Google Map citations include information about your business. That information is publicly available online and it includes your company name, address, city, state, zip code, and website. Search engines utilize your company citations to check the reliability and relevancy of your business. They often exist in directories and other internet resources. Now that we know what Google Map citations are, let’s see why NAP consistency is important. Moreover, we will go over why the NAP consistency of Google Map Citations is crucial. Our experts here at AZ Citation Services researched this topic to make it simpler for you.
Why does NAP Consistency Google Map Citations matter?
Consistency of local citations is very important. Google evaluates your citations based solely on the quality of the entire portfolio. Also, if you have a citation portfolio full of inconsistent NAPs, your portfolio’s authority will dramatically decline. The more consistent your citations are in your portfolio, the more you can focus on your local search rankings. That is why NAP consistency is a very important part of every SEO strategy.
Local SEO Citations
Citations that are posted to the web to increase a business’s rankings in local search results are called Local SEO citations. They also help reinforce the soundness of the location of a business. What is a local SEO citation then?
Google local search results and Google Map citations are similar in many ways. In other words, a business creates Google Maps citations to increase the NAPs and authority of their business throughout the internet. So, if you are creating Google Maps citations to improve your rankings in local search results, you are essentially building local SEO citations.
Citation Portfolio
A citation portfolio is a list of all web-published citations for your company. If you have 300 citations published for your company on 300 different websites and directories, your citation portfolio is made up of these citations. This is very similar to a stock portfolio that has shares from 300 different companies.
Schema
Schema language is a structural standard that Google, Yahoo, and Bing use. Identifications of certain datasets inside web pages are simplified by Schema. The Schema language offers direct data that increases crucial data sets within websites. When it comes to local SEO, direct data is very important.
In the case of local SEO campaigns, direct data would include data such as your NAP — your company’s name, address, and phone number. Depending on your industry, there are several different Schema or direct data sets that you can use in your web pages. For example, if you are a coffee distributor, your website and local SEO approach should use direct data sets designed exclusively for cafes, which you can find on the Schema website.
The impact of Google Map Citations for local search rankings
Citations are just one piece of the local search algorithm’s overall puzzle. Because you can control the generation and distribution of your citations, any local SEO agency or consultant worthy of them would advise you to focus on building an authoritative portfolio.
The more citations you have in your portfolio, and the more relevant they are to your location and type of business, the more authority you have over Google’s Business Pages over your competition. And the relative authority your Google business page has, the higher your local business will rank for targeted keyword phrases.
It is critical to understand that citations alone will not guarantee you a top ranking in local search results. There are several more elements to consider when developing a local SEO strategy.
The volume of Google Map Citations
The total number of times your NAP is found on websites is called the volume of citations. Each distinct domain corresponds to a single instance of your local company citation. If your business has citations on Yelp, YP, and Best of the Web, you have three total citations in your citation portfolio. One important factor in the quality of your citations is the NAP Consistency of Google Map Citations.
There are several tools available to help you raise the number of citations, including Moz Local and Yext. However these programs will help you get into mainstream directories in a pretty automatic manner, but they will not assist you in getting into hyperlocal directories. Using one of these automatic techniques to achieve citation volume distribution is unquestionably the simplest route to take.
Citations are virtually the same as backlinks in organic SEO when it comes to local SEO. Improving the authority and volume of your portfolio is one of the most effective techniques to boost your ranks in Google local search results.
Authority of sources
Your local SEO citations authority is talking about the quality and authority of the website or directory where your quote is posted. Yelp is an authority site connected to citations because it displays a PR7 – Page Rank of 7 on its homepage.
However, remember your competitors will probably be on Yelp too. It means that being cited on this site, while authoritative, does not necessarily distinguish you from your competition. That is where hyper-local directories step in
Hyper-local directories are your best friend in this field. They can give your local ranking a big boost. Having published quotes in the consumer directory is almost one, but hyper-local directories can help boost your relevancy to the level that will exceed your competitors.
Relevance of sources
The relevance of your citation source depends on your location and type of business. For example, if you are a coffee shop in NYC, the most relevant citations regarding your business will be found in directories dedicated to NYC coffee shops. Finding hyperlocal directories like these can be difficult, so you will need to do some research. But the time and effort are worth it, as highly relevant citation sources can boost your local rankings. It is important to know the difference between good and bad citations. That way your SEO strategy will be successful.
Citation link building
Citation link building is all about including your website URL as part of your citation. When you create a citation for your business that includes a URL, you are entering the citation link-building process. When doing any type of citation link building, especially Google Map Citations, you need to put extra attention into the NAP consistency. Some people argue that citation link building is not a link-building strategy. However, citation link building is very useful. If done right it is a great way to build a huge amount of authority on your site. Domain authority is a common term for this activity.
