Where Do Local Citations Come From?

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Local citations seem like no more than online references. But details such as your business’ name, address, and phone number (popularly known as your NAP) are crucial elements in local search engine optimization. From an SEO perspective, a local citation can vastly improve your online visibility and search rankings. It also encourages people to visit your store.

If ever you have wondered about local citations and where they come from, you’re in the right place because we’re teaching you where to get citations for your business.

 

1. Google My Business

Google is the most widely used search engine to-date. Since it has the largest number of users, it should be the first place you’d want a citation to appear. The best way to optimize for Google is through its own online directory called Google My Business. It can increase your organic rankings and improve your chances of appearing in related services such as Google Maps.

Take note that only businesses with a physical location are able to claim a listing on Google My Business. As long as you meet their standards and qualifications, it’s completely free.

 

2. Structured Citations

Online directories require listings to follow a specific structure. The required details can vary across platforms, although generally, they will need your business’ name, address, and phone number. Any directory that follows the NAP format has structured citations. Search engines value them because they’re easier to crawl and recommend to users.

Examples of online directories include:

  • Apple Maps
  • Bing
  • Facebook
  • Foursquare
  • Infogroup
  • Localeze
  • Yelp

It’s important that you submit structured citations to as many online directories as possible. Just make sure there are no duplicates and that the information you provide to these platforms are both accurate and consistent.

 

3. Specialized Listings

Online directories typically have a generic approach towards listings. They’ll have citations from businesses in different locations and industries. However, there are businesses that can benefit from specialized listings which are specific to a location or industry, and thus cater to a particular audience.

TripAdvisor.com is the perfect example of an online directory with specialized listings. The platform appeals to travelers who are looking for places to stay, and is limited to hotels, bed and breakfasts, and other establishments in the hospitality sector.

 

4. Unstructured Citations

Unstructured citations are informal references anywhere outside online directories. Mentions of your business in blog posts, news articles, and social media are considered unstructured citations.

Here are several ways to build unstructured citations:

  • Sponsor contests, events, and groups
  • Send editorials to local newspapers
  • Launch a social media campaign
  • Get featured in blogs and local news

Try to be as relevant as possible to your local community to get voluntary mentions. The key is to get the attention of noteworthy people who might be able to introduce you to wider audiences.

 

5. Business website

Lastly, don’t forget to set up a website. It’s the ultimate representation of your business online. You can use the Home and About Page to showcase your NAP.  Again, always ensure that the information you share is consistent throughout the website, so you can avoid confusion.

What Is A Citation When It Comes To Local SEO?

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Local SEO is a way to let people know about your business and what products or services you have available. By improving your online visibility, it expands your reach and helps you attract customers.

Citations are the cornerstone of localized SEO. Without one, not only would it be impossible to optimize your business for search engines – people would also have a hard time finding it on the internet. You could lose potential paying clients to competitors who do have citations.

 

What is a Citation? 

Within the context of local search engine optimization, a citation is an online reference to any business that has a physical location such as a shop or an office. It’s basically a listing which people can use so they’d know where to find you and how to reach you. As such, a local citation will always include three important details about your business:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Phone Number

The acronym for which is NAP. Though if you want a more effective citation, it should be NAPW to include your website URL.

However, a citation alone is not enough for a successful campaign in local SEO. You also have to position your business information online strategically.

 

Getting Your Citation in the Right Places

An online directory is any website, platform, or service that catalogs business information. You can think of these listings as yellow pages but exclusively for the internet.

The purpose of these listings is for people to connect with businesses in their area. By submitting your citations to online directories, locals get to enjoy the practicality of finding nearby shops. Businesses benefit from an increase in customers. It’s a win-win.

In spite of this, you shouldn’t submit your NAP to every online directory you can find. Some of them are specific to certain locations and niches, which may not be suitable for you. Ideally, you should only list your business in relevant directories. For instance, a bar can be listed in a food directory but not in a medical directory.

Domain authority must also be considered when looking for places to submit a listing. High authority directories usually rank well on search engine results. If you have citations on their websites, your business will most likely appear on the top searches.

The 10 best places to submit your citations are:

  • Google My Business
  • Facebook
  • Apple Maps
  • LinkedIn Company Directory
  • Yelp
  • Bing
  • Better Business Bureau
  • MapQuest
  • Foursquare
  • HubSpot

 

Optimizing Your Citation for Search Engines

In most cases, an online directory will require you to provide the name, address, and phone number of your business. However, some directories give you the option to provide additional information such as:

  • Business hours
  • Email address
  • Company description
  • Multimedia (i.e. photos, videos)
  • An overview of your products and/or services

Building a detailed citation may seem counterintuitive, but it’s one way to optimize for local SEO. It’s actually going to help you connect with the right customers. By being more clear on what your business is about, you can attract people who would most likely be interested in what you have to offer.

Much of what we’ve talked about so far are known as structured citations. A structured citation is what you would usually find in an online directory, and it tends to have a similar format (i.e. NAP). To further optimize your business for local SEO, you should also include unstructured citations in your content.

An unstructured citation is not something you would list in directories. Rather, the NAP is naturally integrated into blog posts and site content. Here, you can actively invite readers to know more about your business or to get in touch.

The Issues Wrecking Your Local SEO

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Local businesses should leverage SEO strategies if they expect to improve their search visibility. Yet somehow, they aren’t. Instead, they stick to the usual routine of creating a website, churning blog posts, engaging on social media, and getting online ads. These techniques are still effective and relevant today. However, Google has changed the way it identifies ranking signals and presents search results. And so, in order to get the visibility they’re after, businesses need to adopt newer strategies and avoid others.

In this article, we’ll talk about the things you could be doing, which are actually ruining your SEO.

 

Website problems

A website can help you establish an online presence, which is why most SEO efforts are directed on it. If you don’t have a website, or if you have one and it lacks the ranking signals necessary to appear in local searches, then you’re off to a bad start.

Below are some common website problems that are bad for SEO:

  • No location pages. Businesses with multiple locations should have dedicated pages for each store. Every page must be unique and contain information about a specific branch.
  • Website is not accessible. Unless you have it indexed, search engines won’t be able to crawl your website and its pages, nor display them on the search results. You can make this possible by submitting a sitemap to Google.
  • Missing information. Location pages with incomplete or inaccurate information won’t be much help to your SEO, let alone your customers.

 

2. Unreliable citations

Even if you don’t have a website, people can still find you through online listings. It should be as simple as getting your citations on the internet, right?

Not so fast.

The rule of quality over quantity applies here, and it’s important to get your details right. Citations have to be complete and trustworthy, so when people want to drop by or give you a call, they would know where, when, and how to reach you.

Here are examples of unreliable citations:

  • Using keywords and locations as your business name
  • Having an incomplete address and contact information
  • Placing your listing in unrelated categories
  • Inaccurate information

 

3. Bad location pages 

For businesses with two or more physical stores, creating location pages is only the beginning. The clarity and conciseness of the information across these pages also have to be ascertained. But how do you know you’ve got bad location pages? Following are some signs to watch out for.

  • Outdated information. You might have store locations that have closed or relocated to a new address, or maybe you decided to change the name of your business due to rebranding or acquisitions. Any change in business operations must reflect on location pages so people can stay up-to-date.
  • Using national phone numbers. Location pages should have contact details that are specific to their corresponding store.
  • Links to dead URLs. Changing the web address of your website or any of its pages can prevent customers from accessing the information they need about your business. You can avoid this by updating the links as they change.

 

4. No local content

Location pages shouldn’t be limited to (boring) information like your business name, address, and phone number – otherwise known as NAP. You can round it up with other location-specific content such as:

  • Customer reviews and feedback
  • Local news and events
  • Case studies and press releases
  • Photos of the store and staff

The Importance of Reviews in Local SEO

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Online shoppers love reviews. It gives them a sneak-peek into any product or service so they’ll know what to expect. By knowing what other customers think, they can make better buying decisions and be able to spend their money wisely.

Naturally, people would be drawn to businesses with good reviews. This doesn’t just apply online but to local shops as well. Now that brick and mortar stores can be listed online, it’s possible to get reviews for your local business.

However, reviews are more than just references for buyers. They also play a major role in local SEO. But before we tackle its importance in search engine optimization, let’s try to understand why they work.

 

Why Reviews Are Effective

Ecommerce offers a different experience from a physical store where customers can interact with products before taking them to the counter. Instead, online shoppers only get to see photos and read product descriptions before proceeding to checkout.

Online shopping is a convenient way to shop, albeit risky. Since there’s no way to test products, it’s easier to make bad purchasing decisions. Reviews help fill the gap by providing online consumers the reassurance they need. When they read good reviews, they gain confidence in a business and are more likely to purchase.

It’s a classic case of social proof and the reason why reviews work. People tend to mimic other people’s actions, thinking that following the crowd means they’re making the right decision.

 

Why Your Business Needs Reviews for Local SEO

According to the latest survey by Bright Local, 86% of consumers read reviews on local businesses and 78% trust reviews just as they would personal recommendations. What this tells us is that consumers value reviews. And like any business that depends on these very same customers for revenue, you need to place as much value in reviews.

Reviews can impact your business in several ways. In their survey, Bright Local found that positive reviews encouraged 68% of consumers to use local businesses. Good customer feedback can further convince more people to visit your shop and get in touch.

Online, reviews can affect your local SEO. Their biggest influence will be on your visibility. When people search locally for a business, Google pulls out listings of the nearest places. Local businesses are shown at the top of the search engine results page or SERP. What dictates their rankings are your ratings. The higher the rating of a business, the higher their placement in the results. This could only mean better visibility than businesses with low ratings.

So how do you get reviews for your business? We’ll tell you in the next section.

 

Integrating reviews into your local SEO

First, you need to include your shop on Google My Business. It lets Google know it can suggest your store in local searches. Try to get your business in as many online listings as possible. The more citations you have, the easier it is for people to find you. Just make sure you have accurate business information posted online.

Afterward, you can direct shop visitors and customers to your online listings, especially Google My Business. Let them leave feedback about their experience with you. As you get more positive reviews, the chances of your business appearing on the top searches will also improve.

The Importance Of Location Pages For SEO

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Google gets 63,000 searches per second or about 5.6 billion queries each day. According to Go Gulf, nearly half of these searches are done by people looking for local information. You can tell by these numbers how vast the online market is, and why every local business needs to tap into it.

Many businesses already have, in fact, tapped into this market one way or another. By optimizing for Google, businesses are able to expand their horizons well beyond the cornered walls of their brick and mortar stores. Building citations, creating business sites, setting up social media, and launching advertising campaigns are just some of the most popular ways to optimize for Google.

Much of these strategies are crucial, but they are not the be-all and end-all of search engine optimization. There are other less popular but equally effective techniques for improving your online visibility through SEO. One such method is to make location pages.

 

What is a location page? 

A location page is typically a web page that is dedicated to containing business information. It includes the address, contact details, and opening hours of your business, as well as anything that would make it easier for customers to find you – such as Google Map, directions, nearby landmarks, and photos of your store. The location page is also a good place to feature accepted payment methods, certifications, awards, and other recognitions.

However, you can also turn your location page into a microsite. Its URL can be structured so that it acts as a mother page to blog posts containing relevant information like news and events.

Location pages are ideal for businesses with more than one physical store. Each location can have its own page, unique URL, and other content that is specific to that place. Here, you can highlight the attending staff, reviews from locals, unique offerings, and promos.

 

Why location pages are important for SEO

Google considers dozens of factors when ranking web pages for display on their search results. For local businesses such as yourself, local information is among those that are weighed in. Since the information is found on your website, Google will treat it as a primary and authoritative source. Therefore, it is considered a strong local ranking factor, which signals Google to show your location pages to related queries.

Location pages that have been properly optimized will appear on the top search results – usually above the fold if you claimed your listing on Google My Business, and if you have positive reviews. This makes it easier for locals to find your store which is really important, because according to HubSpot Marketing, 72% of consumers who performed a local search visited a shop less than 5 miles away. Nectafy further found that 88% of people who searched for a local business with a mobile device either called or visited in 24 hours.

If people have a hard time finding you, or if they can’t reach you in some other way, they might head to the nearest competitor and you will essentially lose customers. On the contrary, the easier it is to locate your stores, the better it would be for your business.

Mistakes To Avoid When It Comes To Local SEO

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As with most guides, you have continuously been told what to do with your local SEO. Whether it’s digestible tips and tricks or detailed step-by-step instructions, most of the content around search engine optimization is focused on actionable goals.

Local business owners mistakenly think that following these guidelines guarantees results. But this is hardly the case. If you’re having trouble getting the results you want, you’re probably doing it wrong. So today, we’ll discuss what you should never do with local SEO.

 

Mistake #1 – You have poor NAPs

This isn’t about catching Z’s in the middle of the day. NAP stands for the Name, Address, and Phone Number of your business. It’s important to have this information on your website and online listings, but many businesses don’t even have them. In addition, your NAP has to be accurate and consistent across the internet.

A poorly-structured NAP could pull down your SEO. Experts believe that Google checks for your NAP online, and so any wrong info could lower your rankings on search results. In turn, this makes your business less accessible to potential customers and negatively impact your sales and conversions.

 

Mistake #2 – Unclaimed Google My Business

Google My Business is an online listing where you can submit your NAP. When someone uses Google to look for places nearby, this is where the search giant first looks. Failure to claim your listing on Google My Business is a grave sin in SEO, since it’s one of the most important factors that determines your placement in local searches. If you don’t own a website, creating a business profile on Google is the next best thing to having one.

Once you’ve claimed your business, make sure to verify your account. That way, you’d be able to control the information and ensure its accuracy fully.

 

Mistake #3 – Missing on-page local signals

Google displays search results based on their relevance. With the help of search bots and its unique algorithm, Google can identify signals which suggest what a page’s content is about, and how relevant it is in relation to a user’s query.

Some of the on-page signals are as follows:

  • Name, Address, and Phone (NAP)
  • Use of title tags, meta tags, and meta descriptions
  • Backlinks from local sites
  • Content quality and structure
  • Local keyword optimization

Without these on-page signals, search engines won’t be able to tell that your website is about a local business. So when people search locally, your pages may not appear in the results page.

 

Mistake #4 – No online reviews

Ratings and customer feedback are strong SEO signals which, unfortunately, many are unaware of. For startups and SMB’s with plenty of competition, these reviews can make a big difference in rankings and how people perceive you. Ideally, you want to get as many good reviews as possible from your customers. It signals Google that you are both trustworthy and relevant, and helps you get a prominent place during searches.

 

Mistake #5 – Ignoring results

Search engine optimization is not a one-fix solution, but an ongoing strategy that can be further polished. Make room for improvement and mistakes throughout its implementation. The key to perfecting your SEO is to keep a close watch of your metrics, and see how people are engaging with your business online and offline. Based on these results, you should adjust your strategies accordingly.

How To Do Local SEO For Multiple Locations

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These days, search engine optimization is a must for any business that wants to survive. SEO is an avenue with which you can establish an online presence and improve your visibility among the increasing number of internet users. With the right strategies, you’d be able to build a reputable brand, attract customers, increase your sales, and gain an edge against your fiercest competitors.

SEO is easier for local businesses whose audiences are limited to a given locality. But this only applies to shops with a single branch. Certain small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have multiple shops found in different locations.

So how do you optimize for those? Let’s find out.

 

Setting Up Location Pages

Local business owners are generally advised to create a website and to optimize it for SEO. There are many ways to go about it. But one of the fastest methods is to cite your business information in different pages across your site. Namely, they should appear on your Home Page, About Us, Services, and the Footer section.

The strategy above applies to smaller businesses serving a single location – be it a neighborhood, a small town, or a city. For larger businesses and SMEs with several brick and mortar shops, there’s a different approach to local SEO.

 

Local SEO Strategies for Multiple Locations

If you own a business with multiple stores (each with its own address and contact details), you can’t cram all their information in a single page. What you need to do is create separate pages for all locations you serve and optimize every single one of them.

As usual, this should include your most basic business information or NAP:

  • Name of the branch
  • Address
  • Phone number

The main goal of local SEO is to place your business front and center for your customers and Google. Below are some tips on how to optimize for both.

 

Optimizing for customers

You can make it easier for customers to find you by embedding a Google Map to each location and providing details on how to get there, including landmarks. Each page can also act as a “microsite” that delivers unique, location-specific content such as:

  • Business hours
  • Photos of your business and staff
  • Related news, awards, and upcoming events
  • Customer feedback from locals
  • Additional contact details (i.e. email address)

 

Optimizing for Google

The key to getting optimized for Google is to create pages that are “crawlable” for search bots. Again, there’s more than one way to do this, although it does require a bit of know-how on search engine optimization.

Perhaps the best-known strategy is to use location-specific keywords throughout your content, title tags, and meta descriptions. Some examples are “New York auto shop” or “California fitness club”. These keywords signal Google that the content of a page or website is specific to a location. When people search for these keywords, your pages will be displayed as local searches.

Moreover, you can set up a local business schema markup for each of these pages. That way, when people look them up, they’ll have easy access to your business information. Once you’ve set up location pages for your business site, the final step is to submit a sitemap to Google.

How Reviews Impact Your SEO

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Consumers used to rely on word of mouth to decide whether to purchase products and services or not. It’s either that or they had to buy a product just to see for themselves, only to realize it wasn’t worth their money.

People these days are less inclined to make risky purchases now that reviews are not as hard to come by. Buyers can easily access reviews online and make a quick choice – to buy or not to buy?

In a survey conducted by Podium, 93 percent of consumers said their purchasing decision was influenced by online reviews. With the advent of smart buying, there is no better time for businesses to start paying attention to customers and their feedback, especially since it has an impact on your SEO.

 

4 Ways That Online Reviews Impact SEO

Online reviews can either have a positive or negative impact on key aspects of your business, from how customers see your brand to your SEO. Keeping track of them will help you stay attuned to your customers’ needs so you can create a better experience for them, and at the same time, bolster your SEO efforts.

Here are 4 ways that online reviews affect search engine optimization.

 

1. It builds your authority

Online reviews are pretty much today’s word of mouth. Except that the word spreads much faster than it does offline – and this could literally make or break your business. What customers have to say about your products and services will affect how other people view your brand since it gives them a picture of what it’s like to buy from you.

If you get good reviews and ratings, potential buyers are more likely to trust you. The more people trust you, the more Google will reward you with improved rankings and authority.

 

2. It influences conversion rates

According to Podium, as much as 82% of consumers read online reviews before they decide on a purchase. In a separate survey by YouGov, it was revealed that up to 87% of buyers trust online reviews on the same level that they would trust personal recommendations from friends and family. Negative feedback can dissuade potential buyers from going through with a purchase, whereas positive feedback might get them to buy from you.

 

Businesses often work hard to improve their sales and conversion rates through SEO. But it only takes a few bad reviews to undermine these efforts.

 

3. It affects your rankings

According to Moz’s Local Search Ranking Factors Survey, online reviews are one of the most important elements when optimizing for the following:

  • Google Local Pack. This refers to the top 3 local search results displayed on the first Search Engine Results Page (SERP), before the main search results.
  • Google Local Finder. It lists down all local search results, and can only be accessed from the Local Pack.
  • Organic search traffic. This includes site visitors which came from the search engine.

Moz added that the impact of online reviews on rankings is increasing. The importance of review signals went up by 43% from 2015 to 2018.

 

4. It plays a role in how search results are displayed

Online reviews may also affect how a search engine shows results. Businesses with the highest ratings and the highest number of positive reviews are displayed first.

Keep in mind that consumer feedback is a reflection of your brand. Even though you can manage a few negative reviews, the best way to deal with them is not damage control. Rather, you should focus on delivering quality and addressing issues that have been raised by your customers, so you don’t end up wasting your SEO.

How Local Businesses Can Get More Reviews For SEO

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Local businesses practice search engine optimization for a couple of reasons. Part of its main objectives is conversion – that is, to get people to visit their shop and hopefully “convert” them into paying customers. It’s definitely possible with local SEO. Amy Bishop of Clix Marketing says that 72% of people who perform local searches visit a store within 5 miles.

One way of converting potential customers into actual buyers is with the help of positive reviews. A survey by YouGov reveals that 78% of American consumers read reviews before deciding to buy. People trust these reviews too! In an earlier survey, they found that 87% of consumers trusted reviews in the same way they trusted family or friends.

Getting reviews can be challenging, however. So in this guide, we’ll give you tips on how to get more reviews for SEO.

 

Tip #1: Launch an email campaign

If you have email subscribers waiting, then you’re several steps ahead. Some of them are probably already your customers. Others might have signed up because they’re interested in what your business offers, and are looking to buy in the future.

But if you don’t have an active email list, you could start by signing up for an email marketing software. Set up a landing page on your website inviting visitors to subscribe. You could also collect the emails of people who ordered from you and add them to your list.

Once you have a list ready, send them emails and ask them to leave feedback about your business and their experience with you, your products, or your services.

 

Tip #2: Ask for a review

Encourage customers who visit your shop to leave reviews online. They may not know about your website or social media. And if you advertised offline, you’d be able to cover your grounds and extend your online reach.

You can ask some visiting customers in person after they make a purchase, but there are other ways to prompt them. For example, you can create tabletop signs directing people where they can leave reviews, such as your Facebook page. You can also get the message across using receipts or business cards.

 

Tip #3: Engage with customers

You can’t expect all your reviews to be positive. There will be bad reviews, and that’s totally normal. Just make it a point to engage with every customer who has left reviews. That way, potential clients will get the impression that you communicate actively.

A study published in Harvard Business Review shows that responding to customer reviews led to better ratings. People who see businesses replying to both positive and negative reviews, were more likely to rate the same business higher than businesses who did not respond. These people were also less likely to leave bad reviews.

Be thankful to customers who left good reviews and calmly respond to those who left negative comments. See how you can provide bad reviewers a more positive experience.

 

Tip #4: Spread the word

Share your best reviews on social media, and you might be able to convince more people to convert and leave equally great reviews. When people see that others only have good things to say about you, they are more likely to do the same.

Do Citations Still Matter For Local SEO?

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Short answer: Yes. In fact, if it were not for citations, local SEO would be far more challenging for any business that wants to break into Google’s top ten search results.

Vying for even just one of these coveted spots is somewhat impossible for newcomers, especially if you belong in a saturated industry. When you’re competing with hundreds of businesses in a similar niche, it’s going to be difficult to rank. It would also take plenty of time and optimizing before you could make it to the first page. But if you happen to have a local business, a citation can give you a much-needed boost in rankings.

 

The Importance of Citations in Local SEO

According to Google Consumer Insights, there’s been a 900% increase in “near me” searches and mobile searches with local intent. The recent trend can be attributed to modern devices which are now capable of pulling your location.

Google uses location data to help people find places nearby. But how do they know which businesses to show? This is where citations come in.

A citation summarizes your most important business information – namely, its Name, Address, and Phone Number or NAP for short. Although some citations may include details such as business hours, email, website URL, and more.

Submitting your citation to Google My Business and similar platforms will get you to local listings, thus providing search engines the data they need for local searches.

 

The Advantages of Local Listings for Businesses

Local listings are basically the yellow pages of the internet. They provide local businesses the platform to market themselves online. Any business that has a brick-and-mortar shop or a physical location is considered a local business, and may qualify for a local listing.

 

1. People see you first

Local searches are presented in a very different way from usual search results. They appear as local listings above the fold and before the top 10 searches. When people search with local intent, they will see local listings first, followed by the main search results. This places your business front and center where it matters most.

 

2. Get more traffic

Businesses compete to be on the top search results for many reasons. Traffic is one of them. Statistically, about 90% of internet users never get past the first page of search results. 42% of them click on the highest-ranking result. However, the second result on the search list only gets about 12% of the clicks and it goes down from there.

A local listing can place your business on the first page and among the top searches. This, in turn, could attract significant traffic and potential customers to your website if you happen to have one.

 

3. Get more store visits

Even if you didn’t have a website, your business can still benefit from an increase in store visits. During the 2018 Search Marketing Expo, Amy Bishop of Clix Marketing said that 72% of people who did local searches ended up visiting a store within 5 miles.

 

4. Easier to compete

Google uses a unique algorithm for local businesses. And while there would still be competition (only the top 3 results are displayed), it won’t be as tough. You only have to stand toe-to-toe against a handful of businesses who may not be doing local SEO the way you have. So this would give you a clear advantage.