For local SEO to be effective it is important to have your company feature on Google My Maps to have any chance of appearing in their ‘3 pack’ organic listings for your best keywords and phrases.
One of the key factors in determining this is to get as many local citations as possible. So, just what are local citations?
Local citations are mentions of your business name, address and telephone number more commonly known as NAP on other websites and pages particularly ones that are well-indexed and are looked at as authority sites such as Yelp.com.
Businesses can get citations from a variety of sources such as their local chamber of commerce, local directories and blogs.
Getting links back from these sites not only validates your business but can have a significant impact on how well your site performs for local search rankings.
Take a look at the map below to see an example of how important this aspect is. Potential customers can quickly see if your business is featured and are more liable to click through to your site as a result.
More importantly it will help to establish credibility and engender trust for your business. Click on the link below to see an active map listing
https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=zoGZBQ9orNVk.kAfn7hANvU8o
Citations are one of the key ranking components for local SEO so it should form an important aspect of a local business marketing strategy.
Brightlocal a citation building firm, conducted and interesting survey back in March 2015 when it discussed the topic extensively with 22 SEO experts.
To summarise, getting citations from local sources can have a great impact on your site performance in the search engines for local search queries. The more authoritative and the more relevant to your industry the better it will suit your business.
Be diligent in identifying the best sources and above all make sure that any links or listings that you get is absolutely accurate with no spelling mistakes, wrong addresses or telephone numbers.
By following the tips and advice given here, hopefully you will soon start to see your business featured in the coveted ‘3 pack’ and be able to drive more local traffic as a result.
London Digital Marketing Solutions 