Why You Need To Build Citations For SEO

What is a Local Citation?

A local citation is any online mention of the name, address, and phone number of a local business. Citations can occur on local business directories, on websites and apps, and on social platforms. Citations help Internet users to discover local businesses and can also impact local search engine rankings. Specifically, having the right basic citations can help you rank accurately on Google Maps. Local businesses can actively manage many citations to ensure data accuracy.

​​What types of local citations are there?

What a citation looks like depends on which type it falls under—structured or unstructured.

Structured Citations

This is the most common way to see NAP presented on a page, with name, address, and phone number listed next to each other, in a format consistent with the rest of the listings on the site. These come as a result of submitting business listings via specific fields in the directory submission process, so it makes sense that they show up this way.

You can find structured citations most commonly on general business directories like Yelp, local directories like the Better Business Bureau for your area, and industry-specific directories like Tripadvisor.

Unstructured Citations

Far less common, but no less valuable, are citations in which the key business information isn’t tightly grouped together.

Unstructured citations are so-called because they don’t follow a structured listing format with data assigned to a specific field (like name, address). Instead, they can be spread across a piece of information, such as when your business is mentioned in an article by a local newspaper or blog.

This includes things like blog posts, forum threads, or press mentions, in which the story might say ‘You can find StorageMart on NW 7th Street in Miami’ and then later add ‘Need self-storage? Just call (855) 821-0868 to find out more.’

You’ll see that all the necessary information is on the same page, but not all together. This requires a little more effort for search engines to scrape, but, as mentioned before, this doesn’t make them any less valuable.

Why Are Citations Important For Local Search?

When someone types a query into a search engine, Google or any other search engine is looking for which website is the most relevant, authoritative, closest and offers the best experience for the user. 

Google itself doesn’t need to know you personally because it has all of these sources to go to. These include any business listing, social media business page or anything else mentioning your company name, address and phone number.

This can have a strong impact on your location and authority too. If your Name, Address and Phone Number are listed differently in different places online, there’s a possibility it may not show up close to a person who is looking for business similar to yours. Other factors that matter to local search are the size of the listing and the quality of the online business directory.

​​Things that can help optimize your citations

There is more to managing your citations than finding the right one and putting in your details. Here are some things that will help you optimize your presence online:

• Consistency: making sure that you have the same name, address and phone number across all your listings is key to increasing the likelihood of ranking higher.
• Business description: descriptions can increase your rank on search engines by adding relevant and leading keywords. This'll help Google and the rest get a better understanding of your business.
• Choose a secondary category: on listings like Google My Business, they will ask you to select a secondary category to describe your business. This helps you rank higher for “secondary targeted keywords”.
• Add your website link to your location page: a lot of businesses just add a link to their home page of their website. John McAlpin writing for Search Engine Journal recommends linking directly to the location page. This helps people find the information that they are searching for and also helps search engines to find you too.

“A location page (also known as a local landing page) is a way to target long-tail-location specific- terms”. These are most useful if you have multiple - local brick and mortar stores or service area businesses. 

The purpose is to let people know that you have numerous offices or service areas. These pages help you if you are struggling to rank in “locations other than your main storefront”.

How effective are citations in boosting local SEO?

Citations are incredibly important in gaining trust from Google, and without this trust, it’s unlikely you’ll rank particularly well. They also help boost your visibility in local search, and if Google sees that you’re getting more attention than one of your competitors, you’ll probably beat them in SERPs. They are also believed to add more value to businesses which aren’t yet appearing in Google’s local business pack. However, their wider importance has somewhat diminished in recent years, and citations are now typically considered to be a foundational tactic as opposed to the be-all and end-all of local SEO.

Improving local SEO

To really move the needle, acquiring local citations should only be a small part of a wider local SEO strategy. Other important components include localised link building, gathering online user reviews and ratings and content optimisation. It’s also a good idea to expand your keyword research strategy to encompass more location-specific terms and phrases.

This, of course, doesn’t mean neglecting the use of citations altogether. The presence and reliability they give your business make them far too important to be ignored. However, to really see a difference in your rankings, devising an all-encompassing strategy which strengthens all elements of local SEO is the best way for your website to make an impact.