Citations are important for improving the digital presence of an enterprise. Every solid local search marketing strategy is built over the robust foundation of citations. But what are these citations? A business gets a citation whenever it is mentioned anywhere online. If a business has more citations, its chances of appearing at the top of the first page of search engines get higher.

Now, let us dive deep into citations and their role in today’s digital marketing landscape. Followed by that, let us explore how linked unstructured citations can supercharge a business’s growth in today’s highly competitive digital landscape.

A Brief Guide To Citation Building

Before we begin analyzing the interesting world of citations, it is important to review a few facts.

• According to 90 percent of experts, hyper-accurate citations are very important if a business wants to crush its competition in local search rankings.
• As per 59 percent of digital marketing specialists, citations are becoming more and more important every year.

Here is the easiest part about building local SEO citations: A business has to state the obvious such as its name, address, phone numbers, business hours, website URL, and the like. But here is the million-dollar question: How will a business share these important fragments of information with its targeted audience and search engines at large?

A business will have to do a lot of structured and unstructured citations for that.

A structured citation is when a business’s critical information (name, address, phone number, etc.) is posted on a listing directory such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, Foursquare, and Bing. Whereas, an unstructured citation happens when a business’s address, name, phone number, or website is mentioned in a PR, blog, or social media profile and not on a traditional directory or an IYP site.

With many citations, a business will build its prominence in the digital world. The digital prominence gained by a business helps leading search engines such as Google in determining the company’s local ranking.

So, up till now, it is clear what a citation is along with its two popular types. Now it is the time to dig deeper into the world of unstructured citations.

Unstructured Citations Build A Powerful And Prominent Web Presence

While a business generates local citations, it is important to get them on websites, blogs, or articles that are relevant to it. When an enterprise earns this kind of unstructured citations, its chances of conquering local search engine and Google’s organic results improve by a wide margin.

The best unstructured citations are those that include links. After all, the more links a business gets, the more credible it becomes in the eyes of search engines. In short, more links make powerful domain authority.

So, here are a few points that a business must keep in mind before doing unstructured citations.

Some of the most crucial factors while building unstructured citations include:

• Industry relevance
• Local relevance
• Domain authority

Besides remembering these three points while doing unstructured citations, here is one other thing. Whenever there is a mention of a business’s name, ZIP code, URL, phone number, or city in an unstructured citation, these details need to be accurate. The failure to maintain accuracy while posting these data points during an unstructured (and even structured) citation can lead to losing lucrative business opportunities.

Now, let us wrap our heads around the rising importance of linked unstructured citations for a business.

Linked Unstructured Citations Are Growing In Prominence

Recently, a Local Search Ranking Factors survey took place where one of the biggest takeaways was local links. Why was that? Well, let us find out.

Get The Competitive Edge With Linked Unstructured Citations

Undoubtedly, Google has become one of the most dominant forces for shaping an enterprise’s local consumer experiences online. So a business should do whatever it takes to get the links because Google is taking actions to keep as many users on its interface rather than sending them to a company’s website.

When a business gets more and more links, it has Google’s attention. That is because links influence ranks within Google’s and other search engine’s interfaces. Which is why, most enterprises must move beyond doing conventional structured citations for impressing mighty search engines. For this reason, more and more businesses are earning linked unstructured citations on a range of relevant websites and other online media outlets. Enterprises must remember that structured citations are table stakes for every local business in today’s ultra-competitive online landscape. However, it is the unstructured citations that deliver every business the winning edge in tough local markets.

A Cost-Effective Way To Drive Traffic

Nowadays, Google is trying hard to monetize local search results. A case in point: Google’s Local Service Ads (LSA) plan; it is lead gen existing between service area businesses (housekeeping and plumbing companies, for example) and Google.

Smart local brands, including brick-and-mortar stores, will work toward building lead generation and traffic outlets that are not dependent on Google. In short, when a business is doing a good job with linked unstructured citations on highly relevant and hyper-local publications, it will drive traffic without paying a hefty fee to Google.

Finding The Best SEO Partner

For doing relevant linked unstructured citations, getting links, and building awe-inspiring domain authority online, a business will need a dynamic SEO partner. That is where Flexsin kicks into action. Being a trusted digital marketing company, it has optimized client websites into ROI-driving machines for over a decade now. Whether it involves building quality links or doing unstructured citations, the company has in-depth expertise in managing every aspect of SEO and digital marketing. Get in touch with one of its representatives and make the most of today’s digital marketing space.