Updating company NAP across various listings is an incredibly important part of an overall SEO strategy. First, a few definitions – NAP can be referred to as name, address, and phone number. A citation simply is a mention of the company name, address, or phone number anywhere on the web. Unfortunately, many law firms are notoriously bad at routinely updating their NAP and cleaning up old citations before submitting new ones.
Just how do you find NAP variations?
Sit down to write a list of any previous business names, corporate accounts, addresses, locations, and phone numbers. In order to create a well-rounded list it’s best to include people who have been at the company a long time, have a firm history of the company, or make sure that you have accurate records that you can continually refer back to for verification.
This can help provide a solid plan with what to look for. Then, search for NAP variations through a query and add those to the overall list as well. Finally, use Google to search for any variations that haven’t already been discovered. Remember to search for names, addresses, and phone numbers.
During this stage it’s also key to remember that there are different variations for different words. For example: if the previous address was 321 Smith Street, you would want to search for 321 Smith St. as well. Numerous variations can occur with names, addresses, and phone numbers. While searching in Google, type in the phone number of the business while excluding all names. Google will then surface any sites or pages that mention the phone number not attached to a specific company name. That creates awareness of even more variations in regards to company phone numbers.
Why should law firms strive to clean up their local citations now?
Citations consistency is one of the most important search ranking factors; it can often be incredibly easy to create accidental duplicate listings while also finding inconsistencies and continually playing clean up.
Citations inconsistency can create a definite ranking problem. Incorrect consistencies usually involve either an incorrect listing or a duplicate listing on a site, both of which can confuse potential clients. It’s also important to search through numerous NAP variation listings to create a well-rounded view, instead of focusing on one site only.
Cleaning up citations allows for a virtual clean slate to build from and start fresh. New citations can be created to be both helpful and informative to the potential client, which is a win-win for both parties. By searching for new citations to claim and update it, you can be sure that you are creating citations without duplicate listings since you’ve done the homework beforehand.
Cleaning up NAP variations to submit new, quality citations can greatly help your local search ranking. This is an important step that is often forgotten by many companies, including numerous law firms. However, by remaining dedicated to clean up and new creation, the chances of someone locally directly finding your business increases greatly, and also raises the success rate of finding interested clients that can help the company grow.
