What is NAP SEO? How to Use It, Benefits and Expert Tips

NAP SEO allows businesses to claim and update their online citations so customers can find and contact them. Keeping your NAP consistent across directories improves local search traffic. Learn how to optimize your citations for higher rankings.

Business directories can be a game-changer for local businesses that want to improve their search engine rankings. And having consistent information across these citations is vital to boosting your local SEO efforts.

That’s where NAP comes in.

And no, this isn’t just another digital marketing acronym to remember. NAP can make or break local search visibility for business owners.

Let’s examine how NAP SEO works and what you can do to keep your company name, address, and phone number up-to-date and consistent across all your business listings.

What is NAP in local SEO?

NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number when used to describe business contact information in online directories. Since search engines like Google and Bing value accurate data, it’s vital to have consistent and up-to-date NAP information across online directories when optimizing for local SEO.

What are citations and directories?

Directories are business directory sites you list your business on to improve visibility online. This can include local sites like the Chamber of Commerce or the city’s website. Or national directories like Yelp or Yellow Pages and industry sites like Zocdoc and Psychology Today.

Directory citations are the business listings you see on these directories. Similar to an entry in a phone book, these citations offer basic information about your business, including contact information, website URL, and services.

Is NAP a ranking factor?

NAP is important for Google’s Local Pack and local search algorithms. Search engine optimization professionals agree that citations are a key local ranking factor. However, there is some debate about what matters most regarding local SEO citations.

Google has confirmed that local search results are based on relevance, distance, and prominence. While you can’t control some of these factors, you can control whether or not your business directory listing is complete and your information is accurate.

For this reason, having accurate and consistent NAP information across business citations can help you become more visible in local Google search results.

SEO-first marketing and business strategist Sarah Moon has seen firsthand what happens when business owners forget to update their NAP information:

“A new local client in a specialty industry reached out to me because their website traffic had cratered, as had their foot traffic. After chatting with them, I discovered they’d moved their business and hadn’t updated their website or Google Business Profile (GBP),” Moon says.

“They submitted address changes to GBP and boom! Their addresses became inconsistent across the Internet. Their address was also incorrect in a handful of industry directories,” says Moon. “Once the NAP inconsistencies were fixed, their rankings quickly bounced back to where they’d previously been, and real human beings could find them again.”

Why is NAP consistency important for local SEO?

You need consistent NAP information on your Google Business Profile and any other online directories your business is listed on. NAP consistency is vital for local SEO because it improves the user experience, shows search engines your business is legitimate and relevant, and helps ensure search engines can accurately index your business.

“Like any other marketing channel, it is important to cross all your T’s and dot all your I’s when creating NAP,” explains Sam Yadegar, CEO of HawkSEM. “Having improper info will cause poor use behavior, which is a major factor in getting ranked higher in the local listings section.  We believe being complete and diligent with is info is crucial.”

User experience

NAP consistency is vital for local SEO because it impacts the user experience. Search engines want to provide the best search experience possible to searchers. Consistent NAP information across local citations shows Google that your local business is trustworthy, making it more likely to show your listing in the search results.

NAP inconsistencies impact more than just your search visibility. They also impact whether or not human users click on your listing. When visitors see different information about your business on the search engine results page (SERP), this can be confusing and frustrating, causing them to choose a different business without conflicting information.

Legitimacy & relevancy

Inconsistent NAP data can confuse search engines, making it difficult for them to connect your business to its physical location. Instead of serving potentially incorrect information from local directories, Google is more likely to forgo showing your business in the search results.

Ensuring your business name, address, and phone number are consistent across local listings signals to Google that your business is legitimate. It also helps search engines make relevant connections to serve your business listing in relevant search queries.

Indexability & categorization

Consistent NAP citations ensure search engines will accurately index and categorize your business by its geographic location. With accurate information and proper indexing and categorization, your business can appear for relevant local search queries better.

In other words, with consistent NAP listings, a small business can improve its online presence and drive more potential customers to its site.

6 NAP SEO best practices

Keeping NAP up-to-date and consistent may seem like a simple task. However, the more business listings you have online, the more challenging it is to keep track of them and ensure they’re all up-to-date, especially if you manage multi-location SEO.

“Tracking is an essential part of any marketing campaign,” says Yadegar. “We use ConversionIQ (CIQ) to granularly track every step of the buyer journey to understand what aspects of a campaign are working and where we should trim the fat. This allows us to optimize towards a higher ROAS MoM and YoY.

Also, tracking with CIQ provides more insight about the target audience, which allows us to take that data and use it on another marketing channel (e.g., Paid Search or Social media) to further scale while maintaining profitability.”

Here are a few local SEO best practices for maintaining NAP consistency as part of your SEO strategy:

• Audit your NAP across business listings and create a database
• As you conduct your audit, update any inaccurate NAP data
• Update NAP data when you change business locations or contact info
• Include your NAP business information on more external sites
• Optimize each business listing by adding as much detail as possible
• Don’t forget to update the contact page and social media profiles

1. Audit your NAP across business listings and create a database

The first step in tackling NAP SEO is to audit your NAP across business listings. As you audit each site, create a database of your citations to know what to update if you change any of your NAP information. While this may take some time upfront, it’ll save you from issues later.

“Businesses should keep a spreadsheet of all the places where their name, address, and phone number appear,” recommends Sarah Moon.

“This is one of those things that seems like busy work initially, but when you need it, it’s a real lifesaver. You can easily update your NAP if you have a change without having to Google yourself and hope you find all your listings.”

To get started, search for your company name on Google.

Find all of your business directory listings and profiles, and add all the citations that appear to your spreadsheet. Include links to the directories so they’re easy to update later.

2. As you conduct your audit, update any inaccurate NAP data

As you audit your Google Business Profile and other online citations, make updates so your NAP is accurate across listings. In addition to your name, address, and phone number, double-check that your website, hours of operation, and services are accurate.

Make sure formatting is consistent across your local citations. For example, if your business address has a suite number, make sure that this suite number is included in all your NAP data in the same way. Don’t use “Suite 452” on one listing and “Ste. 452” on another.

If you find duplicate listings in the same directory, contact the directory host to delete one of them so you appear once. This eliminates any confusion and gives you one less listing to update.

3. Update NAP data when you change business locations or contact info

Change is inevitable. When your business changes locations, phone numbers, or general contact information, it’s best practice to update this data immediately across your online business listings.

Updating your NAP will be much faster and easier if you’ve created a database or spreadsheet with all your online citations. Not to mention, you’ll have peace of mind knowing you were thorough with your updates since you’ve already done the work to ensure all of your citations are documented.

4. Include your NAP business information on more external sites

Regularly seek new opportunities to list your business in online directories to improve your online presence and increase your chances of ranking for local search queries.

Here are just a few popular directories to list your business if relevant:

Google Business Profile

As the most popular search engine globally, Google offers the most important local listing for SEO—Google Business Profile.

Google Business Profile allows you to manage how your business listing appears across Google products, including Google Search and Google Maps.

Yelp

Yelp is more than just a local business directory. It’s a review and social networking site where customers can leave reviews for their favorite local businesses. It’s a great place for local residents and visitors to find your company.

Yellow Pages

Like the traditional phone book, Yellow Pages is a business directory where users can search for local businesses in different categories. Unlike the phone book, the Yellow Pages allow space to add additional information about your business beyond just your NAP.

Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor is a platform where users can get travel advice on places to stay, places to eat, things to do, and more. Like some of the other business directories on this list, customers can leave reviews on their favorite places.

Apple Maps

While it may not be as popular as Google Maps, Apple Maps still has millions of users, and it’s the default GPS app on iOS devices. Claim your Apple Maps listing for free and update your NAP details.

Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is an independent organization that offers information about businesses and charities to the public. Though the organization doesn’t have any legal power, it alerts the public about fraud and works closely with law enforcement agencies to provide information on potential fraud.

For these reasons, people trust the information they get from the BBB. You can claim your listing and update your contact information. While anyone can be listed here, you need to be a BBB-accredited business to build a more comprehensive business profile and improve visibility on the site.

Bing Places for Business

While Bing isn’t as popular as Google in terms of the number of users, it’s still a top search engines in the U.S. For this reason, it’s worthwhile to claim your Bing Places for Business profile and keep your business information up to date.

Chamber of Commerce

In addition to having a business listing on your local Chamber of Commerce website, you can also list your business on ChamberofCommerce.com. This is a large online business directory that connects you to local customers.

Other directories

When expanding your business listings, don’t forget to consider industry-related online business directories.

For example, if you have a home services business, you could list your company on directory sites like Angi, HomeAdvisor, or Home Directory. While doctors may list their practices on platforms like ZocDoc, HealthGrades, and WebMD.

Also, consider any local directories relevant to your business. This could include everything from your local Chamber of Commerce to local publications with business directories.

5. Optimize each business listing by adding as much detail as possible

Showing up in local search results requires more than accurate contact information. To optimize your business listings, add as much detail as possible to your profile.

Each directory and platform will have its own rules for what types of information you can put on your profile. While some will just have simple NAP information and a website link, others will allow you to provide more details on your business and services.

Let’s look at Google Business Profile since this is one of the most important citations to keep updated for SEO.

When looking at the map view, Google Business profiles are ordered based one which Google thinks are most relevant to the search engine user.

The Google Business Profile provides all the information a searcher needs to understand and find your business, including:

• Name
• Address
• Areas served
• Hours of operation
• Phone number
• Products and services
• Where to schedule an appointment
• Website link
• Photos
• Customer reviews

In addition to ensuring your NAP information is correct, you should complete the profile information to the best of your ability.

Write a description of your business that clearly gives visitors an idea of who you are, what you do, and who you serve. This will show up as a short paragraph on your profile.

You’ll also have the opportunity to include photos of the office, your team, and anything else that’ll give visitors an idea of what it’s like to visit your business.

There’s also a place to answer visitor questions about your business. Answer these in a timely manner to show Google you’re on top of your stuff.

And finally, encourage your best customers to leave your business a review on Google. Not only does this improve your local search rankings — it also offers social proof for potential customers.

6. Don’t forget to update the contact page and social media profiles

When auditing your NAP and making updates, don’t forget to update your website’s contact page. Google will crawl this page to understand your geographic location and contact information, so keep it up to date.

In addition to your website, keep your NAP updated on your social media profiles. In addition to being viewed by social media users, these profiles appear in Google search results, so you’ll want to display accurate information.

Don’t forget to add your website and social media profile links to your NAP spreadsheet. It’s easy to forget these when updating your contact information.

The takeaway

NAP SEO is a simple concept. But as many businesses with inconsistent NAP data show — it’s not always easy to keep track of, update, and optimize your citations across business listings.

Even a simple mistake like forgetting to update your phone number on your Google Business Profile can seriously affect your local search rankings (and lead generation).

Looking for other ways to improve your local SEO rankings? Get in touch with our team today.