In this week’s episode, we talk about citations and their influence on Local SEO. While they’re not as important as they used to be, citations are still a foundational signal to Google’s local algorithm. Watch the video to find out why it’s important that you get them right.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Welcome back to another episode of Local Search Tuesdays. This week I’m continuing my little mini series on signals that influence Local SEO, and today, we’re talking about citations
Citations are mentions of your business’ NAP – name, address, and phone number – on other websites. And, they’re really not a weighted signal any more, so there’s honestly not much to worry about with citations any more.
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Ok, just kidding, there’s a bit more to talk about.
Most people equate citations with directory sites – those are what’s called structured citations. You can also have unstructured citations, which are mentions of your NAP in a long form piece of content like a blog post or news article.
Citations used to be much more weighted in Google’s algorithm. As the algorithm has evolved and gotten smarter, citations have become less important.
Here’s a graphic that shows the citation ecosystem – the sites up top are the major data aggregators, that then feed citation info down to second and third tier sites. Google’s algorithm used to want to see exactly the same info listed on every site, but it’s much less strict than it used to be now.
In fact, citations are really just a foundational signal now – for new businesses, you want to be sure you’re listed on the important sites, and for businesses that have existed for a while, you want to be sure you’re listed correctly on the important sites – but it’s not like the old days where you need to crank out hundreds of citations, or even continue to try to add new ones every month.
Really, all you need to worry about are the sites that potential customers might find your information on. Do a Google search for your business name, and make sure you’re listed correctly on any site that shows in the first 2 or 3 pages of search results.
That’s really about it – make sure you’re listed correctly on the important sites, and then move on to the other Local SEO signals areas that will make more of a difference in your visibility in searches.
So that’s it for this week’s video, and you know what that means
Put your hand on the screen right here
We totally just high-fived ‘cause you learned something awesome.
Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you again next week for another episode of Local Search Tuesdays.
