Irrespective of the business you are into, the first thing that you need if you are foraying into the digital space is, “Website.” A website is your official identity in the digital space. It’s like your office on ground. Just like you need to have an office at a location that is accessible and identifiable, similarly, your website must be identifiable and should attract the traffic of an audience who later would get converted into your client.
So how do you build traction to your website??? The answer is, with the help of a local citation service.
What is a local citation service??
In simple terms, local citation means getting a mention about your webiste including your business name, address and contact outside your homepage i.e. on another website.
Citations can be done in two types:
- Structure citation wherein your business is mentioned on online business directories that hold details of various other businesses.
- Unstructured citation on the other hand means getting your website mentioned on other legitimate website, blogs or social media platforms.
Irrespective of the business type, local citation of both types must be explored.
How do we do local citation????
Many of you may think, you can create local citation by yourself. Thanks to Google maps and other self-managed apps. But in real, for effective local citation, you need to have professional support. That’s where your local citation service providers come to your rescue.
Wondering how these agencies would help??? So here is a look at how local citations service boost your website traffic:
- A local citation is done based on how you are geographically placed. For example, if you are a vegan restaurant, a local citation provider would focus on targetting your business visible to the audience nearly 10Kms in a radius of your restaurant. This results in focused marketing which in turn increases that you are the first name to pop-up on the internet if anyone is looking for a vegan restaurant in that area.
- Just like offline publicity, online marketing is also a combination of organic and paid promotions. And when we speak of organic promotions, these local citations prove to be a great source of organic, credible and targetted promotion.
- As part of the unstructured citation, these service providers identify other avenues like blogs, social media handles are best suitable for your business. These outside pages and handles are then approached to tag or mention your page/handle to route audience to your digital identity. These service providers have a list of trustworthy sites and handles that are safe and effective to associate with.
- Last but the most important aspect that local citation service providers help with is, Google reviews. We all know, how important are google reviews. Reviews play a great role in an online client’s decision making. Having effective citations increases your visibility on Google search resulting in also showing up in the Google reviews and feedbacks. This not only improves your online presence but also adds credibility to your brand.
Thus, after seeing the above benefits, you must be clear that hiring a local citation service provider is definitely a boon to your business. But how to make an effective citation??? There are so many in the market who promise great service and visibility??? So, here is a checklist that will help you know what all you need to remember when you opt for local citation:
- Name it right: The effectiveness of the citation is a two way process. First is you need to choose the right websites and directories to link yourself. Therefore, do a simple research on the websites that are good for citation.
- Fill it right: Once you found them, fill in all the necessary information clearly. In other words, ensure that you provide the details of: business name, address including landmarks, contact number, what do you offer, operating time, weekly holiday and other additional services that you offer. For example if you are a restaurant: mention your name, address, specialities like are you a multi-cuisine, or vegan, and if you provide home delivery or catering etc.
- maintain it well: Google loves to know deep about you. Therefore, while doing citation back up the data with as many pictures and recommendations as possible. Don’t forget to keep updating the reviews and feedbacks.
- Try it out: Once you are done getting mentions in the targeted websites and blogs, try visiting these domains as an audience and check whether the backlinks/mentions are routing to your website or social media handles. This will ensure that all backlinks are right and achieving the purpose.
- keep cleaning: Just like you must add positive reviews, another aspect of citation is to clean your digital presence. Firstly, try to respond to negative comments or complaints. Secondly, review the backlinks every month to see that they exist. Some websites after sometime de-link.
With these pointers, you are all set to get your perfect local citation.
