A Brief Guide To Google Map Citations

Over the years, Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) have evolved. Initially, if you wished to appear at the top of these pages, you would have to optimize your site to rank high up in the organic results. The introduction of Pay Per Click adverts changed this, and search engines would often give prominence to these paid ads. It hasn’t been long since Google added results to their particular Maps section. That means that if you don’t appear on Google Maps and you aren’t using AdWords, regardless if you’re at position 1 in the natural results, you might realize that there are 6 or 7 other businesses that a prospective customer would see before they get to your listing.

Read on to know what Google Map Citations are and how to use them to improve your local search rankings.

Google Map Citations

A citation is a mention of your company name on a website. Typically, a citation comes with other information commonly known as NAP – Name, Address, Phone No. Consistent business listings are a must, and maintaining data accuracy is essential, which means that your citations should have the same details throughout the web.

How Does Your Local Search Rankings Improve with Google Map Citations?

Generally speaking, citations are a small section of the local search algorithm. Since you can control the creation and distribution of your specific citations, a reliable local SEO consultant will advise you to pay much attention to developing an authoritative citation portfolio.

If your portfolio has more citations and the more relevant you are to your business category and location, the more authority you’ll be bringing to your Google business page, in comparison to your competitors. Comparatively, the more authority your particular Google business page has, the higher your local business will appear for certain targeted keyword phrases.

In other words, citations are useful in ranking your Google My Business listing by providing the search engine with valuable sources of information regarding your organization. With such data, Google can then validate the existence of your business and the accuracy of what you have said by collaborating information from various sources.

After Google crawls information concerning your business on directories and websites, it can be much confident that the details are correct if all the details it finds are the same. As a result, Google will most probably display your business listing whenever a user performs a search for the types of services and products you offer. Essentially, you require a bigger amount of quality citations if you want to appear above your other competitors on local search.

How Do You Know and Obtain Good Citation?

NAP!! Name, Address, and Phone should be consistent in all your listings and should match your Google Business page’s information. Including a short description defining what you do is useful and can assist if a user searches for services you offer.

If you own a business that would gain from appearing high in local search, then it’s worth the effort and time you took in researching and publishing your details online. If your budget allows, alternatively, you might consider outsourcing the job to an SEO specialist.

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