What is Local Citation SEO?

Interestingly, a citation does not need a backlink to your website for it to be a valuable asset to your local SEO strategy. A citation mentions your business and that is a valuable asset on its own. Google can identify your business has been mentioned through your NAP information, crediting you for the mention. The more mentions you have on the web, the more prominent your business appears, helping you improve your ranking in local search engine results pages (SERPs).

The Various types of Citations

There are two categories when it comes to citations; structured and unstructured.

Structured

Structured citations is your NAP of your business displayed in online directories. When you see a list of citation sites, they are always business listing directories. They enable you to submit your business to secure a citation. These sites include Yellowpages, Yelp, MapQuest, Superpages, Facebook, and more. 

Unstructured

Unstructured citations is when your NAP appears on a website that is not a business listing directory. These are often found in blogs, newspaper sites, magazine sites, wikis, and more. There is seldom a link back to your website, though it remains a valuable citation, helping to boost your brand visibility. 

Are Local Citations Important?

Local citations are very important to the success of your local SEO strategy. They offer a range of excellent benefits, including:

Credibility and Trust

Local citation SEO helps search engines, such as Google, verify that your business is authentic. When a number of credible sources have the same consistent information about your business, it shows the search engines that your business is the real deal. When listing your business on prominent local and national directories, it helps your business become an authority in your industry, building trust, and showing potential customers that you are credible.

Become Prominent

Google takes citations into consideration when it comes to ranking local businesses in SERPs. Surveys showed that citations made up around thirteen percent of the top fifty ranking factors.

Not All Citations are Advantageous

It is important to remember that not all citations are equal and not all are advantageous. What makes citations good for your local business? There is a choice of citations available. Mentioning your NAP on top quality directory sites is better than listing your business on a spammy website directory that was created for low quality backlinks. 

Citations vary in value and can be broken into different categories.

• Search Engines - The search engines that receive the business listing data includes Google, Apple Maps, and Bing. 
• Data Sources – These data aggregators validate data from numerous sources, distributing business listing data to hundreds of other sites. These include Acxiom, Localeze, Factual, and more
• 1st Tier – These are prominent sites on Google used by people searching for a local business and includes Yelp, Yellowpages, BBB, and Facebook
• 2nd Tier – These listing sites have some prominence on Google with a decent domain authority, such as HotFrog, Merchant Circle, and Yellowbook
• 3rd Tier – Are lesser known and not used as often as business listing sites, these include My Local Services, Local Database, and Yellowise.

Conclusion

When it comes to local citations SEO it is important to ensure you remain consistent when adding your business name, address, and phone number. If anything changes, you want to update all your citations, so that they remain the same across the web. Local citations are an excellent way of helping your business improve your ranking in local SERPs, reaching your local audience and driving them to your website or store.