How to Optimize Local SEO Citations?
What are SEO Citations?
From an SEO standpoint, the term “citation” refers to any instance where your business is mentioned online, and examples might appear in many places.
These include social networks, various types of business directories, local websites, and basically, anywhere else people might be online looking for information about businesses in their area.
In addition to actual mentions of the business’s name, citations can include other identifying information unique to that business, including its phone number or physical address.
Why Do SEO Citations Matter?
The purpose of SEO citations is to better assist people from a given location in finding businesses that offer the services and products they’re interested in.
They also factor into your SEO rankings on Google and other search engines. Here’s a better look at how both of those things work.
What Makes a Good Citation?
A company’s business directory citation is a claim. It is essential to fill out three pieces of critical information about your company for its citation: the business name, physical address, and phone number:
- Name – This should ideally be your branded trading name.
- Local telephone number – This should match the number given on your website.
- Physical address – Again, this should be consistent with the address on your website.
How to Optimize Citations?
Keep a Consistent NAP
Your business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) must remain consistent across all its listings. There have been several studies that show a consistent NAP can affect SEO.
Keep your Descriptions Updated
If you’re serious about improving your local rankings, you can improve them by having a well-written business description that is shot through with your company’s keywords. Search engines can better understand what type of products or digital services your business offers, and you’ll also rank higher in their search engine results pages (SERPs).
Website Link
If you’re linking to your website and not to a specific page, it’s better to link to the homepage. This is because if you provide a search engine with only one URL, they often can’t know what webpage they are looking for by providing them with more information on their link, e.g., a page name or section name on your digital site.
Identify your Business Category
Google My Business is one citation site that allows you to specify secondary categories. This usually helps your rankings for secondary keywords, which can significantly impact your marketing traffic.
Provide Relevant Photos
Adding photos to your website could help increase conversion rates and improve searchability on Google. The right images can make a difference.
Try adding alt and file name information to your images if the directory you upload them to gives you the option.
Share Customer Reviews
A lot of consumers rely on reviews when making marketing purchasing decisions. In turn, Google also looks at reviews to gauge the quality of services & businesses.