Local citations are any online references to a business's name, address, and telephone number (NAP). These mentions can be found in company directories, websites, and applications such as Yelp or Yellow Pages. In the business world, local citations are simply online listings of information about your company. They are an essential part of any SEO strategy as they help search engines trust the authenticity of your business and the accuracy of your information.
Unstructured citations are not as obvious to search engines as structured ones, but they still have value for local SEO. A local citation is any online mention of the partial or full name, address, and telephone number of a local business. It is important for local companies to control the accuracy of their data, so that inaccurate data is discovered and corrected, which prevents the loss of customers, the loss of revenues and any negative impact on local search rankings. Google's local algorithm analyzes your NAP information as a sign of relevance and proof that you're a legitimate local company and that, in fact, you're at the address listed in your Google My Business profile.
Therefore, the consistency of NAP citations is particularly important to enjoy the maximum SEO benefit of local citations. According to Search Engine Land columnist Myles Anderson, citation inconsistency is actually the number one problem affecting local SEO rankings. Moz Local extracts all the corresponding listings related to your website from the main local indexing platforms (lists of high-authority resources that will have the greatest impact) and shows any inconsistencies it finds. Although links are great, a local citation doesn't need to link to your company's website for it to have SEO advantages.
Increase your local SEO visibility with easy directory distribution, review management, listing updates, and more. In conclusion, local citations are an essential part of any successful SEO strategy. They help search engines trust the authenticity of your business and the accuracy of your information. It is important for businesses to control the accuracy of their data so that inaccurate data is discovered and corrected. Additionally, consistency in NAP citations is particularly important to enjoy maximum SEO benefit from local citations.
Finally, Moz Local extracts all corresponding listings related to your website from main local indexing platforms and shows any inconsistencies it finds.
