Citations are a key role in Ranking on all Search Engines. A Citation is basically a listing that helps endorse your business as being apart of your community. For an example, when you List your business on Yelp, Facebook, and Manta that’s a Citation. Any Listing where you enter your Business Name, Address, Phone Number, and Website Link is a Citation. Citations are often free and the more you do the more you establish trust with Google.
Google has actual Guidelines to how you represent your business. All search engines are hammering down more and more on how your information is presented because search engines are growing tired of spam and false listings. Major search engines are also penalizing companies for duplicate listings because they don’t know which listing to trust and it sends up a red flag.
The Google Local Business Information Quality Guidelines
Search engines basically find out about your business by links pointing to your websites (they also track the site those Links are coming from) and by tracking your citations, and they use those methods to determine where to Rank your site.
It’s extremely important that all your information on these citations is the same. If these search engines see different phone numbers, addresses, and even the business name written differently everywhere it’s going to confuse Google and other search engines as well. The best rule of thumb is to match all Directory Listings to your Google Business Page.
Enrich Your Listings
Technology has changed things immensely. The majority of people use smart phones and search engines basically want their users to have a more engaging experience. What does this mean you ask? All the Major Search Engines want to see your Listings filled with photos, reviews, and all information possible. Currently there is no proof that photos and reviews increase your Rankings, however, with the new iPhone coming out and other indicators we believe this will eventually be a factor in where you are listed. Obviously, for users to have a more engaging experience Directories are going to want Listings that are filled with photos, reviews, and content ranking above boring Listings that may just have a name, address, and phone number. Enriching your listings has become a growing requirement that will help weed out the spam and keep legitimate businesses in play.
The Future
I’ve read several articles this year on the fact that Mobile Searches are going to surpass Desk Top searches next year. These giant companies want to predict what you want. That’s what Google Now, Siri, and Cortana are attempting to do every time you ask your phone for help in finding something. Apple will for sure be challenging Google in the future for being the number one go to. The more they develop phone apps and programs that gain knowledge about you and your behavior the harder it will be to cheat the system. The future of SEO is for sure a scary one especially for companies like us. These programs on your phone look at several things to help them determine what you want and what’s best for you. Google Now, Siri, and Cortana look at e-mails, search history, browsing history, your calendar, your location, and App history to help them predict exactly what you want and what suits you best. Scary, huh? The future is moving quickly and Apple and other companies’ goals are simple, they want their computers to know what you’re searching for before you even think it.
