When you look at the local search results, you can notice that citations play one of the major marketing roles. As a valuable part of every SEO strategy for any business, they can easily help you rank higher. Also, the straightforward and accurate information citations provide, help customers find what they need. At the same time, it increases the trust they have in local businesses. Eventually, this boosts the reputation businesses have, and potentially lead to a greater number of customers. We can argue about which are the industries where local citations are necessary the most. But we can agree that they are needed for almost every industry with an online presence.
Local citations are necessary for the majority of industries
If your business is visible online, it’s clear that local citations are absolutely necessary. But, sometimes it’s hard to assume the optimal quantity of citations your business will need. Of course, even the small number will help, but in industries with high competitiveness, you might want to consider more. In fact, if you look at top players and the number of citations they have, it’s always more than 80, on average.
Generally, that amount requires a lot of time and effort to accomplish, so you probably want to consider finding citations professionals to help you. Because, in the end, the quantity is not the only factor that determines your ranking. There is also a quality and constant maintenance of accurate data you need to provide. Especially if your business includes numerous events and other happenings.
Industries with the highest and the lowest numbers
Not all industries require a high amount of citations, at the moment, to be competitive with others. Actually, the number of required citations per industry is a relative term. For some, high will be anything more than 40 citations, while for others that number can go as high as 90. To decide which group your business belong to, here are some industries with the most citations:
- Hotels
- Bed and breakfasts (or B&Bs)
- Bars
- Pubs
- Restaurants
- Dentists
- Senior living
- Local stores
- Beauty services
- Pet services
- Car dealerships
On the other side, of the large spectrum, you can find:
- Photography services
- Tradesmen
- Storage and relocation
- Accountancy and finance
- Cleaning services
- Landscaping
But, this only shows sheer numbers overall. To have a better understanding of how many citations you need, take a closer look at your competitors. Check what they do, where they get citations, and how regularly they update and maintain information.
How local citations help increase your business visibility
Local citations can be any mention of your business online, so it’s important to have consistent citations. Usually, that set of information is called a NAP. It stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. However, it can include additional information like a website address (NAPW), and/or URL (UNAP).
Since they appear on numerous local directories, different business listings, and other websites, they spread information about your business to users. Or, should we say, potential clients. And when someone is looking for a specific service or product, through these listings, they will know exactly who to contact and where to go. Additionally, Google uses these mentions to evaluate your credibility and decide where you should rank in search results. In the end, this makes citations an essential part of every Local SEO strategy planning.
The major quality sources in the US
From major search engines to large data aggregators, there are numerous citation sources you can find. Some of the most popular are:
- Google My Business
- Bing places
- Yelp
- Manta
- Apple maps
- Foursquare
- Yahoo local
- BBB (Better Busines Beaurou)
- Yellowpages
- and many other
There are also many local sources like government websites, local business networks, and various city-specific sources.
Examples of industries where local citations are necessary
There are too many industries to fit any list. That’s why here you will find some of them where it’s absolutely necessary to include citations in your overall strategy.
Photography services
If you are into the photography business, it would be a shame not to invest in building local citations. Mostly because it’s the industry where you need the least amount of citations to make an actual impact on ranking. With just a little investment you can quickly increase your business visibility.
Storage and relocation industry
This is an interesting industry to invest in citations. Even though there are many companies operating in the US, you can still be among the top companies in your area. With good local SEO, you can easily bring your business closer to potential customers.
Tradesmen service
In general, it will depend on the type of service and products you are offering. However, with a good citation strategy, you can quickly find your targeted audience. Especially since this industry accounts for so many different types of businesses.
Cleaning services
The cleaning industry has numerous companies that deal with domestic and industrial cleaning. If you want to spread the word about your business, citations will be worth considering.
Hotels
The hotel industry is one of those highly competitive industries. Simply put, you absolutely need citations if you want people to know you even exist. Especially since most potential clients are looking for a quick way to find information like address and phone number.
Bars and Pubs
To stand above the competition, you need an effective way to show your location and your offer to as many people as you can. Since you can’t expect that everyone knows your website, citations are an excellent way to say “I am here, and I offer this”.
Restaurants
Regular local consumers probably know you exist. But, if you want to attract more people, you need a way to represent your restaurant to those who pass by. This, in general, includes tourists, travelers, and similar nonresidents. In a rush, everyone needs a quick way to find a decent meal. Local citations provide exactly that type of information.
Beauty and other cosmetics
From general beauty salons to other more specific services like haircutting or spa, all of them profit from quality citations. First, the competition is huge. Second, people need these services “here and now”. So, they want to type in haircutting and immediately find a place to do it. With citations, they get to choose the closest ones.
Pet services
A lot of people have pets today. For them, it’s imperative to know where they can find food and other services for their precious pets. If you are into this industry, you can significantly increase your profit if more people know where to find you. That’s why local citations are crucial for those in this industry.
In general, if you are doing any business, you certainly belong to some of the industries where local citations are necessary. In other words, local citations are important everywhere. For any type of business that has a website, or is, in one way or another, present online.
