Why Your Business Needs To Have Consistent NAP Across The Internet

Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) are the key components that help search engines identify a company. Consistent NAP across all web platforms is how search engines (like Google, Bing or Yahoo) identify a business. Think of a search engine like a person; if a company doesn’t have consistent NAP across the web, it will be looked at by Google as illegitimate, directly affecting the business’s rank in local organic search results. Google tries to be as accurate as possible, so it will recognize inaccuracy in a company’s basic information. Consistent NAP could be the key to helping your business appear in the first three results in relevant Google searches.

Is NAP Related To SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) and NAP go hand in hand. SEO is the process of boosting traffic to a website organically by improving the type and amount of searchers. This method is essentially the art of making web pages more attractive to search engines, which is impossible without consistent NAP. If you own a website for your business, SEO helps people that are looking for you or your service find you, but your website needs to be found and identified by search engines first. 

Is Similar NAP Formatting Good Enough? 

Research shows that roughly 93 percent of total traffic to a website is search engine-based, and 60 percent of clicks go to the top three search results. However, none of this matters if there are inconsistencies in the specific formatting of your company’s NAP. In order to have proper and consistent NAP, you need to make sure its configuration is exact across all platforms. For example, phone numbers can be written a few different ways:

Whichever one you pick, that is how it needs to be written everywhere, without a single difference. The same rule applies to your company’s name and address, right down to exact punctuation and abbreviations. If your address is 17 Allen Blvd., it shouldn’t be written as 17 Allen Boulevard on another page or site. While both addresses represent the same place, the difference serves as a red flag to a search engine. Google will not prioritize your website if its algorithm finds basic inconsistencies.

Will Consistent NAP Help My Site Appear On Google Searches?

NAP serves as your company’s identity across the internet. Search engines like Google want to find and know more about your company, serving as the path that will link customers to your business. Having a consistent NAP makes it significantly easier for Google to identify your company. This improves your overall Google rank, which in turn helps more people find and contact you.
    
Google changes its search algorithms 500-600 times a year. Inconsistent NAP can cause a search engine to not verify your business as legitimate when it otherwise would. This could be the difference in being a top three search result and not even being on the first page of search results. Seventy-five percent of people never click past the first page.

Wouldn't Online Advertising Be More Effective Than Consistent NAP?

Consistent NAP improves overall SEO—both of which are free strategies that can be implemented to organically improve the growth of your business. Companies that don’t prioritize consistent NAP across web platforms end up spending more money on paid advertisements, which isn’t as effective, comparatively speaking. Somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of users completely ignore online advertisements, viewing these as a distraction. These advertisements are not part of a strategic marketing plan because they are misplaced and not tailored to the user in any way. When your business has proper and consistent NAP, you’re helping Google help you. 

Besides Consistent NAP, How Can I Improve My Site's SEO Ranking?

Organic digital marketing strategies are the key to unlocking the full potential of your business. These strategies increase SEO rankings dramatically when carried out in an effective manner. Proper keyword placement, clean, eye-catching page titles, registering with Google My Business, and strategically-optimized meta descriptions are all ways to increase brand awareness through improved SEO.

While there are several ways of boosting your SEO ranking, not every strategy is easy to implement without the proper tools or guidance. Our team can easily help you reach your target audience with proper, organic digital marketing. There are people out there searching for the service your business offers. Learn more about what you can do to further build your brand by helping the right people find you.