How to use proper citations?
This guide talks about the Citations feature of the SEO Hub and how you can use it for your maximum benefit.
A Citation is a reference to a reliable source that supports the information presented in your content. It adds credibility, accuracy, and trustworthiness by backing claims with verified data from authoritative sources.
Why do Citations Matter in Content Creation?
✔ Enhances Credibility – Citing reliable sources builds trust and ensures your content is fact-based.
✔ Improves Accuracy – References from authoritative sites validate your claims, making your content more informative.
✔ Boosts SEO & Authority – Well-cited content is seen as more valuable by search engines and readers alike.
✔ Strengthens Engagement – Providing data-driven insights makes your content more compelling and persuasive.
STEP 1
Log in to your Scalenut account, go to Article Writer under SEO tools and enter your primary keyword and the location of your target audiences.
You can also customize your competition benchmarking approach here based on your content and marketing strategy. This feature empowers you to select between the top 10, 20, or 30 ranking pages to focus on, enabling you to tailor your competitive analysis according to your specific objectives and target market.
Once the SEO report is generated, open the report and click on the ‘Detailed Report’ tab under the Research option.
STEP 2
Once you open the SEO report, click on the ‘Citations’ tab on the top menu of Scalenut’s Article Writer.
STEP 3
Under the ‘Top Cited URLs’ section, a list of all citation websites that are cited the most among the top 30 ranking URLs is listed. Along with that, in the “count” column at the top, one can see the total number of occurrences of these citations in the top 30 competitor pages.
STEP 4
You can expand on any one cited source by simply clicking on the dropdown icon right next to the URL. You will be able to observe four things with reference to the cited URL that includes -
1. Anchor text - It is the text on which the particular cited URL is interlinked in a ranking page.
2. Citation URL - This is the citation URL or link that is an interlinked page in a ranking URL. You can visit the link by clicking on the small arrow icon next to the cited URL.
3. Source URL - This is the URL of the ranking piece in which the particular citation is used.
4. Source Rank - In this column, our tool lists the rank of the source URL. You can check the source rankings to gauge the credibility of the website.
STEP 5
You can also expand all the citations given by clicking on the ‘Expand All’ button.
STEP 6
Go through all the citations, choose the one that suits your needs the best and add it as a reference in your content brief by simply clicking on the URL. You will find the references on the right sidebar under “References” in the content brief section.
You can also add notes to a particular reference link for the writer or delete it as per your choice by clicking on the icons shown in the image below.
Please note: In this article, we have considered doing our research based on top 30 URLs for our primary keyword. You can customize it to top 10 or top 20 URLs as per your likings. The platform will then generate outputs for the same.