SEO CITATION

Local SEO (Local Search Engine Optimization), sometimes referred to as local search marketing,
is an incredibly effective way to market your local business online, as it helps businesses
promote their products and services to local customers at the exact time they're looking for
them online.A local citation is any online mention of the name, address, and phone number for
a local business. Citations can occur on local business directories, on websites and apps, and on
social platforms. Citations help Internet users to discover local businesses and can also impact
local search engine rankings. Simply put, citation building is a process of accruing mentions of
your business across the web on websites and local directories. Having such citations on
relevant or reputable websites will boost your credibility with Google and increase your search
ranking. The main difference between links and citations is that citations don't have to include a
hyperlink at all. An online article simply mentioning your company's name can be considered a
citation. Local SEO provides potential customers the information that they want, when they
want it. Even if your business does not have a website, local SEO helps your business stand out
in local searches, and helps drive more traffic through online leads.
Citations are basically useful for two main things:

 Ranking higher for local search queries (maybe).

 Helping people discover your business online.
So, why are citations important?
1. Improve Local Rankings:
Citations are considered a ranking factor for local SEO. Having your business listed in
trusted online directories sends signals to Google to improves their degree of certainty
that your business exists. The quantity of listings, the accuracy of your listings, and the
quality of the online directories can affect how Google perceives your online
presence.This is why it’s important to pick your citations wisely.

2. Piggy Back Page One Results:

Another underreported benefit of building citations is that some online business
directories dominate page one of local search. Sites like Yelp and YellowPages tend to
consistently rank high for most local searches. So if you can’t beat them, join them!
These online directories provide other opportunities to earn real estate on page one.

3. Earn Referral Traffic:

Many people are loyal to different citations, such as Yelp for restaurants. Many foodies
are trained to go to Yelp when looking for new restaurants before going to Google.
4. Grabs Customers Attention:
In this age of fierce competition, companies are looking at everything which can help
them pull ahead of the competition. While many of the companies ignore citations, they
can help you and your business a lot, bringing in more customers. Let’s just take a look
at citations and how they can help you.

5. Local Search Is Pretty Important:

- 50 percent of consumers who performed a local search on a smartphone visited a
store within 24 hours.
- 54 percent of Americans have substituted local search for phone books.

6. Conversions Are More Than Twice Likely After A Local Search:

A recent study found that unmanaged listings can cause your information to change
many, many times over the course of a year. Think of it this way: If you own a local
coffee shop, a consumer might search for “coffee shop” + location. If the search engine
displays two results for your business’s location but each result has a different set of
business hours, the consumer is probably going to move on to the next competitor in
the search results.