A citation is any online reference of the name, address and phone number of a local business. They typically appear on business directories, social platforms, apps, and websites.
Citations help people to discover your local business and also impact your local ranking on Google. It’s important to actively manage your online citations to ensure the accuracy of your name, address, phone number and any relevant information pertaining to your business.
Local Data Business Platforms provide businesses’ tools and resources to verify and manage their online listings to help prospects and customers find them via local search.
The main Local Data Business Platforms include: Google My Business, Infogroup, Localeze / Neustar, and Axiom. You’ll also want to list your business on core social media platforms such as Facebook and third party review sites like Yelp.
While it’s important to have listings on Local Data Platforms that are for any industry, it’s equally crucial to build listings on websites that are specific to your line of business and location. Examples include professional associations/guilds and chamber of commerce websites.
There many kinds of citations for different industries and businesses like healthcare, attorney, real estate and the list goes on. Although there are some who have higher domain authority; the main thing to look out for is relevancy.That’s where the importance of industry categories comes into play.
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.
An advantage of listing your business on relevant business directories is the increase in likelihood that you’ll appear on the first page of search results. Companies that have listings on Yellow Pages or Yelp tend to appear near the top of the page.
Often if you perform a search for a local business, like an electrician, you’ll get business listings of electricians nearby to where you live. If someone is looking for a business similar to yours in their location, you’ll want your business to be as visible as possible.
People pick favorites. They tend to go to Yelp for restaurants. Some go to Yellow pages for tradespeople. It’s a great idea to get listed in as many relevant directories as you can. This will help you get more referral traffic.
If and when you move into a new office with a different zip code and street or change your business name, it is best practice to update your info in the relevant places. If you neglect that, you could affect your rankings, your reputation and your revenue.
Here a few of Moz.coms suggestions for risks and benefits of active and passive listings management:
Here are more risks and benefits (https://moz.com/learn/seo/local-citations)
Using a passive approach:
Using an active approach
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:
“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”.