The Role Of Local Citations In SEO
According to top-rated Houston SEO experts, local citations are items that mention your company on the internet. It is a piece of information combining the company’s name, address, phone number, postal code, and website address. Citations in search engine optimization (SEO) are a core element to improve your ranking in local search engine results or local SEO. A local citation is available in different forms, including the following:
• Business name
• Business name and telephone number
• Business name, telephone number, and physical address
• Business name, telephone number, physical address, and website
• Business name and website
• Business telephone number
A full local citation should include the business name, the physical address, and the telephone number which is referred to as the “NAP.” Local citations do not always include all three of these items, and a citation that does not include all three items is known as a partial citation. You will hear Houston SEO consultants discuss an NAPW or a UNAP citation. Here the W refers to the company’s website, and the U refers to the company’s URL. The website link obtained from citations is valuable because it provides additional data to search engines; thereby, connecting the search engine to your company and allowing people to include it in the acronym. For assistance regarding your local search engine optimization and citations, contact the #1 Houston SEO Experts for help.
Types Of Local Citations
1. The Structured Citation
Structured citations include your company’s information (NAP) on a business listing directory. When you view lists of citation websites, these are almost always business listing directories where you are able to submit your company and receive a citation. Example websites for structured citations include the following:
• Yelp
• Facebook
• Yellowpages
• MapQuest
• Superpages
2. The Unstructured Citation
Typically, the unstructured citation is one where your company’s information (NAP) is found on websites that are not specifically business listing directories. For instance, you can discover unstructured citations on magazine or newspaper websites, blogs, wiki pages, and more like this.
Local Search Rankings & The Importance Of Citations
A citation can help search engines, such as Bing and Google, verify your company exists. When multiple reputable sources present with the same information about your company, it indicates to the search engines that your business is a legitimate one. By listing the company on prominent local and national websites, the company creates authority, establishes trust, and improves the ability to rank in local search engine results. Local ranking algorithms utilized by search engines regarding citations influence the local search rankings. For example, currently, local search specialists rate citation-related factors as influencing approximately 13% of the top 50 websites appearing in search engine results. The more websites on which your company information appears, the more prominent your business appears to search engines; it makes sense. If the algorithm sees the business information on many websites, as compared to those who appear on fewer websites, this will make you seem like a more popular company and offer you a boost in the rankings!
Houston SEO Executives
Providing a strong citation profile is one of the easiest means of optimizing for local SEO. Citations are considered part of the foundational basics for local search; thereby, by completing citations you can move along to other areas, such as engagement, link building, reputation management, and content creation. You should not need to worry about the citation profile again unless your information changes (such as moving locations, changing your telephone number, or altering your website domain). After reading this article, the most important key point to take with you is that business websites need local citations to improve their overall rankings on local search or local SEO. Houston SEO professionals are here to help you with your local SEO, all you have to do is call us today at (888) 439-4224. Visit our Houston SEO blog for more related content.
As you work to choose the proper SEO firm for your online marketing needs, you ought to remember a couple of points. The first of these is to focus on your desired online campaign and the second is to contemplate budgetary factors. Lots of people have the impression that a Houston SEO firm would be cost prohibitive. But, the fact is that numerous, well-qualified firms are priced very competitively, making them affordable to most everyone. Remaining mindful of these points can ensure that you are able to enlist the aid of an SEO firm able to make a real difference in your online campaign success.
One of the advantages of working with a Houston-based SEO company is that they are familiar with the local area. This will help them more effectively market your business online. Because they already have a good idea of how people in the Houston area use the Internet to search for products and services, they can optimize your site to improve your chances of connecting with a local audience. They can also conduct extensive research to find out what keywords people in your neighborhood are using to search for products or services in your industry. Again, this will allow them to laser-target your optimization strategy so that your site reaches the intended audience.
Here is a short story about how this industry will be such a great place to be right now. This all happened on a Friday before the SMX West was launched. I had the pleasure of hosting a last-minute conference session with fellow moderators Matt Van Wagner and Brad Geddes. The previous night we were wondering if we would spend the session talking amongst ourselves, but at 7:55 on the following morning the conference hall filled and we were the center of a lively discussion filled with important questions and tips, you can hear parts of the conference in this podcast. Sometime after the conference, I learned that an important project manager from Google had also arrived to hear about feedback. The feedback showed that over 100 people had risen early to talk shop and cross-cultivate many ideas a true testament to the nature of this important industry.
Some Things Google Maps SEO Can Do For a Small Business