that can help businesses of all sizes improve their visibility, searchability, and credibility online. 

The Two Main Types of Local Citations

Structured Citations

The most common type of local citation is a structured citation. They are your company’s listings on third-party websites and industry-related directories. These really are massive, pre-existing databases of business data that Google likes.

Being listed in the directories that are most pertinent to your industry is crucial when it comes to structured citations. When it comes to general directories, it’s all about selecting the category that best fits your company on other websites. By doing so, you can attract the right customer and help Google clear understanding of the nature of your business.

Unstructured Citations

When your company’s information appears on a website that isn’t specifically a business directory, those citations are known as unstructured citations. Unstructured citations can be found on blog posts, social media, review websites, and the websites of magazines and newspapers.

Here’s a rundown of the different kinds of local citations and their benefits

NAP citations – Name, Address, and Phone number. These are the most basic kind of citations, and usually, the easiest to get. They’re also the most essential for local SEO purposes.

Directory listings – These are listings in online directories, such as Yelp or Google Places. They often include additional information beyond just your NAP, such as business hours, categories, and descriptions.

Geo/Industry Specific Platforms – Your company can work to create local business listings on websites that are specific to its particular industry and location, in addition to the major local business data platforms that serve all industries. Websites for professional associations and guilds as well as chambers of commerce are examples of these platforms.

Social media profiles – Having a strong social media presence can also help boost your local SEO. Make sure to claim and fill out your profiles on major platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Review sites – Customer reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, and TripAdvisor can also impact your local SEO. Make sure to encourage happy customers to leave reviews on these platforms.

Blog posts – If you have a blog, you can include localized keywords and links back to your website to help improve your local SEO. Just make sure not to stuff your blog posts with too many keywords, as this can actually hurt your ranking.

Local news articles – Getting featured in local news outlets can also help boost your local SEO. If you have any press-worthy news, make sure to reach out to your local media outlets.

Mentions on other websites – Any time your business is mentioned on another website, that’s a potential citation. Make sure to claim these mentions and add them to your list of citations.

As you can see, there are different types of local citations, each with its own benefits. By claiming and filling out as many of these as possible, you can help improve your local SEO and get your business seen by more people in your area.

How to Check the Accuracy and Quality of Your Citations 

Your local citations’ quality can be checked manually as a starting point. The fact that citations can be found in many different places makes this process challenging. Try to concentrate on the bigger and more significant local citations rather than wasting time on the smaller ones. You can check your citations on websites like Facebook, Apple Maps, and Yellow Pages to make sure they are accurate.

Using an online local citation checker is the alternative method of checking your citations. You can view and modify local citations for your business on specific websites like Bright Local and Moz SEO using their excellent tools. They can provide you with a variety of listings for your company, including important data aggregators that have a big impact on rankings.

How to Build Local Citations

The first step is to figure out which local directories are most important for your business. To do this, you can use a tool like Moz Local or Whitespark Local Citation Finder. Once you’ve found the most important directories, you need to make sure your business is listed in them.

If you’re not already listed in a directory, you can usually add your listing for free. Just go to the directory’s website and look for an “Add Listing” or “Submit Business” button.

Once you’ve added your listing, you need to optimize it to make sure it’s as effective as possible. The most important thing to do is to fill out all of the fields in your listing, including your business name, address, and phone number (NAP). You should also add a description of your business, photos, and videos if possible.

After you’ve optimized your listing, the next step is to get reviews. Reviews are one of the most important factors in local search rankings, so they can really help your business grow. A local ranking checker can help with this.

The best way to get reviews is to simply ask your customers or clients to leave one for you. You can also offer incentives, like discounts or freebies, to encourage people to leave a review.

Once you’ve got a few reviews, the final step is to monitor your listing and make sure it stays up-to-date. This includes keeping your NAP information accurate and adding new photos, videos, and descriptions as your business changes.

By following these steps, you can build local citations that will help you grow your business. Just remember to be patient – it takes time to build up citations. 

Tips and Best Practices

The key to getting good results from citations is making sure that the information you provide is consistent across all platforms. That means having the same NAP (name, address, and phone number) information on your website, social media profiles, and anywhere else you’re listed online.

If you have consistent, accurate citations, it tells search engines that your business is legitimate and trustworthy. This can help improve your local SEO and get you closer to the top of the search results.

Check your competitors’ citations. Any company that provides services or goods similar to yours will eventually focus on the same customers. You should constantly keep a close eye on your competitors to expand your business. If you are not listed in any of the directories where your competitors are, you should be.

To get started with citations, the easiest way is to create listings on popular directories like Google My Business and Yelp. You can also reach out to other businesses in your industry and ask them to list your information on their website.

Biggest Thing to Avoid

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is having duplicate citations. This can be very problematic, to say the least. Duplicates deceive your target audience, raise the possibility that inaccurate information about your company will be posted online, and cause search engines to consider your website to be spam

Finding and dealing with them is one of the key things you should do as a result. You have the option of deleting, editing, or merging that listing with one of the verified listings in that directory. If this seems like too much work, you can save a lot of time and effort by hiring experts to handle the duplicate cleanup

Local citations are an important part of any business’s online marketing strategy. Now, that you understand what they’re all about, by following the tips above, you can start building local citations and improve your visibility online!