How Do Citations Help With Local SEO? {Updated}
The Importance of Building Local Citations for Local SEO
There has been a lot of talk about the importance of citations for local business. Many studies have shown that citations have a huge positive influence on site’s rankings in Google local search.
Citations are one of the top local search ranking factors these days. So, the big question is – how many citations do a businesses need to get to rank higher in local search? Let’s dig deeper into this question and take a closer look at the statistics.
Multiple studies find that businesses that rank high in local search results usually have at least 75 citations. According to the statistics, businesses with the highest number of citations tend to rank first on Google for local search.
Without a doubt, citations play a big role in local SEO. If people leave information about your business online, they can help you build trust and credibility with you customers. This would include things such as brand name, phone number or address. This is a lot of times referred to as the NAP – Name, Address and Phone.
On the other hand, citations serve as Google’s ranking signal. Citations provide search engines with the important information on business location and popularity. It’s clear that the more people mention your business in the Internet – the better! As a result, Google will reward your business and it will rank higher in local search.
If you’re curious about how your company’s citations appear, Finepoint Design will send you a FREE NAP report by filling out your NAP info.
Local Citations Meaning
Simply put Local Citations are where your company gets mentioned on other sites on the Internet. For the most part, they are listings on major directories and business listing sites. This includes sites like Facebook, Mapquest, Yellowpages and Manta, just to name a few.
Local citations are used heavily in helping you to rank in local search results.
Studies Analyzing the Impact of Citations on Local SEO Rankings
There have been many studies done to figure out how citations affect Google local business rankings . Studies looked at different industries that range from photographers and cleaners to accountants and dentists.
The goal of the study was to find the answers to the following key questions:
- How many citations does a local business need to get in order to stand out from the competition?
- What types of local businesses do usually get the highest number of citations in the Internet?
- What types of local businesses do usually have the lowest number of citations in the Internet?
- Where do people traditionally choose to write citations about local businesses?
- What the impact do citations have on Google local business rankings?
In total, 122,125 local businesses have participated in the research, 26 different industries have been studied and 18,580 local SEO keywords have been analyzed.
How many citations do I need to rank?
The studies have found that the vast majority of local businesses that rank #1 in Google local search have at least 86 citations. It’s also interesting to know that local businesses that rank in positions 1 – 3 in Google local search have at least 85 citations.
Local businesses that rank in positions 4 – 6 in Google local search have at least 82 citations. Local businesses that rank in positions 7 – 10 in Google local search have at least 78 citations. The data also show that local businesses that appear at the top 10 of Google local search results have at least 75 citations.
The vast majority of citations can be found at sites like Facebook, Yelp, Yellow Pages, Manta and Mapquest.
What types of businesses rank well for local search?
- bars
- cafes
- restaurants
- pubs
- medical businesses
- dentists
- hotels
- B&Bs
- photographers
- storage businesses
- locksmiths
- tradesmen
The studies have proved that Google local business rankings depend a lot on the number of citations. There is the evidence that the more citations a local business has – the better it ranks in Google’s local results.
It’s impossible to figure out how many citations a local business needs in order to rank high in Google local search results. However, you should aim to get as many citations for your local business as possible.
If you have more citations than your competitors, then your business is likely to rank higher in Google local search.
The Statistics on Most Popular Citation Sites in the USA
As it was mentioned above, the number of citation is incredibly important for local SEO success. However, it’s crucial for local businesses to get citations on the right cites.
Top citation sites for local businesses are:
- Yelp
- Mapquest
- Yellow Pages
- Manta
- Local Yahoo
- Super Pages
- White Pages
- Dex Knows
- Biz Standing
- Chamber of Commerce
- City Search
- Buzz File
- Merchant Circle
- B2B Yellow Pages
- Local
- Yellow Book
- Hot Frog
- Angi
- Zoom Info
Some facts about these sites being used for citations:
- Facebook goes as the number 1 in the list of the most popular citation sites. The statistics shows that up to 84% of local businesses have citations on Facebook.
- Up to 80% of local businesses have citations on Yelp;
- Up to 72% of local businesses have citations on Mapquest;
- Up to 71% of local businesses have citations on Yellow Pages;
- Up to 71% of local businesses have citations on Manta;
- Up to 67% of local businesses have citations on Local Yahoo;
- Up to 64% of local businesses have citations on Super Pages;
- Up to 61% of local businesses have citations on White Pages;
- Up to 53% of local businesses have citations on Dex Knows;
- Up to 51% of local businesses have citations on Biz Standing;
- Up to 50% of local businesses have citations on Chamber of Commerce;
- Up to 48% of local businesses have citations on City Search;
- Up to 47% of local businesses have citations on Buzz File;
- Up to 47% of local businesses have citations on Merchant Circle;
- Up to 46% of local businesses have citations on B2B Yellow Pages;
- Up to 28% of local businesses have citations on Local;
- Up to 28% of local businesses have citations on Yellow Book;
- Up to 24% of local businesses have citations on Hot Frog;
- Up to 22% of local businesses have citations on Angi;
- Up to 19% of local businesses have citations on Zoom Info.
The list of the most popular citation sites for local businesses can go on and on. It’s worth noting that these sites have citations for local businesses in all industries. Cafes, restaurants, hotels and travel related businesses may also have citations on sites like Trip Advisor, Foursquare, City Maps and Zomato.
