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A research conducted by Hubspot indicates that 94 percent of all web traffic on Google comes from organic searches. The first result to appear receives a click-through rate of 34.36 percent from desktops and 35 percent from handheld devices.
If your website does not appear among the first search results, you will lose on clicks that would have turned to leads and finally sales.
Today, there is a lot more than just having a website for your business. You need to have a web presence to be confident of always having visitors and leads to your site.
For this to happen, you should define a clear and concise search and social media strategy. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays a vital role in driving visitors to your website. Social media marketing, on the other hand, helps to drive up your SEO throughout the web.
One way you can grow your business is by using local SEO strategies to market your company. Google has an algorithm for local SEO that enables a web searcher to get local business addresses and map listings.
One vital factor that influences local SEO is local SEO citations.
A local SEO citation is any mention of a local business anywhere on the web. You can find citations on online business directories, on social media platforms, and on websites.
They can be any information such as the name, address, or the phone number to the local address. The three details make up what is known as NAP.
Together with the website URL, it can be NAPW. They are the building stones of a proper citation. If you want to raise your SEO ranking, you need to build a useful citation and place it online, in the right places.
There are two major types of local citations. They include:
It is the most common way for citations to appear on a webpage. They appear in a consistent format of the name, address, and phone number.
The citations appear after you submit your listings through specific business data platforms.
They are not as common as the structured citations but are still valuable. You can find them spread across blog posts, press mentions, and forum threads.
The name, address, and Phone number may be on the same page but not all together. Therefore, it takes more effort for search engines to place the information together.
There are many reasons why citations are important. They include:
Citation is one of the primary factors to local business rankings. Google decides the order on which businesses rank depending on the places their name appears on the internet. A company with more digital traces deserves to have better rankings than one without an online track record.
However, before Google acts any listing, it first confirms the accuracy of the details from the local listings. Once the NAP checks out, Google ranks the business details for everyone to see.
When consumers are looking for products and services, they often visit business listing pages to find a business that can solve their problem. Citations are therefore helpful as they give your business the visibility it needs in the right places where clients are on the hunt for you.
Citations play a vital role in the local SEO rankings. You can improve your website ranking and visibility if you list your business NAP details in directories such as Google My Business.
When it comes to organic ranking, search engines rely on business listing sites to get information on local businesses. They trust that the information given is correct and accurate.
By having your business in a directory listing, you improve your chances of consumers finding you when they perform an organic search.
Business directories contain a considerable number of businesses that appear during an organic search. Most of the clicks on the first page of the search result during a local consumer search go to these business directories.
One way that you can improve your SEO ratings is if there are links that lead to your website from authoritative websites. Citations come in handy as they are one of the top leading ways you can create backlinks to your site.
By building citations, your business NAP details together with your website URL will appear on various business directories. With some of these business directories allowing ‘do follow’ links, search engines can use them to boost your website SEO further.
For your business to rank well in the Google Local pack, it needs to have a positive reputation online and have several mentions across the web. Citation sites are helpful as they also provide platforms for consumers to describe their business experiences with your business as well as provide you with ratings.
The positive reviews play an essential role in the position of your business in the local Google pack. All you need to do is ensure that you continue offering excellent customer service to your clients.
Everything comes down to how well you are ranking on Google. It is essential that you always update your SEO citations. Search engines recheck your business details from time to time.
If they find any inconsistency in your business listing details, they may struggle to identify the reliability of your business. It can then affect your SERPs ratings.
There are various case studies on how effective citations are and the impact they have on Google rankings. Many experts believe that local SEO citations play an integral role in the local search ranking.
For citations to be useful, they need to be accurate for your business to get a positive impact. Your web visibility will be affected if you provide suspicious business details.
To optimize your local SEO, you should ensure that you have an active citation profile. Then, you can focus on other areas, such as content creation and client engagement. Contact us today for any inquiries on improving your local SEO.
