Local Citations Build SEO Authority

A local citation is an online mention of your business’s name, address, and phone number. These three pieces of information need to be consistent throughout your online listings. A local citation can also include your industry, hours of operation, images relevant to your business, directions to your business, links to your social media accounts, and customer reviews. These are common forms of online citations recognized by Google.

A local citation is a listing of your business’s information in an online business directory like Google Business Profile, Yellow Pages, Better Business Bureau, Yelp, or an industry-relevant site. Online citations are all about validating your business’s existence so search engines have a greater chance of recommending your business at the top of their search.

Creating a website isn’t enough. You have to prove to Google you actually exist if you want to be considered in the search results. At Outpace we go above and beyond to validate businesses. We do this by utilizing online directories. An online business directory is a website containing lists of businesses operating within a certain location and industry. Each time a customer searches for a local service, the Google algorithm crawls through online directories to find local listings fitting specific parameters. If your business’s name, address, and phone number are listed across online directories, Google will consider displaying your business in their results.

Search engines aim to provide the most relevant search results to their users. The last thing they want to do is provide someone with the wrong business address or phone number. In order to avoid this incident, search engines look to ensure your business’s information is consistent across online directories. The more consistent your information, the more credible search engines will hold your business. If search engines find inconsistent information across the directories, they will be discouraged from showcasing your business. This is their way of ensuring they are passing along the right information to their customers. We ensure all of your information has been updated across the web so search engines have a greater chance of connecting you with people actively searching for your business.

Many times, companies forget to list their business in online directories and only focus on creating SEO content for their website. Local citations are very important because SEO rankings depend on them. Google aims at offering the most accurate information to their clients. Outpace ensures the necessary sites have your business listed so your website is seen as a credible source in your market. These listings communicate to Google your business is real, your information is accurate, and relevant to certain searches. This is exactly what you need to put your business at the top of Google’s search results. It’s very important to correct any inconsistent listings because they will hinder your SEO progress. Working with Outpace ensures your listings are consistent and in all of the right places. This increases the chance to get your business in front of local people in need of your services.

In short, not all citations are of equal credibility. Even though all citations refer to your business, the type of citation and the amount of authority given to each citation differs a great deal. Google grants each citation with a different level of power based on the referring website.

• Local business directories – A local business directory is the best way to get started with local citations. It contains the record of all the businesses in the area and is built with the sole purpose of listing local businesses. Local business directories are the first thing the search engines go through when suggesting businesses for their organic results.
• Industry-relevant directories – An industry-relevant directory focuses on that particular industry and includes data of only those businesses associated with the industry. Sector-related directories and niche-related directories operate in a similar fashion. Listing your business in an industry-relevant directory will make you more credible with search engines.
• Thematic blogs and websites – How many times have you stumbled upon a list that reads “10 Best Coffee Shops to Visit in your hometown” or something similar? Local writings will help to strengthen the credibility of your business. If your business appears consistently in local articles, then you can bet your bottom dollar that Google will list your business in response to a relevant keyword search. Similarly, local apps that help customers search for an industry-relevant business in the region contribute massively to improving your local listings.

Queries for local information account for about 46% of total Google Searches. Local searches hold a significant chunk of high conversion-prone users. That is why having an optimized Google Business Profile profile is a must-have for all businesses.

Google Business Profile is a free and easy-to-use tool for organizations and businesses to manage their online places across Google. GBP is one of the top-ranking factors for organic local traffic because an optimized GBP profile on Google helps you rank on the “snack pack” results. Snack pack results are the attractive result bars that you see at the top of the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) for queries with local search intent like “attorney near me” or “nearest dentist.”

Citations mention your business online that references not just your business name but your full NAP information package – name, address, and phone number. Citations are one of the top local off-page ranking factors. So, if you are a local business and want to rank locally – whether in Google’s snack pack or top positions of the SERPs – citations are crucial. Using dedicated tools to find citations and maintaining consistency in citations is extremely important for achieving quality citations that help your off-site SEO efforts.