Citation building for local SEO is an integral aspect of any local SEO effort. Including this in your local SEO plan is critical since it helps Google notice you, allowing you to rank higher in search engine results.

Additionally, it is one of the most effective methods for increasing website traffic. You will be able to increase sales and achieve a higher search engine ranking with the right citations. Using this powerful strategy, you can also make your brand more known.

If you want to have something that can truly help you launch your business into the top positions of the local search results, citation building for local SEO is the best way to do it.

What is Citation Building?

Citation building is the process of linking to your website from other websites. It is a great way to increase your search engine visibility. If you are looking to increase your organic traffic, then you need to start building references on your website.

Moreover, citation building is one of the web’s most effective but least understood link building methods. Although it takes time, this could be a good option for your business if it is having trouble ranking for competitive keywords.

Tips on Citation Building for Local SEO

Citation building may not seem like a fast way to create backlinks, but if you build citations correctly, using all of these tips below, you will begin to see an impact in the search engines performance within a short period of time.

1. Keep a record of your citations.

Since citations are related to your local business, it’s best to keep a record of them for your own needs.It’s not enough to simply create citations and information about your business online.

You have to ensure that all of this is being done consistently and in a way that you can track for the future. In turn, this will ensure that you have a more effective strategy when it comes to creating backlinks for local SEO. 

2. Build citations all at once.

The fact of the matter is that it won’t matter how optimized your website is if you can’t get anyone to visit. Your local SEO strategy needs to be multifaceted with every aspect playing off of each other.

Every citation or link back to your site helps push you up in the SERPs and ultimately will lead your business to success on the internet. Since citation building is all about driving traffic to your website, what you need is to develop several citation networks all at once.

3. Citations should be built on Tier 1, Tier 1.5 and Tier 2 directories.

Some will say that backlinks are everything when it comes to local SEO. This should not be the end all  for your local SEO campaign, but this still does not mean you should ignore it.

If you plan on using citation building as a part of your strategy, it is important that you use citations for your Tier 2 and Tier 1.5 links. You can try using local directories in your Tier 1 links but make sure the reputation of said directory is solid and you do not see any spammy backlink patterns in it.

4. NAP Consistency is essential to citation building.

Citation building is an integral part of local SEO and NAP consistency is critical. For some, this can be a real challenge, but the key to success here is a consistent and accurate NAP presence across your online presence, whether it’s your website, Yelp page, Facebook page, etc.

Locally-targeted citations are an opportunity for local businesses to get their NAP information out to potential customers and search engines.

5. Make sure you are utilizing the best tools.

By utilizing tools like Moz’s Open Site Explorer and Google Webmaster Tools to conduct SEO research, you can easily identify additional local citation opportunities. By targeting industry-leading sites, you can build lasting, quality backlinks that will benefit your local business for years.

6. Secure a recommendation from a local directory.

The best backlink you can get for your business is an actual recommendation from a local directory. If the owner of the website even recognizes your site, that makes it a whole lot easier to convince them to put in a good word for your business.

If you manage to actually secure this type of connection, you can be pretty certain that you’ll see a major spike in web traffic soon after. The easiest way to pull this off is by using citation building techniques on well-known sites with lots of traffic.

7. Focus on building quality citations.

Remember to always focus on quality vs. quantity when trying to build links. You don’t want to sacrifice your personal reputation by linking out indiscriminately. Not only that, but bad backlinks will almost certainly get this strategy banned from Search Console.

4 Quick Backlinking Tips

Backlinks are links from external sources, such as another website, that point back to your website. They show Google your site is important because people are taking the time to link back to it. Google likes that and rewards sites with good backlinks by ranking them higher in the search engines.

Here are some suggestions to help you boost your backlinking efforts.

1. Place a link back to your website on the page of a website that ranks well for your keywords. You can also use web directories like Yahoo! Directory and Dmoz.

2. Find a place on another website’s page to put a link back to your own website. You can link from reviews, blog comments, and even from the anchor text in blog posts.

3. Ask for permission from high-ranking websites to include them in your site’s footer or sidebar.

4. Create guest posts on other high-ranking websites, which will help build links from the article’s anchor text back to your own website.

Overall, citation building is a key component of local SEO, but it’s also crucial to understand that it won’t provide you an advantage in Google’s search results unless you combine it with link building strategies or website optimization techniques.

Eventually, whether you are an executive or a business owner, you most likely want to gain more customers. Creating good citations will help your local search results and encourage people to view your business as an authority on certain topics.

For this reason, your citation building efforts may ultimately be beneficial for your long-term SEO strategy.

For more help regarding citations for local SEO, follow our page for more upcoming blogs that will be published soon.