Are Citations Important?

2 min read

No doubt you’re familiar with the word citation. Most people think of citations in terms of referencing published work. A citation can be a quote or reference appearing in a relevant article, for instance. Few would think of citations having any relevance to websites or businesses.

However, if you own a business and you’re looking for more traffic and customers, citations can influence how successful you are in achieving those goals. In this context, a citation contains three things:

  1. The name of your business
  2. The address of your business
  3. The phone number used to reach your business

You might see information about NAP citations online too. NAP stands for name, address, and phone number.

Is it important to get citations online?

Yes, if you want your business to rank well in local SEO terms. Let’s say you own a bakery with premises on the local high street. Your website should show your business name and the address and phone number for those premises.

However, you should get your NAP citation in as many places as you can to make sure more people can find you. This means adding it to other websites. Google uses this information and determines how many citations your business has when considering which local business results to show. Those looking for a bakery in your area (or whatever business you own) are more likely to see your business appear in the results if Google has found lots of citations online to support that.

Where can you add citations for your business?

The most obvious place to begin is on social media sites. Make sure your business details on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and so on are up to date and accurate. Think about other possibilities too, such as local business directories. Some business owners also write guest posts for relevant sites, including their NAP citation at the foot of the post.

The good news is you don’t need to link your details to your website to get the benefit of citations. Simply having the correct information available in various appropriate places is enough. Google will consider how many citations it can find for your business. The more you have, the better the odds of turning up in a better position in the search engine results.

One final point – if any of your business details change, make sure your NAP citations are updated as quickly as possible. This will ensure you continue to perform well in the search engine results.

If you need any assistance with your citations, please get in touch.