The quality, quantity, and consistency of your business NAP, or Name / Address / Phone, in external listings impact how your business ranks locally in search engine optimization (SEO). External listings, or citations, include pages like Google Business, Facebook, Yelp, and Yellow Pages, to name a few, contribute to how Google and other search engines determine your rankings.
For example, Google scans the web for mentions of your business name, website, phone number, and address. It then compares information to other sources, such as business filings and telephone records. Your local ranking is greatly influenced by how your business is listed across these external listings, your website, and your Google Business page.
With hundreds of possible external websites pointing every which way, it’s hard to keep up with those that are considered relevant to SEO. While each is important, some external listings carry more weight than their brethren.
The heaviest of the heavy hitters include big data providers, like InfoGroup, Acxiom, Localeze, and Factual. Once these key players have corrected your listing, make sure your listing is claimed and correct on authority directories like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Once these key sites have your correct information, claim and correct your 2nd and 3rd tier resources like YellowPages.com, Yelp, UrbanSpoon, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Online resources, like moz.com, offer valuable resources as to which of the 2nd and 3rd tier websites carry the most weight and should be considered most vital in your efforts to create consistent, quality NAP. You’ll also be able to utilize moz.com to see how your business information appears across these key websites.
You may find your corrected information results in some duplicates or inconsistent listings until the major search engines have picked up on your new, corrected, consistent listings. The process can be overwhelming and seem like too huge a task for one person — and it can be. That’s why you have us.
If you’re frustrated with your SEO, external listings, or duplicate listings, let our seasoned team help you clean up your NAP. For just $500, we can help your business successfully create quality, consistent NAP. To learn more, drop us a line at info@mediaworksonline.com or at 812/333-8099.
Cheers!
The Mediaworks Team
