Online Citations are one of the critical aspects of any successful Local SEO strategy. Citations are online references to your businesses that provide search engines with a better understanding of what your company is about. One of the fundamental strategies to adopt to get easily found online is to have correct and consistent information throughout the web. Undoubtedly, building citations is a tedious process but is an important link in improving your website’s visibility and traffic. Online citations commonly include Business address, Contact information, and your website. Local citations have a significant impact on the Local SEO efforts, affecting whether or not your details show up when a user searches for a location-relevant result. If your business tends to show up often in Search Engine Results, the more relevant and prominent your website or business appears to Google.
Types of Citations:
When it comes to Online Citations, there are two different kinds – Structured and Unstructured. A business has control over Structured Citations, where they themselves provide adequate information on your business and update the details whenever necessary. Common examples of structured citations are Google Maps, Facebook, Yelp, etc.
When your business information shows up in magazines, newspapers, or blogs without any overlook from your part, they are called Unstructured Citations. Whether your business is linked or unlinked in a citation, it provides value to the company and its users. The benefits of building citations on your SEO efforts are significant, especially if you own a small local business.
Benefits of Building Citations:
One of the significant benefits of building citations is the increased visibility of your website or online store. Building citations allow you, as a business owner, to take control of the information that you share with the audience. When it comes to unstructured citations, information about your business could be wrong or misleading. By taking ownership of the online information about your business, you can build trustworthiness and establish your business as the industry leader and bring in more organic traffic. By correctly listing your business information across credible online directories, you can improve your search engine result rankings.
Free Citations Directories:
Some of the free citation directories you can use today to improve the visibility and organic traffic to your website are Google My Business, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Bing, and Yelp. One of the methods to significantly improve your visibility across the web locally is to register your business location on Google+ and Google Maps. Facebook is another social media site that can remarkably improve the organic traffic to your website and help others know your operations through the posted reviews. Some other online directories include Foursquare, Yellow Pages, and Angie’s List. Yellow pages and Foursquare allow businesses to add videos and images to the citations and monitor the brand reputation through the posted reviews.