NAP in SEO is all about your company’s name, address, and phone number (these days it also includes other contact information like email addresses or socials).
Don’t sleep on your NAP info. It’s one of the fundamental concepts of SEO that often gets overlooked. A consistent NAP is vital for all-important local search rankings.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about NAP and how to use it to boost local SEO performance.
We’ll cover:
- What NAP is
- Why it’s important for SEO
- How to optimize your NAP
- How to do local citations in 2025
What Is NAP in SEO?
NAP stands for Name (Your Business Name) – Address – Phone number. It is an abbreviation that refers to how Google and other search engines’ profile’ a business.
Here’s an example from one of our own listings:
Search engines use this basic information about a business to determine its authenticity and credibility.
Why Is NAP Important For SEO?
A consistent NAP is essential for local SEO (search engine optimization). Here’s why:
Google Wants to Show Real and Trustworthy Businesses
Search engines want to provide users with trustworthy search results.
A consistent name, address, and phone number shows Google that a business is real. This can help your business show up higher when people search for keywords related to what you do.
Businesses with solid SEO fundamentals (like NAP) have been consistently rewarded with higher rankings following Google updates as they aim to deliver trusted and diverse local results.
Local Pack and Map Listings
If someone searches for a term like “pizza place near me,” search engines show a list of local businesses on a map.
NAP is one of the big things search engines look at to determine which businesses to show in these local packs.
Consistent NAP across multiple platforms and local directories can increase the chances of your business being included.
User Experience
Think about a customer who wants to call your business. They look you up online and find that the phone number on Google differs from the number listed on Yelp.
That would be confusing.
They might call the wrong number or choose a different business with consistent NAP information.
If your business information is the same everywhere, it’s easy for potential customers to find and contact you.
How To Optimize NAP For SEO
Here’s how to strengthen your NAP profile and boost your search engine rankings:
Claim Your Google Business Profile
Claiming your Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business) is the most important task for NAP optimization. It allows you to manage the information Google displays about your business in local search results and Google Maps.
You’ll need to verify your connection to the business before you can manage its GBP (Google Business Profile). After verification, you can manage your profile and add your NAP and other details like opening hours, social media links, and more.
How To Do Local Citations in 2025 (Complete Guide)
So you want to rank well in Google and demonstrate consistent NAP to Google – why would you need to get more citations than just your Google Business Profile listing?
It’s all about consistency and presenting wide-ranging trust signals not only to search engines, but also to users too.
Directory listings and local citations are a great way to help people find you.
Start by making a list of popular online directories for business listings. Some well-known ones are Yelp, Bing Places, and Foursquare. But you can find many more that will be niche-specific for your particular business type.
Sign up to claim your listing and add your NAP information. Make sure your information is the same in every directory. The whole point is consistency.
Ensure NAP Consistency
This is the most common NAP-related issue.
Having different versions of your business name, address, or phone number across multiple platforms can dilute your SEO efforts.
For example, bad NAP consistency would be: Fat Joe, FatJoe, FATJOE, FAT JOE.
You’ll also need to ensure that your address and phone number are consistent.
If you’re working with a new SEO client, a NAP audit should be one of the first things you do, especiallyif they offer local-level services.
The business might have moved to a new address, changed names, or switched phone numbers. Make sure all listings and citations are up to date to maintain NAP consistency – you don’t want them to miss out on leads due to faulty info.
Update Your Website for NAP SEO
NAP optimization isn’t just about listing your business on third-party platforms. You also want to make sure the information on your website is correct.
This information should also be easily accessible to visitors and search engines alike.
Put your business’s name, address, and phone number in a location where it’s easy to see.
Many businesses place NAP information in the header or footer of their website.
You also need to make sure search engines can ‘see’ your NAP details. Don’t place the information in an image.
Add Local Schema Markup to Your Website
You can also add local schema markup to your website. This type of structured data helps search engines understand your NAP and other information about your business.
The easiest way to add schema markup is to use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper.
Go to the tool and select ‘Local Businesses’ from the options. Enter your homepage URL and click ‘Start Tagging.’
Highlight different elements of your page and choose the appropriate tag. You can tag your business name, address, phone number, opening hours, and more.
Once you’re done, click ‘CREATE HTML.’ The tool will then give you HTML code to add to your website.
After adding the code, use Schema Markup Validator to make sure it works. This tool will tell you if you added the code correctly and if search engines can see it.
Adding structured data helps search engines understand your business better. That can boost your visibility in search results.
Use A Local Citation Building Service
Of course, that’s all well and good for one or two listings, but for real NAP consistency – and the easy linking opportunities they offer – you want 25, or 100, or even 300 citations.
That is a lot of manual work even if most (but not all) are the listings are free…
So why not use a local citation building service instead?
Starting from only £50 for a one-and-done service with no recurring fees we can help you build great local SEO trust signals and a consistent NAP profile without any hassle.
Check out our Local Citation Building Service today to save yourself time and hassle – you can even have a nice nap while we work!
But Wait, I Have Multiple Locations!
Trying to manage local SEO across multiple locations? Don’t worry – it can be a headache, but we’ve got you covered with our full guide to local SEO for multiple locations here.
You can apply all you’ve learnt about NAP here and roll it out across multiple listings – as well as some other expert tips for managing multi-location SEO.
Strengthen Your Rankings with NAP SEO
There are a lot of different aspects to a successful local SEO strategy. You need backlinks, high-quality content, on-page optimization, and more…
Sometimes, it’s easy to get lost in high-level strategies and overlook the basics.
NAP optimization is relatively simple but it plays a vital role in search ranking.
A consistent NAP can boost your performance in local organic search. It’s also key for getting customers to contact and visit your local business.
Don’t sleep on your NAP. Build your SEO strategy on a solid foundation by keeping your NAP in check.
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