NAP consistency: same name, address and phone everywhere

What NAP means

NAP is short for name, address and phone number. Over the years a business gets listed in a lot of places: Google, Facebook, Yelp, map apps, the Better Business Bureau, supplier directories, old chamber of commerce pages. Each listing shows your NAP, and they don't update themselves when you move or change numbers.

Why it matters

The plain reason: a customer who finds an old number can't reach you. A homeowner who sees one name on your truck, another on Google and a third on an invoice may wonder if it's the same company.

There's a Google reason too. Google says prominence, one of the things local results are based on, draws on information about a business from across the web, including directories. Matching details keep that information clear. Nobody can promise that fixing listings moves you up, but wrong listings don't help anyone.

Pick one official version

Write down the exact version you'll use everywhere:

• Name: your real business name, as on your signs and paperwork. No added keywords or towns.
• Address: the real address you work from. If customers don't come to you, Google lets service-area businesses hide the street address. Don't use a virtual office.
• Phone: one main number that you answer or have covered.
• Website: one web address, written the same way each time.

Small differences like "St." and "Street" are not worth losing sleep over. Wrong numbers, old addresses and old business names are.

Where to check

1. Search your business name on Google and look through the first two pages.
2. Search your phone number, then every old number you've used.
3. Search any old business name or old address.
4. Check your own website: the header, footer and contact page.
5. Check your Google Business Profile, Facebook page, Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Nextdoor and the BBB.
6. Check trade and supplier directories, chamber of commerce pages, and anywhere you've paid for a listing.

Keep a simple list as you go: the site, what it shows, and whether it's right.

How to fix old listings

• Listings you control: log in and correct them. If you lost the login, use the site's password reset or its claim process.
• Listings you don't control: look for a "claim this business" or "suggest an edit" link. Many directories let the owner claim a listing after a phone or email check.
• Duplicate Google profiles: don't create another one. Report the duplicate through Google Maps or ask Google Business Profile support for help.
• A past agency or employee holds the login: ask for it back in writing. For a Google profile, you can request ownership through Google.

Fix your own website and Google profile first, then the big sites, then the small ones. Some directories are slow to update, so check again in a month.

Keep it that way

Any time you change your number, move or rename the business, go back through your list. Be careful with tracking numbers, which can scatter extra phone numbers around the web. If you want help sorting it out, get in touch.