A citation is a reference that tells your readers about the original source of your work whether published or unpublished. Its purpose is to give credit to the author and acknowledge the relevance of your work to the original topic of discussion including information about the company name, its address and phone address (NAP), information about author, title of work, date of publication and much more. A perfect example of a complete citation found in a website blog includes the URL, author(s), article and publication title as well as the date when the website was accessed. A citation can also be an online reference of your local business on other webpages like google.com, yelp.com or yellowpages.com which also includes your business information like name, address and phone number. A mention of a phone number alone can be considered as a partial citation.

There are two strong points why citation matters. One is to avoid plagiarism and the other is its use in local SEO rankings. Citations improve your online visibility, increase web traffic to your site and will help you rank higher on local search engines than those businesses with lesser citations or those that was hardly mentioned at all. Updated and accurate business information (NAP) on all business places where you are listed is a must to confirm that your business is legitimate and will leave a good impression. The more your business is visible to citations similar to directories, social media sites and forums, the greater the chance of people seeing it and the higher is the probability that people will get in touch with you. Other sources of SEO rankings in Santa Monica can be from local blogs, local search engines, question and answer sites, industry-focused blogs or directories, profile pages, locally focused directories, etc. Every time people try to use search engines to look up for you, the more favorable that citations will be as it will lead you more customers. Citations, which is seen in respected and highly regarded websites, will help your Santa Monica business build public trust and drive more customers compared to just being listed on a 50+ low-grade sites.

Need other SEO tips to grow your Santa Monica business locally? Give us a call at 1(888) 375-3058 and receive free online reports for your business today.

 

Source:
Why Citations Are Important to the Success of Your Local Business – moz.com
The Importance of Local Business Citations – bigfin.com