What does NAP mean?
Introduction
If your business has just started to invest in SEO, well it’s probably safe to say that you may now have a headache from all the marketing jargon that most marketing agencies use.
Yet we have the cure to that headache, as here at this marketing agency we do things differently.
We are different because we explain things clearly, and without the marketing waffle.
So, if you’ve landed on this page, were guessing you want to find out what NAP means, and how NAP can be used to improve your businesses seo.
So, without further ado, let’s explain a few things that you need to know about NAP.
What does NAP mean?
Now you’re probably thinking this will require a long drawn out explanation, yet NAP simply stands for your businesses name, its address and phone number.
However, what’s a little bit more complex is how you should use your businesses NAP details in order to improve your businesses SEO.
So, let our SEO experts explain how your business should use its NAP details in order to help improve your local seo.
NAP is only one part of the SEO process
Its fair to say that some businesses are always looking for that golden bullet, that’s to say that one bit of SEO knowledge that they can implement that will help to sky-rocket their business to the top of Google.
However, a word to the wise, there is no such golden bullet! So, if you’re thinking that all you need to do is build business citations, well you would be mistaken, and here’s why.
To have your business ranked at the top of Google you will need your website to have the strongest ranking signals, and for your business be deemed the most relevant for that query.
So, in a nutshell, you have to have the strongest ranking signals than all of your competitors, and also answer that question the best. This is the only way a business can rank at the top.
But here’s the thing, there are thought to be well over 200 ranking signals, so NAP only makes up a tiny fraction of the SEO work that is often required.
So, don’t get us wrong using NAP to improve your businesses seo is important, yet there are loads of other things your seo agency should be working on also.
First things first…
Make sure that the NAP information on your website is correct. Now you might be thinking, how on earth would our business have its name, address or phone number written incorrectly?
Well, you would be surprised, sometimes the NAP information is not written clearly, or sometimes the contact page has been updated with a new phone number and address, yet the footer address and phone number may read differently.
But by far the most common problem is when the NAP information is written in such a way that Googlebot simply cannot read the NAP information.
For example, if the NAP information is written within a picture. Also, sometimes the NAP information is not visible at all, for example a contact form may be used, and the only piece of NAP information that is shown is the businesses phone number.
So, do make sure that the NAP information is written on your website, but also so that Googlebot can read it easily.
Local phone number
Sometimes some businesses use a mobile phone number as their main contact number, that’s instead of using a landline number.
For some businesses they may have no choice but to use a mobile phone number, such as an emergency plumber for example.
Yet, if you do have the choice, then we would recommend listing your landline number.
Also its important to remember that you should use a local number that corresponds to the city or town you are optimising the website for.
Build citations
Now that you have your businesses NAP information spot on, it’s now time to build citations.
You should build citations on quality websites, such as Facebook. You should therefore build a company page, then make sure the businesses name, address and phone number are mentioned.
Be consistent!
Okay, so now you are tasked with building a load of business citations, so you may go and make yourself an espresso, and start writing your businesses NAP information on various websites.
Yet, you must be consistent! By consistent we mean this, the NAP information on your company website must match exactly with your business’s citations.
If you really want to push the boat out, well we would highly recommend that you get schema added to your website.
So, it’s worth paying a website designer, or an seo company to add schema to your website. You should ask the business to mark-up your businesses NAP details.
If you would like further help with your seo, then why not give us a ring?