What are Digital Citations and How Do They Impact Your SEO?
Digital citations are critical to ranking local SEO and helping customers find your business online. But what are they?
What are Digital Citations?
Digital citations are mentions of your business on the internet. This can include your business name, address, and phone number. These citations help search engines like Google verify that your business is legitimate and play a role in local SEO.
How Do Digital Citations Impact Your SEO?
Digital sources can impact your SEO in several ways. First, they help search engines verify your business’s legitimacy. This is especially important if you’re a new business or recently moved locations. Second, digital sources can help improve your local Search Engine Optimization. This is because when customers search for businesses in their area, search engines consider the company’s number of references. The more citations you have, the more likely you appear in local search results.
There are two types of digital citations: structured and unstructured. Structured citations include directories like Yelp and Google My Business, while unstructured citations can be things like mentions in blog posts or news articles. Both are important for your SEO efforts.
Citations help search engines verify that your business is legitimate, and they also help boost your SEO efforts. The more high-quality sources you have from authority sites, the better. Not only will this improve your chances of ranking in local search results, it will also help drive traffic to your website.
To start building citations for your business, create a list of all the directory listings, social media profiles, and review sites where your business is listed. Then, claim or create profiles on each site and ensure your NAP information is accurate and up-to-date.
If you’re not sure where to start, check out these local citation resources:
– Moz’s Local Citation Finder
– Whitespark’s Local Citation Finder
– Yext’s PowerListings Network
Building citations can be time-consuming, but it’s well worth the effort. By taking the time to build high-quality sources, you’ll improve your chances of ranking in local search results and driving traffic to your website.
If you have inconsistencies in your Digital sources, it can hurt your SEO efforts. So it’s essential to take the time to get them right.
There are a few other things to keep in mind regarding Digital Citations:
Include NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) information on your website- There are a few other things to remember regarding Digital Citations: First, include NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) information on your website. It’s also essential to ensure that this information is consistent across all platforms. This way, when customers are looking for your business online, they’ll be able to find accurate and up-to-date contact information regardless of where they look. And be consistent across all citations.
Make sure your business hours are up to date and correct- Most people looking for a business will quickly search online to see when it’s open. If your hours aren’t up to date, you could be frustrating potential customers who assume you’re closed when you’re available. Likewise, you could miss out on business if your hours are incorrect. Make sure to double-check your hours and update them if necessary.
Add photos and videos of your business/services- adding pictures and videos of your business/services can be a great way to show potential customers what you have to offer. People are visual creatures, so seeing pictures and videos of your products or services can be a great way to get their attention and interest. Additionally, it can help to give potential customers a better sense of what you do and how you do it.
Include links to your social media pages- When creating digital content, it’s important to include links to your social media pages. This allows people to find your work more efficiently and helps build your online presence. In addition, be sure to include a link back to your website or blog. This will help people to find your work, and it will also help to increase traffic to your site.
Encourage customers to leave reviews on popular sites- It’s essential to encourage them to leave reviews on popular sites, such as Google or Yelp. Customer reviews can improve your business’s digital footprint and make it more visible online.
By following these tips, you can ensure that your Digital Sources are working for you and not against you. If you need help getting started, contact a digital marketing agency like ours. We can help you create a plan to get more Digital Citations and improve your SEO.