NAP essentials
- The concept: The acronym for Name, Address, Phone
- The challenge: Your contact details must be strictly identical throughout the web (website, Google, social networks, directories)
- The risk: Even the slightest inconsistency will sow doubt in Google's mind and cause your local visibility to plummet
- Profit : Greater visibility on Google Maps and more trust from your future customers
In digital marketing, we often look for complex strategies to be visible. Yet one of the most powerful levers is also one of the simplest: the coherence of your contact information NAP.
Imagine giving three different versions of your name to three different people. No one will really know who you are. On the web, it's the same thing. If your contact details vary from one site to another, Google gets confused and ends up hiding you.
What does NAP actually mean?
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone consistency. Simply put: it's the art of ensuring that your name, address and telephone number are spelled exactly the same everywhere on the Internet.
Sound obvious? Not really. Between "Societe Martin", "Sarl Martin" and "Ets Martin & Fils", search engines and AIs may think they're different companies.
Why does Google hate imprecision?
NAP coherent
- Google validates your existence
- Best local ranking
- Customer confidence
- Appearance in the "Local Pack
NAP incoherent
- Google doubts you
- Favored competitors
- Lost customers
- Unprofessional image
3 steps to a perfect NAP
- Clean up your act: Type your company name into Google and list all the sites that mention you. Note any errors: a different abbreviation, an old number...
- Create your "official version": Define once and for all how your company should be presented (e.g. "Boulangerie Durand, 12 rue de la Paix, 01 02 03 04 05")
- Keep an eye on every change: Moving house? Take a look at your social networks, Google Business Profile and business directories