Local Citations

Local citations are mentions of our business, usually in the form of the name, address, and phone (NAP), on sites other than our own. These sites can be online business directories, blogs, websites, or social platforms. Sometimes, the complete NAP may not be displayed. If only the business name appears, that’s also a citation. Sometimes, our website may also appear in the mention alongside the name, address and phone (NAP+W), but it’s not a necessity. A link to our website can give us additional SEO benefits.

According to Moz, citations add 10.82% to the Local Pack ranking signals. Other than being an important ranking factor, citations put our brand in front of more people. Those who are searching for businesses in directories instead of Google, for instance, should also be able to find our business. Make sure that the NAP is consistent for all the citations that we build.

Citations can be of two types: structured citations and unstructured citations.

Structured citations

Structured citations are citations of our business on websites that are specifically designed to display a directory of local businesses. These websites are typically online business directories and social platforms. Our business information appears in a structured format in the form of NAP or NAP-W.

Here’s what a structured citation looks like: