Don’t Forget Your NAP
Photo by John Baker on Unsplash
No, I’m talking about getting enough sleep (although getting the proper amount of rest is certainly important).
What I’m actually referring to is Name, Address and Phone Number.
Let me explain …
NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) is one of those things that search engines like Google take into account when deciding on what websites to display for geo-targeted searches. It’s a critical step for any business that wants to rank well in local organic search results, but it’s often something that is overlooked.
In a nutshell, it’s important that your NAP is consistent everywhere your company information is listed – the same name, the same address, the same phone number, and yes, the same website address (which turns the acronym into NAP+W).
And I do mean everywhere – your website, your social media profiles, your Yellow Pages ad, your Yelp profile, your Chamber of Commerce listing, your Google My Business profile, Bing Places, Apple Maps… etc, etc.
One of the biggest problems local business owners face is having inconsistent, and often inaccurate, NAP/NAP+W information on the various places that their business information is displayed.
These business listings are known as “citations”, and if search engines find different information in these citations, they may think they are referring. to different businesses, and can result in lower SEO scores.
What should your NAP be?
- Name – Use your exact business name, but leave out the legalize (Inc, LLC, etc)
- Address – Use the exact address of your real-world location – don’t use PO Boxes, General Delivery, etc.
- Phone Number – Use the local phone number of your location.
- Website – Use the home page of your website, or, if you have multiple locations, the page for your specific location.
Tracking down and (if necessary) adding or correcting this information can be a bit of a challenge and can admittedly be time-consuming, but it is well worth it and is something I highly recommend you do.
If the task is a bit too daunting, The Pridham Group is always here to help. If you’d like some help updating your information, drop us a line.
