NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone Number. NAP is critical if you want your business to rank well in local search results, because search engines take NAP into account when determining which companies to show local results.
NAP validation is also required by the existing mobile map services and the newer voice search assistant services like amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri.
The business name used for validation must be listed correctly and not conflict or be confused with other local businesses.
The address for the business needs to be recognized by the U.S. portal service as a valid business address. Residential or mail-stop addresses will not validate.
The business phone number must be an area code that is local to the business address being validated.
Once you make sure that your NAP is correct, you must post it both on your website as well as on other sites throughout the internet. Search engines will cross reference your NAP information from a variety of websites as a validation that you are a legitimate business.
The NAP protocol was developed to fight spam sites. The goal is for search services to promote only real businesses. Therefore consistent NAP information on sites ranging from local directories like Four Square, Yelp, and the Yellow Pages will build up your consistent NAP information and result in your business being listed everywhere you want it to be.
What does your current NAP Validation look like?
The Business Success Scan will show you exactly where you are currently for NAP Validation and provide you with the resources to optimize it for your business.
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