Building a strong online presence is essential for any company looking to sell products or services over the internet. That is where hiring a professional hyper-local citation service can be of great help. But before you do that, here’s what you should know about these citations.
What is a Local Citation?
When you see the mention of your company online, that is considered a local citation. A citation can contain various details, including:
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Business name
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Phone number
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E-mail or physical address
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Website
You can combine other elements if necessary. The general rule of thumb is the more, the better, but you should make sure that potential customers have at least basic information on how they will reach your company.
Most experts stick to the NAP approach, which secures that your name, address, and phone show up in a citation.
What is the Difference Between Citations and Links?
The SEO community has been using the term citation for business mentions to establish a difference with web links. In practice, the difference is noticeable – a citation doesn’t need to have a backlink to your landing page to be considered valuable. It is the mention of your company that matters and gives your online reputation a boost.
Search engines have the power to identify your company was mentioned, and they can even recognize what type of info was provided. That is why it is important to mention other details apart from the company name to get credit. The general rule is that the more mentions you can secure the better.
You are encouraged to pursue citations that will contain a backlink to your site. Those citations have extra value, but even if they don’t have a link, your online presence will still benefit from them.
What are the Two Common Citation Types?
Your citations can be either structured or unstructured. If you want to list your company in a business listing directory, the chances are the citation will be structured. The biggest websites that allow structured citations include Yellowpages, Yelp, MapQuest, Superpages, and so on. In short, a structured citation will have separate lines for the company name, phone, address, and other information.
On the other hand, an unstructured citation will also provide all this information, but it will be listed within text on the page. You can often encounter while reading blogs or magazine websites.
Why Should You Use Citations?
We have now reached the crucial point – why do you even need citations? First of all, they are vital for your local SEO and will enable potential clients to find your website more accessible than before.
Aside from that, you will establish trust with the customers. The fact that accurate information about your company appears in local business listings is an indicator for the client that you are a company that is legit and can be trusted.
Finally, hyperlocal citations can help you to boost your reputation with the major search engines. The math is simple – if you have 200 mentions and your rival only has 20, your company will be placed higher in search results.
Sa pagkaintindi ko dito sa binasa ko momi Berlin, is this also the way, or basis, or procedure para ma verify ang isang page.. yung may blue check na badge sa tabi ng page name.