What is the importance of citation building for local SEO?

Different Local Citation Types

There are numerous options available to build local citations. A few of them include:

• Google Business Profile – the most important for citation building. Complete all the information accurately, add your business hours, website address, reviews, and a map
• Yelp – is often one of the first citation sites that come up in results. You want to create or claim your listing, including all your details, along with opening hours, reviews, and product descriptions. Remember consistency is key.
• Bing Places for Business – This is Bings version of Google My Business, catering to millions of visitors daily. Optimise your profile to appear in SERPs
• Facebook Business Page – create a free business page that enables you to engage with your audience. You can use this to provide updates, publish new content, and engage with your audience in real time.
• Apple Business Connect – enables your audience to find you in searches across all Apple properties. You will need an Apple ID.

How Citation Building Helps Local SEO

Seventy six percent of people carry out a local search on Google will visit the physical store within twenty four hours, twenty eight percent will convert into a customer.

Citation building has proven essential to your local SEO success, boosting visibility and authority. When you have a consistent and updated online presence, search engines see your site as trustworthy, while building confidence with your local audience. Citation building offers local visibility, helping your local audience find your business on the internet.

When your business appears on source such as Yelp, you gain trusted backlinks, boosting your websites visibility in local SERPs.

Local Citation Building Best Practices

By getting to grips with some of the best practices for local citation building, you can enhance your local SEO campaign:

• Audit platforms – check your online profiles for missing information, ensure your business information is accurate and consistent across all platforms
• Identify popular sites – the most popular sites includes Google My Business, Bing Places, and Facebook Business Pages
• Claim your profiles – claim your local listing if you are not registered with high profile directors. Each site has their own process
• Provide as much information as possible – the more information you provide, the easier it will be for users to find your business. Add your NAP information, URL, business hours, detailed description of products and services offered, along with images
• Optimise with keywords – add long tail keywords adding your location to ensure you reach your local audience
• Competitor analysis – keep an eye on your local competitors, identifying what platforms they are listed on. If they are on a specific platform, it pays to create a listing on the same platform

Conclusion

Citation building is an important elements of your successful local SEO campaign, ensuring your website is shown to your local audience. It is a strategy that helps to build credibility and visibility, enhancing your local SEO efforts. Do you need assistance in putting an effective citation building plan in place? Contact Genie Crawl today for more information.