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What are NAP citations?
Citations refer to your name address and phone number. It is very important that this work starts with your Google business listing. Within your Google business listing is the opportunity to declare your business name, address, and phone number. If you are claiming your business listing you get to declare this yourself. Or, in the case that Google has already created one, you must claim it. It is important to understand Google will be the one that finally decides the NAP to use.
EXACT matching is important!
For example, if your business address is 123 any St. you want to match this exactly on every website that shows it. It is important that this name address and phone number match exactly, and we do mean exactly, to your Google business listing. Notice how St. isn’t spelled out, the first letter is capital in and uses a period. Using 123 any st. is incorrect. The reason this is important is that it sends a strong signal to Google that all these mentions of your NAP equal the same business. Google likes to return websites it is sure about. This helps to that end.
You would be surprised by all the third-party websites that have your name address and phone number. Websites like Facebook, Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, and directory sites all will mention your NAP. We first run reports to see how many citations you have. Then we work to fix each one. This is no small chore and can also be frustrating, as some of these companies try and hold your data ransom for paid services.
Either way, you need to do them
Whether you hire someone like us, or you want to do it yourself, citations and EXACTLY matching names addresses and phone numbers are critical to a balanced online presence. Also, keep in mind, this needs to be reviewed at least every 6 months, as many of these sites may change or revert your information back to something that doesn’t exactly match Google.