BrightLocal recently released their third Expert Local Citation survey, offering an in-depth analysis of the local citations landscape with insights from 21 local search specialists. These experts, including Dev Basu, Bill Hartzer, and David Kelly, shared their knowledge and experience regarding local citations.
The survey addresses the relevance of local citations in 2016 and their importance for local businesses. It also outlines current best practices for building and maintaining citations.
One notable finding is that 33% of experts now consider accurate citations to be very important or crucial to local search rankings, a significant drop from 55% in 2015. This suggests that the influence of citations on local search rankings has diminished, with other factors gaining more significance.
As Mike Ramsey of Nifty Marketing explains:
"My opinion on citations hasn’t changed for the past few years. They are important, but they are only a small piece of the puzzle and I think the local community focuses too much on them. Get the Aggregators right and directories that bring you business and rank on industry search phrases and spend the rest of your time elsewhere… probably link building."
Here are some key takeaways from the survey:
- 90% of local experts say accurate citations are critical or very important to local search ranking.
- 86% of local SEO experts believe the quality of citations is more important than the quantity.
- “Industry Relevance” is considered the most important factor when selecting citation sites.
- 33% of local SEO experts say niche/industry directories offer the greatest authority.
- Correct address formatting on citations is important but not critical, according to 21 local search experts.
- 62% of local search experts state that rich citations are essential or very important.
You can view the full survey results on BrightLocal’s official blog.
What are your thoughts on the survey? Let us know in the comments!
Image Credits
- Featured Image: fatmawati achmad zaenuri/Shutterstock.com
- In-post Photo: Kenneth Sponsler/Shutterstock.com
