This is going to sound incredibly boring, but stick with me because it’s actually important. Your business name, address, and phone number need to be exactly the same everywhere they appear online. Exactly. The. Same.
I know what you’re thinking. Does it really matter if you write “Street” on one site and “St” on another? Or if you include your suite number sometimes but not others? Surely Google’s smart enough to figure out it’s the same business?
Well, yes and no. Google is smart, but it’s also cautious. When it sees conflicting information about your business, it doesn’t know which version is correct. So it trusts you less. And when Google trusts you less, you rank worse in local search results.
This is what people in the SEO world call NAP consistency. NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. Catchy, right?
Why This Matters More Than You’d Think
Google’s trying to show people accurate information. If your address is listed as “123 High Street” on your website but “123 High St” on a directory site, Google has to decide which one is right – or whether they’re both wrong. Or whether they’re the same place but you’ve moved and not updated everything.
It’s not that Google can’t figure it out – it’s that inconsistency makes you look less trustworthy. And in local search, trust is everything.
Think about it from Google’s perspective. They’re showing millions of people search results every day. If they show someone the wrong address or phone number for a business, that’s a bad experience. So they’re cautious about businesses with inconsistent information.
The more consistent your NAP is across the web, the more confident Google is that the information is correct. And the more confident they are, the more likely they are to show you in search results.
What Counts as “Exactly the Same”
This is where people get tripped up. When I say exactly the same, I mean it. Here’s what needs to match:
- Your business name needs to be identical. If you’re “Smith Plumbing Ltd” on your website, don’t be “Smith Plumbing Limited” on directory sites. Pick one version and stick with it everywhere.
- Your address needs to match character for character. If you write “123 High Street” on your website, use “123 High Street” everywhere else. Not “123 High St” or “123 High Street, Unit 5” or “High Street 123.” Exactly the same.
- Your phone number needs to be in the same format. If you use “01234 567890” on your website, use that format everywhere. Not “01234567890” or “+44 1234 567890” or “(01234) 567890.” Same format, every time.
I know this seems pedantic. It is pedantic. But that’s the point — Google’s algorithms are pedantic too.
Where Your NAP Appears (And Why You Need to Check All of Them)
Your NAP appears in more places than you probably realise. Here are the main ones:
- Your website, obviously. Check your homepage, your contact page, your footer. Make sure they all match.
- Your Google Business Profile — this is the most important one. Whatever format you use here should be the format you use everywhere else.
- Online directories such as Yelp, Yell, and Thomson Local. If you’re listed on them, your NAP needs to match.
- Social media profiles — Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or anywhere you have a business presence.
- Industry-specific directories — if you’re a tradesperson, you might be on Checkatrade or Rated People. If you’re a restaurant, you might be on TripAdvisor. Check them all.
- Citation sites — these are websites that list business information, often scraped from other sources. You might not even know you’re on them, but you probably are.
The problem is that you might have listed your business on some of these sites years ago and forgotten about it. Or someone else might have added your business without you knowing. So you need to go through and check.
How to Find Where Your NAP Appears
The easiest way is to Google your business name and phone number. See what comes up. Check each result and make sure the information matches.
You can also use tools that check citations for you — some are free, some are paid. They’ll scan the web and tell you where your business is listed and whether the information is consistent.
But honestly, just Googling yourself is a good start. You’d be surprised what you find.
Fixing Inconsistencies (The Tedious but Necessary Part)
Once you’ve found inconsistencies, you need to fix them. This is the boring bit, but it has to be done.
For sites where you have an account, log in and update your information. Make sure it matches your Google Business Profile exactly.
For sites where you don’t have an account, you’ll need to claim your listing or contact the site to request changes. Some sites make this easy, others make it a pain — but it’s worth doing.
For citation sites that have scraped your information from elsewhere, you might need to update the source they’re pulling from, or contact them directly. It varies.
The key is to be systematic. Make a list of everywhere your business appears, check each one, and fix any that don’t match. It’s tedious, but not complicated.
What If You’ve Moved or Changed Your Phone Number?
If you’ve moved premises or changed your phone number, you need to update everything. All of it. Every single place your old information appears.
Start with your Google Business Profile — that’s the most important. Then work through your website, your social media, your directory listings, everything.
It’s a pain, I know. But if you leave old information out there, it’ll hurt your rankings. Google will see conflicting addresses and won’t know which one is current.
If you’ve moved recently, it’s worth doing a full audit of where your business information appears to make sure it’s all updated. Set aside an afternoon and just work through the list.
The Suite Number Problem
Here’s a specific issue that catches a lot of businesses out. If your business is in a building with multiple units, should you include your suite or unit number in your address?
The answer is simple: be consistent. If you include it on your Google Business Profile, include it everywhere. If you don’t include it there, don’t include it anywhere.
The problem comes when you include it sometimes but not others. “123 High Street, Unit 5” and “123 High Street” look like different addresses to Google’s algorithms, even though they’re the same place.
Pick one format and stick with it. Personally, I’d include the unit number if you have one, because it’s more specific and accurate — but the important thing is consistency.
What About Variations That Don’t Matter?
Some variations genuinely don’t matter. Capitalisation, for instance. “High Street” and “HIGH STREET” are both fine. Google’s not that pedantic.
Punctuation in your phone number usually doesn’t matter either, as long as the digits are the same. But it’s still wise to keep it consistent, just to be safe.
The stuff that matters is the actual content — the street name, the building number, and the phone digits. Get those consistent and you’re most of the way there.
How Long Does It Take to See Results?
Once you’ve fixed your NAP consistency, it takes a while for Google to notice and update its understanding of your business — we’re talking weeks, not days.
But it’s worth it. I’ve seen businesses improve their local search rankings significantly just by cleaning up their NAP consistency. It’s not the only factor, but it’s an important one.
And once you’ve done it, it’s done. You just need to remember to keep things consistent going forward. Whenever you update your information anywhere, make sure you update it everywhere.
The Ongoing Maintenance
NAP consistency isn’t a one-off job. It’s something you need to maintain.
Whenever you update your phone number, change your address, or even just rebrand your business name, you need to update it everywhere. Make a checklist of all the places your business information appears and work through it.
It’s tedious, but important. And it gets easier once you’ve done it the first time, because you’ll know where everything is.
Is This Really Worth the Effort?
Yes. I know it seems like a small thing, but local search rankings are determined by lots of small things — and NAP consistency is one of them.
Unlike some SEO tactics that are complicated or expensive, this one’s about being organised and consistent. It doesn’t cost anything except time. For the potential impact on your local search visibility, it’s absolutely worth doing.
Plus, it’s just good business practice. Having accurate, consistent information about your business makes you look professional. It makes it easier for customers to find and contact you. Even if it didn’t help with SEO, it would still be worth doing.