When you are trying to make your local business more visible on the internet you have most likely heard of citations in SEO.  But what are these SEO citations and why do you need them on your site?

All the details about SEO citations, their impact on your local optimization, and their management will be decoded in this tutorial.

Citations in SEO: What Are They?

Through search engine optimization A citation is any online mention of the Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) of your company.

Google and other search engines would know that your company is authentic because they can use these listings to ensure that it is situated in the right location.  Citations are very important in local SEO particularly to a business that wants to shine in the Local Pack- the map listing of the Google search results.

An example could be a car repair place of Joe, 123 main street, Houston, TX 77001 (713) 555-1234.

This could be found in a local blog, a chamber of commerce webpage or even on an advertisement on the business directory.

The Importance of Citations in SEO

Citations give a perception that you are a company that operates in a specific area to the search engine such as Google.

Their support of your local SEO is as follows:

Improve Local Rankings

One of the ranking signals of Google is citation.  With NAP information that is similar all over the world, you would find your Company ranking high in the local search.

Build Your Credibility Online

Being listed on reputable websites such as Facebook, Yelp and the Yellow pages can boost domain power and credibility.

Boost Consumer Confidence

Potential clients will likely have trust in your business when they visit other websites as they are assured that your information will always be there.

Various Types of Citations

You should identify two broad types of citations:

Citations in a Structure

In systems which are structured on a regular basis these are directories and listings.  These include your company NAP, website, working hours of your company and in some cases a description.

In that regard, one can think of Google Business Profile, Yelp, Apple Maps, and Bing Places.

Unorganized Citations

In them, the business information is mentioned and not in a directory manner and it is published as either a blog post, newspaper or a social network.

A local blogger’s review of your restaurant is also taken as one of the examples:

• A news publication of the launching of your company.
• The Facebook reference of your services.

 Although the two examples given above are suitable when it comes to your local search engine optimization, the structured citations are easier to manage and maintain.

Where Can Citations Be Built?

Even though hundreds of websites to build a citation can be found, the categories presented below are the most important to consider in this case:

• The major business directories
• The Google Business Profile
• Yelp and Facebook
• Bing Places
• Apple Maps
• Directory of Niche.

These directories are product oriented.  

As an illustration:

Avvo and FindLaw are lawyers, Healthgrades and Zocdoc doctors, and TripAdvisor and OpenTable restaurants.

• Regional Directories
• The Chamber of Trade
• Local newspapers
• Directory of businesses in a city (e.g., NYC.gov in the case of New York)
• Aggregators for Data

These services share the word about your NAP with hundreds of other sites:

• Localeze Neustar
• Foursquare
• Fact based; Data Axle of Infogroup.

The Art of Writing Excellent References.

Utilize reliable NAP data

Ensure that you use the same name, address and phone number in all postings.  The slightest modifications may lead to confusion of search engines (e.g., the difference between St. and Street).

Give the Web address of the site

You should have as many links to your site as possible.  This also encourages direct traffic besides the assistance in SEO.

Add Descriptions and Classifications of Your Business

 Do not miss adding the category of businesses, pictures, working hours, and description (keywords-optimized) to your profiles.

Update your Citations

You should update your citations immediately when you move or change your phone number.  The information that is out of date can hurt your rankings.

Mistakes to Avoid to Prevent Incongruent NAP

There are different platforms that can contain different versions of your name, address or phone number which might damage your local SEO.

Ignoring Reviews

Reviews are also made by customers on a number of reference sites.  Without considering these platforms, one will miss the opportunity of engagement.

Use of Multiple Listings

The number of entries in the same area might be confusing to Google and might appear as less credible.

Ignoring Your Listings

Other users can make changes to your listings in case you do not claim and validate them, which might be wrong.

Citation Management Tools

It is difficult to keep a record of dozens of citations manually.

Fortunately, to facilitate the process the following tools may be applied:

• Precise local fine in auditing and citation building. It also has local search engine reporting.
• Yext posts and shares the information about your company with a large number of directories.
• Moz Local helps in monitoring, review management and citation management and cleanup.
• The Whitespark is one of the  most reliable sources of monitoring NAP consistency and seeking citation opportunities.