Local signals: NAP and citations

Module 6: Getting found locally · Reading time: 11 minutes

Learning objective: After this lesson you can name the three factors Google itself gives for local ranking, explain what you can and cannot influence, make your business details (NAP) consistent everywhere, and create local pages without falling into the doorway page trap.

Key concepts: local ranking, relevance, distance, prominence, NAP (name, address, phone), citations, consistency, Business Register, industry directories, local pages, doorway pages, fake locations

What Google itself says

Lots of stories go around about local results (the map with businesses and Google Maps). Google has its own help page on the subject, and it names three factors:

And one sentence to remember when someone tries to sell you something else: according to Google, there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

Distance also explains why you cannot be at the top everywhere. If someone in Amersfoort-Noord searches for a florist, they see different businesses from someone in the town centre. That is why "I'm in position 5" says little without knowing where the searcher was. A fake address closer to the centre (a virtual office or a PO box) is not allowed (lesson 6.1), so it does not solve this either.

NAP: name, address, phone

NAP stands for name, address and phone number. It is not a Google term, but a handy concept from everyday practice: the three details that pin your business down as a place in the real world. They appear on your website, in your Google profile, at Apple and Bing (lesson 6.3), in the Business Register of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (KVK) or your own country's business register, on your invoices, in industry directories, on your social media pages and on review sites.

Why would it matter whether they are exactly the same everywhere? For two reasons you don't have to take on faith, but can check for yourself:

1. Customers. An old phone number in a directory or a previous address on Facebook costs you customers who cannot reach you. That is the most important reason.
2. Search engines and map services. Google and Apple compare details from different sources. Google says in its help that the verification methods depend partly on public information, and that anyone can suggest changes. If three different addresses are online, there is a bigger chance that your profile gets changed or that verification becomes difficult.

A common claim is that "NAP consistency is a ranking factor" with a certain weight. Google never says that, so this course doesn't claim it either. You do it for your customers and to avoid confusion.

What "the same" means

The same means: the same details, not necessarily the same characters. Voorbeeldstraat 12 and Voorbeeldstr. 12 are the same address; 033 000 0000 and +31 33 000 0000 are the same number. What does matter:

• a different house number, an old street or a previous postcode;
• a different phone number, such as the owner's mobile number in one place and the landline in another;
• a different name: "Bloemenatelier Lotte" versus "Lotte Bloemen V.O.F." Your trading name may differ from your registered legal name, but use the same trading name everywhere towards customers.

Citations: where else is your business listed?

A citation is any place on the internet where your business is mentioned with its name and address or phone number, with or without a link. Think of:

• the Business Register of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (KVK), or the business register in your country;
• industry sites and professional associations (a florists' association, a register of installers);
• local sites: the local business association, the council, the shopping centre, the local newspaper;
• general directories and map services;
• your own social media pages;
• review sites.

You don't need to be in a hundred directories; many directories are worthless and some exist only to sell you a paid package. Quality counts: a listing on the site of the florists' association or the shopping centre says something about your business, a listing on some random link farm does not (lessons 7.5 and 8.2).

Approach in three steps:

1. Take stock. Search for your business name, your phone number (in quotation marks) and your old address if you have moved. Note down every place along with the details shown there.
2. Correct anything that is wrong, starting with the places customers actually visit. Many directories have a button to claim your listing or report a change.
3. Add a few places that genuinely belong with your business.

Local pages without tricks

If you have several locations, give each location its own page on your site with the real address, opening hours, directions, photos of that location and the people who work there. Link that page to the profile of that location.

What is not allowed: dozens of near-identical pages such as "Bloemist Amersfoort", "Bloemist Leusden", "Bloemist Soest" (florist in Amersfoort, Leusden, Soest) with only the place name changed, just to be found in every town. Google's spam policies call this doorway abuse, giving as an example pages targeted at particular regions or cities that funnel visitors to one page. If you really do deliver in Leusden and Soest, say so honestly on your delivery page, with the delivery costs and times per town; that is useful information instead of a copy.

In practice: profile, site and structured data the same

On your own site, put your NAP on the contact page and in the footer, as plain text (not an image), with the phone number as a clickable tel: link. It also goes into your structured data (lesson 5.2):

<a href="tel:+31330000000">033 000 0000</a>

"name": "Bloemenatelier Lotte",
"telephone": "+31 33 000 0000",
"address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "Voorbeeldstraat 12",
             "postalCode": "3811 AA", "addressLocality": "Amersfoort", "addressCountry": "NL" }

WebOké's AI Builder creates this block itself from your site's business details; in WordPress an SEO plugin or your theme does it, and other website builders work in a similar way. Exercise A6.4 compares exactly these places with what is in your profile.

Summary

• Google names three factors for local results: relevance, distance and prominence. You cannot buy or request a better position.
• NAP is name, address and phone; keep them the same everywhere, above all for your customers.
• The same means the same details, not the same spelling; a different number or an old address is a real problem.
• Update your citations: take stock, correct, and add places that genuinely belong with you.
• A separate page for each real location is good; near-identical pages per town are doorway abuse.

Quiz

Exercise

Exercise A6.4: Are your business details the same everywhere? Enter your business name, address, postcode, town and phone number as they appear in your Google Business Profile, plus the address of your website (and of your contact page, if you like). The program reads your pages, looks for your details in the structured data (LocalBusiness), in tel: links and in the visible text, and shows for each detail whether it matches. If you don't have your own site, use the site and profile of a business in your area.

Further reading

The steps in these articles apply to WebOké's control panels; other providers work in a similar way.

• WebOké manual 8.2: AI Builder: editing, versions and publishing
• Google, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google: https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=nl
• Google, Spam policies for Google web search (doorway abuse): https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies
• Google, Guidelines for representing your business on Google: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=nl