Are you using citations to increase your local visibility on search? A local citation is a mention of your company on the web, whether it is with or without a link.
Citations are created for businesses by getting listed in local directories online. And these matter very much when it comes to local search results. They can make up the top 25% of the top 20 local search ranking factors.
A citation can come in many forms:
- Company name all by itself.
- Phone number all by itself.
- Company name and phone number.
- Company name, phone number, and address.
- Company name, phone number, address, and link to your website.
A “complete local citation” should include, at the very least, your company name, address, and phone number. If it doesn’t it could be considered a “partial citation.”
On top of citations in local business directories, it is also important to have citations in niche business directories. According to Local Visibility System niche local citations often don’t get enough love from companies when it comes to citation building.
That could mean being sure you are listed in professional niche directories such as HealthGrades (for doctors), Avvo (for lawyers), and TripAdvisor (for hotels and attractions).
These citations all help to boost your local visibility. And, there is an art to making sure citation building is done right.
Small things that many people might see as unimportant, that, in reality, are very important in the eyes of search engines. Things such as making sure that every single citation has the same information from directory to directory. That means you can’t use “123 Main St” on some on “123 Main Street” on others. They all must be spelled out the same from directory to directory for Google to attribute them as belonging to the same company.
We do offer local search engine optimization (SEO) packages that include citation building if you want to make sure they are done correctly and maximized for your SEO benefit. Contact us for more information.
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