What are Business Citations?

Sometimes, some businesses believe you only need to place your business name, address and phone number on your website.

However, often this is not enough.

That’s because Google’s algorithm, and the other algorithms that other search engines use, will want to know that your business NAP details are correct.

And how do they do this?

To best answer this, we have to provide an example. Let’s say your business is looking for a Cardiff website designer to help you redesign your business’s website.

All is well and good, and let’s say you are a Vet and want to draw in more business.

Okay, which businesses do you think will rank the highest on Google for “Vet’s Cardiff.”

Would it be the business with its address, phone number and name listed on its website?

Or would it be the business that has this information (NAP) on its website and has the NAP details listed on, say, 20 business directories?

These directories are updated, so say if the business changed its address, business name or phone number, it would then update these business citations as well.

We think the same; Google and the other search engines are more likely to prefer a business with NAP details on its website but also have this NAP information on loads of business citations.

How can business citations help to improve my business’s search engine optimisation?

Well, that’s because it just sends a much louder and clearer message that your business is actually where it says it is.

So, for example, the algorithm will note that the NAP details on the website are also on other websites, which means that the NAP details can be checked. If they are all the same, then business is more likely to be where it states it is.

Yet, if the business later changes its address, so the vets then move down the road and only change the website’s details, this could mean that the SEO could be negatively affected, so the business may have what our SEO company calls “conflicting business citations”.

Which means the business citations do not match.

What does NAP mean?

NAP stands for the name of the business, the address of the company and the business’s phone number.

Will this alone help to improve my business’s search engine optimisation?

Well, it’s an important part, but just one part of the SEO process; there are also backlinks, content marketing, and onsite SEO, to name other types of SEO that can help your business.

So, how can we get our business to the top of Google?

Many businesses here in Cardiff ask a white hat search engine optimisation agency like ours for help. Then, we can improve your business SEO for a monthly fixed fee.

Is local SEO and Organic SEO the same thing?

The terms local SEO and organic SEO often get confused with each other.

Let’s say you are looking for a MOT station near you; you will be presented with many different businesses.

Usually, the businesses listed right at the top of Google’s results will be MOT stations that are paying for what’s called PPC.

Then, you will be presented with a map. To the side of the map or below will usually be three more businesses; most SEO Cardiff companies call these the local business listings.

To improve your chances of ranking your business there, your search engine optimisation agency will advise that your company pays for local SEO.

Then, most of the businesses listed below the local business listings will be the organic business results.

SEO companies, like Adore Online Marketing, will be able to help your business rank in both the local business results and the organic business results.

What does white hat SEO mean?

Sometimes, when a business is looking for an SEO company, they will opt for the cheapest SEO agency they can find- is this a good idea?

Well, we think no, as if any SEO company provides low-quality search engine optimisation, the business could incur a penalty.

A penalty such as a Google Penguin or a Google Panda penalty could mean that the business drops in terms of where it ranks or could be removed altogether.

So let’s say you run a local pizza takeaway business, and your business is ranked number 3 in Cardiff for “pizza takeaway shops”- but your company wants to get to the number 1 position.

If you hire the wrong SEO company or SEO consultant, and let’s say they build a load of low-quality backlinks, the business could incur a penalty.

This is the same for business citations, so let’s say you hire a search engine optimisation business, and they use an automated program to build business citations.

But this programme then builds the citations incorrectly, so the addresses do not match, or the city is inputted incorrectly; well, this is no good; it will not help your business’s search engine optimisation.

So, this is why our SEO company only uses white hat methods, and this is why we build our business citations manually.

What do conflicting business citations mean?

Say your business changes its address, and your website designer updates your website with the new address, yet all your business citations do not get updated; this could cause conflicting business citations.

How much does local SEO cost?

We would first need to evaluate how vital your competitor’s SEO is, so let’s say, for example, you run a solicitors practice, and you specialise in the area of divorce; well, if you have, say, 20 businesses that have strong SEO, then there will be much catching up to do.

So, like most digital marketing agencies, we base our prices on how robust your competitor’s search engine optimisation is, as your business’s SEO will have to be stronger if you are to beat these competitors.

Which SEO company should we choose?

We would be biased, but we would say it’s well worth contacting us.