Why NAP & User Experience Are Essential For Local SEO

NAP For Local SEOOne of the important parts of Google’s local search and pack algorithms is NAP consistency. This is also important for your users’ journeys since they may discover you in online directories and social bookmarking sites. When you’re sure you have this consistency you’ll find search engines make fewer mistakes when processing your data and customers aren’t frustrated by incorrect contact information.

Diving into NAP Consistency

Now that you understand how this impacts your local SEO, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty. Doing so is important because when your NAP is either inconsistent or inaccurate people will become frustrated and move on to another site.

Common Reasons for NAP Inconsistency

Typically this is caused by human error or changes you’ve made to your business. The most common reasons include:

  • You may have changed your business address, but did you update any online links (e.g., citations, directory listings) that are pointing to it?
  • Is your store address different than your company’s registered address? Are you using them both online?
  • Do you have several different phone numbers for your business? (Just a note, be careful with generating unique phone numbers to track each directory you submit your business’ website too. This can result in an inconsistent NAP which in turn will hurt your SEO. If this is something you’ve already done, it’s important to delete or merge your duplicate Google business profile listings as soon as possible.)

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re causing issues for your local SEO. Unfortunately, you’re also causing issues for your clients who find you in the SERPs. This will further harm your SEO.

Understanding How NAP Consistency Impacts Your Clients

It’s important to realize that user experience extends beyond local SEO. How the journey is managed and whether you’re satisfying your clients is also important. Your ability to accurately track this journey is vital.

Identifying When the User Journey Begins

While you may think that the user journey starts when your user makes their first inquiry about your business, it starts much sooner than this. According to Google, there are 5 touchpoints that initiate the journey. These include:

  • Finding your business through a search engine
  • Visiting your business in person at a brick-and-mortar location
  • Using a website or an app
  • Locating your business on a map
  • Using an online portal (e.g., directories where you have citations and listings)

Regardless of which of these ways your customers found you, this is when their user journey began. This is also when they come into contact with your NAP and the importance of NAP consistency begins. Essentially this is your opportunity to make a great first impression by providing consistent information to help them move forward on their journey toward doing business with you.

Create NAP Consistency and Improve Your Local SEO Today

When you have a consistent NAP your website is more likely to appear in the Local Pack which means you’ll get a lot more visitors. You need to be ready for this to happen. This means ensuring you have fast-loading pages and the content your visitors are looking for.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when you’re working with your NAP. There are many other things that you need to know and do so you can improve your local SEO. Taking the time to learn and implement these things can mean hours spent away from managing your business. That’s why we want you to know we’re here for you at the Affordable SEO Company in Tampa Bay, Florida.

We have a deep understanding of NAP consistency and its importance. It’s something we’ve helped many clients with and look forward to helping you too. So, contact us today.