Last Updated on 3 weeks by Rabin Rasaili
If you’re a local business owner, you know how important it is to rank well in local search results. After all, when someone in your area searches for the products or services you offer, you want your business to pop up front and center.
But did you know that having inconsistent NAP listings across the web could be tanking your local SEO efforts?
In this article, we’ll explore the importance of NAP consistency in local SEO and provide you with best practices for maintaining consistent NAP data.
What does NAP stand for?
NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone number – the core information that identifies your local business online. This data is used by search engines like Google to understand where your business is located and match it with relevant local searches.
Why is NAP consistency so important for local SEO?
Search engines rely heavily on NAP data to determine your business’s relevance for local searches. If your NAP details are inconsistent or contain errors across different online listings, it creates confusion and doubt about the legitimacy of your business information.
Even seemingly minor differences – such as using abbreviations versus spelling out words (e.g., “St.” vs “Street”), including suite or unit numbers, or formatting phone numbers differently – can create enough inconsistency to impact your local rankings and visibility.
Additionally, 80% of customers lose trust in local businesses and 68% of consumers would stop using a local business if they see incorrect or inconsistent NAP details in listings. (source)
Image via Brightlocal
So, ensuring your business’s NAP information is 100% accurate and consistent across all online listings and directories is super important for Local SEO.
Impact of NAP Consistency on Local Search Rankings
So why go through all this effort to maintain flawless NAP consistency?
Doing so sends powerful trust and authority signals that can significantly boost your local search performance.
1. Impact on Search Engine Algorithms
Search engine algorithms use NAP consistency to confirm if your business is legit or not. When search engines find consistent NAP information about your business across the web, they trust that your data is accurate and that your business is well-established in the local community you’re targeting.
This signals search algorithms into prioritizing your business for local queries, leading to higher rankings, increased visibility in map/local pack results, and more local traffic finding its way to your website.
On the other hand, if your NAP information is inconsistent, it creates confusion and doubt, leading search engines to rank your business lower or even remove it from local results altogether.
2. Influence on Local Pack Results
Speaking of local pack and Google Maps rankings, NAP consistency is an essential factor for appearing prominently in these coveted search results.
The local pack (the boxed local business listings displayed above organic results) and Google Maps both rely heavily on accurate, consistent NAP data to determine:
- Search relevance: Is your business truly located in the area that was searched for?
- Legitimacy: Does your business have accurate, matching information across credible sources?
- Proximity: How close is your business’s physical location to the searcher or search area?
After all, map listings and the local pack showcase just a handful of top business results. You’ll struggle to claim one of those prime positions if search engines can’t definitively confirm your business’s name, physical address, and contact information align perfectly across different data sources.
How NAP Inconsistencies Harm Your Business
NAP inconsistencies can have a significant negative impact on your local SEO efforts and overall business success. Here are a few key ways that conflicting or inaccurate NAP data can hurt your online presence:
1. Confused Search Engines: When search engines encounter multiple versions of your business NAP information across the web, it creates uncertainty about which details are correct. This ambiguity can lead to your business being demoted or even filtered out of local search results entirely.
2. Frustrated Potential Customers: Imagine a customer finds your business online, only to discover that the address or phone number listed is incorrect when they try to visit or call. Such frustrating experiences can damage your reputation and drive customers away.
3. Lost Business Opportunities: If potential customers can’t easily find accurate information about your business’s name, address, and contact details, they’re more likely to take their business elsewhere.
4. Duplicate Listings: In some cases, major inconsistencies in your NAP data can lead to the creation of duplicate listings for your business across various online directories. These duplicates can further confuse search engines and dilute your online presence.
How to conduct a NAP Audit?
The first step in resolving any NAP consistency issues is to perform a comprehensive audit of your online business listings. Here’s how to conduct an effective NAP audit:
1. Identify All Online Listings
Start by compiling a list of every website, directory, social media platform, or any other online property where your business’s NAP information appears.
Popular directories to check include Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Facebook, Yelp, Yellow Pages, and industry-specific directories relevant to your business.
2. Check Each Listing for Accuracy
Carefully review each listing, cross-checking the name, address (including suite numbers, zip codes, etc.), and phone number fields to ensure they exactly match your official business NAP data. Note any inconsistencies or errors you find across listings.
3. Document Inconsistencies
Create a spreadsheet or document detailing each listing that contains NAP inconsistencies or inaccuracies. Note exactly what information is wrong or inconsistent for each instance to streamline the correction process later.
How to Fix NAP Inconsistencies?
Once you’ve identified all instances of inconsistent or incorrect NAP information online, it’s time to start cleaning things up. Here are some tips for fixing your NAP data issues:
1. Audit your listings: Use tools like Moz Local, BrightLocal, or Google’s Business Profile Manager to scan the major online directories and data aggregators for your business NAP listings.
2. Claim/update listings: For any unclaimed or incorrect listings you find, go through the process of claiming that listing and updating the NAP information to be consistent with the official name, address, and phone on your website.
3. Use consistent NAP formatting: Make sure the format of your NAP is consistent everywhere – abbreviations, suite numbers, St. vs Street, etc. Pick one standard format and use it universally.
4. Update your website: Ensure your NAP is prominently displayed in schema-marked-up HTML on your website’s header, footer, and contact page. This official NAP is what all other sources should match.
5. Submit to data aggregators: Major data providers like Neustar, Acxiom, Factual, and Infogroup power many online directories. Directly submit your NAP to them and they’ll populate across many sites.
6. Monitor and remove duplicate listings: Use monitoring tools to catch any new duplicate or inconsistent listings that pop up and promptly have them updated or removed.
Maintaining NAP Consistency Over Time
Cleaning up your existing NAP inconsistencies is a great first step, but maintaining that hard-earned consistency will require ongoing diligence.
Businesses often undergo changes like moving to a new location, changing phone numbers, or rebranding – all of which can quickly cause new NAP conflicts if not properly managed.
To stay on top of NAP consistency long-term:
Regularly audit your online listings: Conduct monthly or quarterly NAP audits to identify any new inconsistencies that may have cropped up.
Leverage Local SEO tools: Services like BrightLocal, Moz Local, and Yext can automatically scan the web for your business data and alert you to any NAP changes or issues detected. They can also automatically push accurate NAP data to a network of directories and data aggregators.
Measuring the Impact of NAP Consistency on SEO Performance
We have already established why NAP is a critical factor in determining your search engine rankings. But how exactly can you measure the impact of NAP consistency on your SEO performance? Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can do this:
1. Track Your Local Pack Rankings
One of the most obvious ways to measure the impact of NAP consistency on your SEO performance is to track your local pack rankings. The local pack is the group of businesses that appear at the top of Google’s search results when someone searches for a local business or service.
If your NAP information is consistent across all of your online listings, you’re more likely to appear in the local pack. You can use tools like BrightLocal or Moz Local to track your local pack rankings and see how they change over time.
2. Monitor Your Organic Search Rankings
In addition to tracking your local pack rankings, you should also monitor your organic search rankings. Consistent NAP information not only boosts your visibility in the local pack but also positively influences your organic search rankings.
By ensuring that your NAP information is consistent across all of your online listings, you can improve your chances of appearing higher in Google’s search results. You can use tools like Google Search Console or SEMrush to monitor your organic search rankings.
3. Analyze Your Website Traffic
Another way to measure the impact of NAP consistency on your SEO performance is to analyze your website traffic. If your NAP information is consistent across all of your online listings, you should see an increase in referral traffic to your website.
This is because consistent NAP information helps to establish trust with both search engines and potential customers. You can use Google Analytics to analyze your website traffic and see how it changes over time.
Conclusion
To wrap up, NAP consistency matters immensely for local businesses to rank well online. It may seem like a small, overly nitpicky detail in the grand scheme of local SEO. However, it is one of the most critical ranking factors for local businesses.
Ensuring your company name, address, and phone number match exactly across all website listings removes doubts and shows search engines you’re legit.
Now that you have seen the importance of NAP consistency for local rankings, it’s time to take action. Perform a thorough NAP audit across your online listings, correct any inconsistencies discovered, and implement processes to monitor and maintain clean NAP accuracy.
Rabin is an enthusiastic SEO and a content creator who is also a BCA graduate. He shares easy-to-follow hacks and tips to help you make smart choices for SEO tools and strategies through his blog. Passionate about learning and sharing, Rabin’s goal is to help you navigate your SEO and blogging journey with confidence.