Citation Building: What It Is and What It Does
Citation Building makes it much easier for potential customers to find your business and perceive it as a reliable and trustworthy company. But if you are neglecting this process, you could be hindering your local SEO potential.
Having your information listed on multiple websites, a process known as citation building, can boost your Google local search rankings.
Your NAP (name, address, phone) demonstrates your physical presence in a particular geographic area, which is required to appear in local search results.
Building citations for local SEO is as much a quality-based as it is quantity-based process.
Search results are becoming increasingly location-dependent thanks to the mobile-first concept.
Every business owner knows how important it is to keep your online contact information up to date. You’re unlikely to attract potential customers if they don’t know how to contact you, and you’re likely to arouse suspicion if your address and phone number aren’t clearly listed.
There’s another great reason to try your hand at citation building: having your information listed on multiple websites can actually boost your Google local search rankings.
However, it takes a lot of time and effort to find platforms and convince them to include you on their site. And of course, the impact also depends on your competitors’ approach to citations. So, is it worth focusing on them for the sake of your local visibility, or would your efforts be better spent elsewhere?
What is Citation Building?
Citation Building is the process of creating online references to your business, specifically your brand name, address, and phone number, collectively known as your NAP. These details are important because they act as a unique marker that solidifies your identity and helps Google separate you from all the other businesses listed online. Your NAP also demonstrates your physical presence in a particular geographic area, which is necessary if you want to appear in local search results.
- An example of a Greek restaurant using its NAP in a Yelp citation
- An example of a Greek restaurant and its NAP in a Yelp citation.
In general, the more citations you have, the better. For example, a local business with many online mentions is more likely to rank higher than one that receives little attention. Having the same NAPs in multiple locations also helps establish trustworthiness, as this consistency effectively verifies these contact details. For example, if you are listed by both a local blog and an online newspaper for that area, this suggests that your business is part of a local community.
However, you should be very careful.
Adding Citation Building with links to suspected spammy online directories is now considered a black hat SEO practice.
Google’s algorithm now dictates that links from spammy directories are now penalized, so it is crucial that citations with links are only added to high quality directories and those with local relevance.
How do you do Citation Building?
Citations can be formatted in a variety of ways. A partial citation will include only some of your NAP, such as your business name and address, or just your name and phone number. There’s no doubt that a partial citation is better than none at all, but you should really include the entire NAP to get the most benefit.
It doesn’t matter if your NAP is formatted on one line or with line breaks like you would format the address in a letter. All you need to do is make it completely identical to what’s on your website, as well as your Google My Business page.
It’s important to make sure your NAP is consistent across your website, Google Business profile, and any other websites where you’ve created citations.
You should also keep your NAP text and formatting uniform across all platforms. For example, don’t add or remove spaces, switch between phone numbers and country codes, or edit addresses to add additional information like floors or suites if you haven’t done so elsewhere.
The most important thing is accuracy. So if you’re moving offices, you need to update your citations with your new location on all the platforms where you’re listed. Otherwise, any inaccuracies could misdirect your customers and cause real damage to your reputation and revenue, as well as your search rankings.
What’s the best way to do Citation Building?
As mentioned above, citation building is about quality as much as quantity. Yes, getting a lot of listings is good, and business websites that rank in the local top 10 average 100 citations, but those on high-authority, relevant web pages are the ones that will have the biggest impact on your rankings. For this reason, it’s worth exploring other possible sources such as blogs, forums, and press releases.
It’s important to remember that building citations, unfortunately, isn’t a one-time process. Once you’ve taken the time to find sources and organize your listings, you’ll need to keep them updated to reflect any changes in your NAP. In the meantime, you should be constantly researching potential sources and keeping an eye on where your competitors are listed. All of this effort can put a huge dent in your weekly work schedule, so if building citations is something you’d like to explore, you may be better off doing it with the help of a professional SEO agency. They can take responsibility for getting you listed on high-quality websites, ensuring each NAP is consistent, and tracking new citation opportunities.
Conclusion
Citations are incredibly important for gaining Google’s trust, and without that trust, you’re unlikely to rank particularly well. They also help increase your visibility in local search, and if Google sees that you’re getting more attention than one of your competitors, you’ll likely beat them out in the SERPs.
To get real SEO results, acquiring local citations should only be a small part of a larger Local SEO strategy. Other important components include building localized links, collecting online user reviews and ratings, and optimizing your content. It’s also a good idea to expand your keyword research strategy to include more location-specific terms and phrases.
This, of course, doesn’t mean you should completely ignore the use of citations. The presence and credibility they bring to your business make them too important to ignore. However, to really see a difference in your rankings, you need to formalize a comprehensive strategy that strengthens all elements of local and national SEO.
