Review sites, directory listings, social media platforms, and business profiles contain three useful bits (Name, Address, and Phone number) of local business information. Each component of the NAP provides a crucial piece of information to a local customer, making it simpler for them to contact or visit you. As Google prioritizes precise data for its customers, the NAP listing for your company needs to be accurate and up-to-date when optimizing your website and online presence for local searches.
If your company name, address, and phone number are consistent throughout all of your internet citations, this is known as NAP consistency. There should be no discrepancies in how your data is distributed across the web, whether it be on your website, LinkedIn page, or a review platform. If the information differs in any of the places where it is listed, this is known as NAP inconsistency.
NAPs are crucial components of search engine optimization. For local SEO, having accurate NAP for all your online listings is essential. When looking for information about your business, Google searches all of these local business listings. The information is saved by Google and used later when it comes to ranking. Differences in NAP citations might cause disappointment and perplexity in customers as well as jeopardize the local SEO strategy and outcomes.
The most common mistake that happens in NAP is when a business changes its address, working hours, or phone number, where they create new entries with the required changes instead of deleting the old listings. This causes issues when search engines try to rank your business because there are two sets of NAP data, and this can adversely affect your local rankings.
Check for duplicate listings and remove outdated or inaccurate NAP listings. Don’t change information on duplicate or closed listings because it may mislead customers and negatively affect your rating. Follow Google’s guidelines to eliminate duplicate listings produced by business acquisitions, or it’s better to get professional help from local citation-building services. At Citations Check, we offer high-quality citation-building services that are used by hundreds of local businesses across the world.
