When assigning a rank to a website, Search Engines consider hundreds of mix-matched factors that come together to create their unique ranking algorithms. Thought to be among the most important of all ranking factors is the number of quality inbound links, however more and more people feel that local citations are just as important regardless of if they provide a link or not.
What is a local citation?
In our past blog articles we have mentioned how businesses can increase their local presence pertaining to Google Places and Bing Business Portal, however these are only two of the sites often used for acquiring local citations. A local citation or web reference is when another website mentions a business and its contact information, this can occur with or without a link to the business’s website.
from http://www.Yelp.com, June 2011
Why local citations are important:
Why are local citations growing more popular? Local citations have become one of the most recommended off site SEO methods to increase a webrank. It is thought that when it comes to local search, the ranking algorithm changes and assign more value to citations from trusted sources rather than other inbound links. Citations or business mentions are a great way to produce more online visibility for a business and can also help search engines know your business better. Although local citations do not always provide a link, they continue to help grow the reputation of a business within the community and the search engines.
Where to look:
Search engines like Google scan the Internet frequently to analyze and index websites. As a business collects more citations, the more exposure it gains and the higher it can rank. Missing out on local citations from a trusted sites or poorly optimizing your site locally is a sure fire way to quickly fall behind your competition. There are plenty of Local citations to be claimed and there are many places you can find them. The following is a quick list of sources to help you can find your local citations.
- Major Search Engines:
Local citations can be obtained on major search engines by creating or registering your business listing. Bing Business Portal, Google Places, and Yahoo Local are the best places to start.
- Local or Second Tier Search Engines:
Along with the major search engines there is also a ton of second tier and localized search engines that provide business citations. Yelp, YellowPages, Superpages, InsiderPages, Localeze, CitySearch, InfoUSA, and iBegin are just a few of these types of websites.
- Local Blogs and Directories:
A business can also collect citations by taking part in the neighborhood blogs that feature local companies, area business directories, or industry related forums. Local business or regional directories like Best of the Web’s Regional Directory and Yahoo’s Regional Directory can also provide local business citations.
- Article Directories:
Businesses can easily create a local citation by incorporating their address and business name on the articles that they submit to article directories.
- Social Networking Sites:
One of the best resources for local citations is social media. Most social networking sites let users create business profiles which make them a popular place to list a business. Creating a business profile on a social networking site not only supplies customers and search engines with your business information but it also leads to large amounts of traffic or link value. Sites like FourSquare, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg, Squidoo, and Delicious are just some of the many social media sites that provide these opportunities for local citations.
- Follow your Competitors:
If you are still having trouble locating local citations you can always look at your competitor’s portfolio. Performing competitive research can provide you with a ton of sources to obtain links and citations from. The Local Citation Finder is just one of the many tools on the Internet created to find competitor citations.
These are just a few recommendations to get you started on building your local citation portfolio. For more citation sources visit 20 SEO Local Citation Sources. Good Luck!
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
Tags: business, business listing, citation, local, Local Business, local citation, page rank, search engine
