What is a Local Citation?
Citations in an SEO context aren’t the same as the academical reference you might think of, however they do bare some similarities. Local Citations are references to your business details, usually found on local listing / directory sites and other websites. They usually contain the Business Name, Website, Telephone, Email, and Address. Some popular citation sources are:
- Yell.com
- Yelp.co.uk
- 192.com
- Foursquare.com
- Scoot Network
- Central Index
- Apple Maps Connect
- Bing Places
- Cylex Business Directory
- Niche Based Directories
- UK Business Directories
You can usually sign up with these fairly easily, and some will require a payment or form of verification.
What is NAP?
You may well have heard this acronym mentioned in the local SEO space, and it simply stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number.
How do Citations help SEO?
Local Citations improve your Google rankings in a number of ways.
- Google Maps Rankings – citations are one of the most important factors in how high your maps listing ranks in the results.
- Google Organic Rankings – citations usually provide an inbound link, which directly effects the organic rankings of your website for related keywords.
What matters with Citations?
The most important thing to worry about with your business citations is the consistency of them. This means that the information should be the same, everywhere across the web. Google rewards this with good rankings because it’s better for users to always find accurate information. You can use online services or tools to check your citation consistency, such as Whitespark and BrightLocal.
Final Thoughts
You should now understand what a local citation is and how it can help you with local SEO. If you would like help fixing or building citations as part of an SEO service, then feel free to email us at
[email protected]