The Key to Ranking Higher in Local Organic Search

You are familiar with local organic search, but what is the key to getting your business to rank higher in local organic search? Let us be the ones to tell you; it all starts with business citations. Read on to discover why your business listings need our help to place higher in online ranks.

Citations – What Are They?

First things first, what are citations? Citations, also known as business listings or local listings, are when any business’ contact information appears online. Many citations do not necessarily link to the business website; however, they usually all contain the following three important elements:

Business Name

Business Address

Business Phone Number

When all three of these components (commonly known as “N.A.P.”) consistently match throughout the World Wide Web, search engines are more likely to place your business higher on the page in local search results.

1. Business Name

The business name is one of the most important elements of a citation and should be consistently displayed on every citation. Consistently displaying a correct business name helps the search engine recognize and establish trust in the existence of the business. In the case that there are inconsistencies with the name, the search engine can accidentally register the listings as two separate businesses. Ultimately this can reflect poorly in organic search and negatively impact the online presence of the business.
Tip: Establish one name to use across every business listing. If you are unsure if certain elements matter in a business listing name, check out Google’s quality guidelines.

2. Business Address

Similarly to your business name, having the correct physical location of the business can influence how your business ranks in local organic search. Trust among search engines is established when the same address is consistently displayed across all listings. The validity of your business becomes enhanced, and more often than not, your business will be indexed for future searches. More specifically to local organic search, the address proximity to other similar businesses can positively or negatively impact local organic search rankings. For example, if your law office physically practices in close proximity to other law offices, the market is more saturated in that area, which is reflected online as well due to the high competition. Congruently, the location of the searcher matters too. This is why we cannot stress enough the importance of developing a consistent online presence.

3. Business Phone Number

The last, but certainly not least element to a business citation is the phone number. Phone numbers are yet another way for search engines to validate a business. Continuing to use the same phone number across all citations helps instill confidence in the accuracy of the business and its legitimacy. Ultimately, consistent phone numbers help with increasing domain authority.

Ranking Higher in Local Organic Search

To summarize, citations are the key to ranking higher in local organic search. Citations have and will always remain a key component of the ranking algorithms used by Google and Bing. Therefore, the more accurate and consistent citations are, the higher their domain authority becomes, and the higher the likelihood that they will rank higher in local organic search. In easier terms, search engines believe the business is credible and portrayed exactly as they say they are.

How Can Bigfin.com Help?

At Bigfin.com, we ensure that your company citations across the web have the vital information to establish your business online, boost your local listings, and validate who you are, where you are located and how to reach you. Many factors play into having successful local organic listings, and it can be quite difficult as well as time consuming monitoring all of them. Bigfin.com can save you valuable time and offer you the best local search optimization available. Contact us online or by phone at (425)822-8200.