Is Building Citations Still Important to Local SEO? | Vicinus.ai
The relevance of citations has been hotly debated in recent years. Some marketers believe them to be less important when it comes to local SEO, however other marketers believe them to be fundamental to building a relevant and strong local SEO strategy.
This means that focusing on citations alone won’t get you to the top search result in search engines, citations will certainly play a major factor in creating an effective SEO strategy.
Are Citations Still Relevant?
With many marketing agencies still offering help with citation-building, it is obvious from that fact alone that citations are certainly still relevant when it comes to building your local SEO strategy.
With citation management still remaining a major feature in many digital marketing companies, the impact of citations remains strong.
Do Citations Impact Search Rankings in Local SEO?
As briefly mentioned above, citations still play a part in determining your search ranking on search engines. This is because there is a large correlation between business ranking in the top ten results and the number (and accuracy!) of the citations they have.
Citations are the foundation of building a local SEO strategy and need to be not only large in number (approximately 80-100 is average for high-ranking businesses). But they also need to be both accurate and consistent too!
So, Does That Mean I Need Hundreds of Citations to Rank Highly?
No, not necessarily. Although more than 50 citations do positively impact a business ranking in search engines. However, it’s not necessary to have hundreds of citations for your business to rank well.
Although the number does vary depending on your business’s industry, it seems like approximately 81 citations are the correct amount to aim for.
Do My Citations Need to Be Consistent?
Yes! This is a major factor in determining the strength of your citations when it comes to local SEO. Having NAP (name, address, and phone number) data consistently across all of your citations puts your business in good stead to rank highly.
Vicinus can help with this. With Real-time management of all your locations from one easy-to-use platform, you can help customers find only up-to-date and consistent information about your brand.
What is the ROI (Return On Investment) of Citation Building for Local SEO?
Again, as mentioned above, although many factors work to influence ROI, citations do play a part in increasing the ROI of your citation building.
If you are optimising your citations, and using other factors in your local SEO strategy, ROI is usually positive. This is because most businesses don’t update their citations every single year. This means that ROI is even more compelling with a multi-year view.
What Else Should I Know About Citation Building?
If you would like to know more about the impact of citation building on your business, pop a comment below. One of our Hyperlocal Experts will get back to you as soon as possible.
Alternatively, contact us below!
