Why You Need To Be Concerned About Your NAP

No, I don’t mean “taking a nap,” although it is a very pleasant thing to do. 

In terms of your business and online presence, your NAP is incredibly important.   

What does NAP stand for? 

  • Name (Business)

  • Address

  • Phone Number

It seems basic, doesn’t it? So basic you likely didn’t even think about it being important. Well, the impact of not having your NAP properly listed on the web can be catastrophic. 

Online search is how people find the products and services you provide; you do it yourself. Even more so, post pandemic, people are using the web to search for nearly everything. In the United States, Google has 87.72% of the market share, making them the behemoth of search engines, with Bing at 6.72%, Yahoo at 2.96% and DuckDuckGo at 2.2%. In this article, I’ll simply refer to Google as the search engine.

Google has shown a phenomenal growth rate since its launch. This is the reason Google leads and guides billions of people around the world to search queries with the click of a button. Today, 4.3 billion people use Google in their daily lives.

This is exactly why you need to know about NAP and take it seriously.

Getting ahead of your competition in local search is integral to the success of your local business. Google wants to put out the best, most accurate information to the public organically; That is, non-paid search results. It is of the utmost importance to fix inconsistencies in your directory listings, which, as a result, brings more customers to your business and increases your organic search rankings.    

There are digital advertising specialists who can help fix your NAP by:

  • Validating your business on major directories which can improve your click through rates and enhance your visibility. 

  • Claiming targeted directory listings 

  • Developing and implementing a clear direction for your search marketing strategy. 

  • Optimizing your listings on the top directories with enhanced content, pictures, and videos that can help improve your ranking position on top search engines like Google 

Many local businesses have incomplete or inaccurate information that keeps them from being found by their customers and clients. These inaccuracies could simply stem from a phone number change, having different iterations of a business name, a location change, etc.

Lost Domain

Recently, a client lost her domain. Once the client realized, the domain was no longer available. Between when she lost her domain and tried to remedy it, someone bought it and is currently trying to resell it for thousands of dollars.

She bought a new, similar domain, but now Google and other search engines are confused about where to send people looking for her services, as her previous domain takes them to an unsecure page that is not hers.

With inconsistent NAP data, her competitors are more likely to be shown instead of or ahead of her when people look for her services. Now any earlier listings she may have created have incorrect information and she will potentially lose customers.

A Change of Address

Another instance that recently happened is a client who moved offices. Google knows her business name and phone number, but the address is wrong on many directories. She changed it on Yelp, but not the other directories, including Google My Business.

Google is now seeing different locations for the same business. Once this happens this client’s competitors will be potentially shown instead of her.

Inconsistent Business Name

And possibly the most common inconsistency is multiple spellings of your business name. Here is a recent example: William Gorman’s Fishing Excursions, LLC is the legal name of Bill’s fishing business. On the web his name is listed as:

William Gorman’s Fishing Excursions, LLC 

  • William Gorman’s Fishing Excursions,

  • William Gorman’s Fishing & Fun

  • William Gorman’s Fishing and Fun

  • Gorman’s Fishing Excursions

  • Bill Gorman Boat Excursions

Because of this inconsistency in the name, Google ranks Mr. Gorman lower and his competitors above him.

Finding a reputable digital marketing agency is a great way to ensure your NAP is consistent. Organic rankings are very important to your business’ online presence.

If you’d like to know how your business is doing, you can do this simple scan.

It’s easy. Just enter your name and fill out some quick information about your business and click “check status now.” After a few minutes you will be able to see how consistent your business NAP is. 

You can also call one of our friendly digital marketing specialists at 503-506-4404 or toll free at 866-643-8795. 

Simply Online Marketing