Why do local citations matter?

1. Impacts Search Engine Rankings
The number of citations a local business has under its belt, its accuracy and the quality of platform they exist on can negatively or positively affect search engine rankings of a local business. Google and other search engines keep a constant check on these citations for their accuracy and consistency across the world wide web and if any inaccuracy or inconsistency is found in these citations, you may see your search engine rankings tumble down. On the flip side, if your citations are consistent, accurate, are present on popular platforms and provide a handful of useful information about your local business, you may see a fair increase in your search engine rankings as you will build trust with Google for providing regular accurate information about your business.2. Impacts Customers
Inaccurate or inconsistent business information in local citations upsets customers the same way it upsets search engines. Citations help people get their hands on relevant contact information about a local business and an address which they can go to if need be. And if even that information is mentioned incorrectly in a citation, it may lead to loss of reputation, trust, and revenue for your business.What are the types of local citations?
Depending on the various platforms local business citations are submitted on, it can be of 3 types -1. Major Local Business Data Platforms
Marketers or local business owners can choose to submit their business citation on data platforms that strive to publish this kind of data. Creating business listings on platforms like Google My Business, Facebook Business Pages and Yelp should be your top priority as they are really popular and can generate a nice flow of traffic coming to your local business.2. Industry Specific Platforms
Apart from listing your local business on the major local business data platforms that cater to all the industries, you can opt for a more industry-specific approach by building local business listings on websites that are specific to an industry or geographic location.3. World Wide Web
Various publications, blogs, news sites, maps, apps and government databases can serve as an important local business listing platforms. You can intentionally develop citations from these platforms or simply earn them by providing valuable information.How to submit your local business citation?

- Business name/title
- Address
- Phone number
- Website URL
- Categories
- Description
- Tagline
- Social profiles
- Images
- Additional media
- Alternate phone numbers
- Fax number
- Certifications
- Brands Carried
- Payment forms accepted
- Attributes
1. Manual Approach
Creating a spreadsheet containing all the above-mentioned information about your business is fun but submitting the same information to 100 different business listing platforms is not, believe me! If you go for this approach, you have the power to choose the platforms you want to list your local business in. While it goes without saying, always choose the market leaders first and then go down the ladder.2. Automatic Approach
Not many business owners or marketers have that much time in hand to manually go submitting their local business to each individual business directory. Which gave rise to a more automatic approach. Service like Moz Local have mastered this and distributes your one-time business citation submission to high-quality business listing platforms and constantly monitor its health. Or you can choose us for your automatic local business SEO listing needs!Benefits of listing your local business in directories

1. Helps your Local Visibility
Listing your business in local directories gets your business in front of the local community searching for the services you provide. Local business directories have advanced filtering and tracking capabilities that connects your business with your target audience automatically.2. Effective Link-Building
Submitting your local business citation in a business directory creates a single high-quality backlink for your website. The more authoritative business listing platforms you target, the stronger your backlink portfolio will get and vice versa. Eventually, the more high authority business directories link back to you, higher will be your ranking in search engine result pages and higher will be the traffic coming to your website from these directories.3. Increases Brand Awareness
While searching through a directory, a prospective customer will see your brand even if he doesn’t click on it. Each and every encounter a person has with your business, whether favorable and unfavorable, increase their awareness and familiarity with your brand, warming them up for further engagement. I don’t see why a local business should not invest their time and efforts in creating a well-drafted citation and submitting it to various online local business directories…. It builds backlinks, increases brand awareness, acquaints your business with local customers, increases your search engine rankings, builds trust with Google, strengthens your business as a whole and enables your local business to get discovered by nearby customers leveraging the power of web. So, get started today with claiming, updating and creating your listings online!
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