Introduction
One of the questions online marketers commonly ask at Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts is what are local citations, and how do these citations work for SEO experts, and more specifically how they assist local online businesses in enhancing traffic from the search engines? If you are a new online marketer, this writes upon the local citation can be handy for you in this trendy and fast-growing e-commerce industry, where everything can be purchased online by the present generation people in improving their lifestyle.
What a local citation is all about?
Simply put, a local citation SEO denotes any reference of your local online business mentioned in the format of Name, Address and Phone Number which are shortly called NAP. Though this looks like a simple action, these three critical data or information is considered to be highly essential while creating or claiming your business profile or listing online.
Citation Formats **
Citations are categorized into two formats namely structured and unstructured. The former one is websites that are directories, which have a fixed format for all types of listings that appear in them. Google is well aware of this format since it has a consistent layout and hence easily crawled by Googlebot and the same will be checked against your NAP for a perfect match. This format should be done first. On the other hand, in the latter one, your NAP data is placed in an unstructured format making your site a non-directory one. This format should be done after the completion of the structure one.
Importance of local citations for SEO
Undoubtedly, local citations are considered vital as they form a key part of the search algorithm and are extensively used by the search engines in determining where to rank the website amidst the competition. In a simple sense, if you are a local online business owner having more citations than your local competitors, your website will be ranked higher than others in the SERPs. Hence, citations are known to be important for small as well as large business owners. One can be smart by having more citations to stay ahead of the SEO ranking.
Local Citation Optimization
In a technical context, a local SEO works differently when compared to the regular SEO strategies. When people search for products or services in your geographical area, they can able to access your NAP even though you may not have an exclusive website of your own. This is a great boon for the small business owners who do not have websites and still can be accessed by the people who search in your area. It is here; these local citations become a great boon to the marketers to promote their awareness and attract the prospects for getting a lead.
Remember that all citations are not created equal
One should remember the fact that all citations are not equal in their creations and each plays a different value and make some huge difference. Your business entry on a yellow page is far better and valuable than your site’s presence on a spammy website. Hence building citations are not vital, but the placement of submission matters. Hence, you need to verify the quality of the citation source before making a citation. For ascertaining the quality of citation source, look at the following factors:
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Is the source a part of a network?
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Number of indexed pages
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Check to find the homepage title is ranking or not with a click
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Verify for the domain authority
Hence some vital parameters need to be checked before creating a local citation for your business. Any slip here will lead your website to have lower ranks for your brand.
Tips to pick the right citations
Picking the right local citation is a challenge as you cannot your business listed in all of them. To narrow down your option, it is wise to start with the online business directories which are more relevant to your industry. Though the usage of employing citation tools, they too have their limitations as they cannot match your NAP in many directories. Hence choosing appropriate local directories for SEO is an important factor you need to consider while picking your citation
Relevancy ***
The aspect of relevancy is considered another vital element when it comes to ranking in local search. In this context; there exist two types of relevancy namely the local relevance, where you are listed in the place of your business. The other one is called niche relevancy listings which are matched with the prospects niche. Hence your content has to be more relevant as well should match your client’s niche to get the right local citation optimization. Many reputed SEO experts know this trend and accordingly, make their strategies while optimizing the local SEO.
Local citation- A valuable and vast area
Great search engines like Google make continuous research in getting the best search engine results. Hence many dynamic activities are tested in many areas to improve the overall performance. It forms many methods to build local citations with the sheer purpose of covering as many business entities into its fold. Undoubtedly, the idea of local citation works wonderfully for Google as well as for small business owners. Among all the strategies and inventions that Google has made so for, local citations form a landmark to this giant search engine company.
A Final Thought ****
As a final thought, it can be concluded that citations work like your local business directories for the prospects to find your NAP. As per SEO experts, the consistency of NAP, positive reviews of your online business, your business listing on Google’s local platform, your quality content on your website, and other factors work in synergy in taking your business operation as a local service provider.
