Why is NAP inconsistency not a big deal any more?

[larryk]

Before NAP was extremely important, but I saw Darren say,
"Citation inconsistency isn’t really a huge concern." (from post on this forum in July 22)

What changed?
Is there a link of Google also saying this?

thanks

 

[keyserholiday]

No, Google never comments on what is and what is not a ranking factor. It was from a presentation by Mike Blumenthal at LocalU Denver. It was based on his own research. I have seen businesses rank really well in their markets with major inconsistencies. Google has evolved in local and understanding and ranking business profiles.

 

[larryk]

No, Google never comments on what is and what is not a ranking factor. It was from a presentation by Mike Blumenthal at LocalU Denver. It was based on his own research. I have seen businesses rank really well in their markets with major inconsistencies. Google has evolved in local and understanding and ranking business profiles.

Thanks...
So even now (Oct 2022)... the info here: Call Tracking and Local SEO - 5 Myths Busted - Sterling Sky Inc
that is all accurate and up-to-date?

If any inconsistency in NAP, due to a tracking number happens... "google" already knows, as long as you do it the correct way (keep main business line in the list of GMB numbers and add tracking to top one)... all is good.

Thinking, if anything happens negative when adding a tracking number in the primary, it was only coincidence?

 

[keyserholiday]

Thanks...
So even now (Oct 2022)... the info here: Call Tracking and Local SEO - 5 Myths Busted - Sterling Sky Inc
that is all accurate and up-to-date?

If any inconsistency in NAP, due to a tracking number happens... "google" already knows, as long as you do it the correct way (keep main business line in the list of GMB numbers and add tracking to top one)... all is good.

Thinking, if anything happens negative when adding a tracking number in the primary, it was only coincidence?

That article is outdated. Some of the information is still solid today and the using different tracking numbers is not. I have long since used different tracking numbers on the website, GBP, Facebook, and Yelp for the franchises I work with. I have also test not adding the secondary phone number and didn't see any ranking decreases. Don't worry about NAP consistency.

 

[larryk]

That article is outdated. Some of the information is still solid today and the using different tracking numbers is not. I have long since used different tracking numbers on the website, GBP, Facebook, and Yelp for the franchises I work with. I have also test not adding the secondary phone number and didn't see any ranking decreases. Don't worry about NAP consistency.

Very much appreciate the reply

One more thing, can you clarify what you meant by this one part, "... and the using different tracking numbers is not."

thank you!

 

[keyserholiday]

I think you are overthinking it. NAP consistency is dead. Mike Blumenthal has said, Darren Shaw has said, I am saying it. Use different tracking numbers on GBP, your website, Yelp, and Facebook so that you can get your call data metrics. It will not hinder or negatively effect your rankings.

 

[JS Girard]

I think you are overthinking it. NAP consistency is dead. Mike Blumenthal has said, Darren Shaw has said, I am saying it. Use different tracking numbers on GBP, your website, Yelp, and Facebook so that you can get your call data metrics. It will not hinder or negatively effect your rankings.

As far as ranking, I agree. As far as keeping google from repeatedly popping out duplicates? Another story entirely, especially for SABs.

 

[inbound WSJ]

I think you are overthinking it. NAP consistency is dead. Mike Blumenthal has said, Darren Shaw has said, I am saying it. Use different tracking numbers on GBP, your website, Yelp, and Facebook so that you can get your call data metrics. It will not hinder or negatively effect your rankings.

That is not true at all. Everytime i fix inconsitent nap for clients, they move in rankings....

It makes no sense to say that. Small differences don't matter.. but variations of names, numbers and links to home or internal pages would matter and hurt you.

I pickup SEO campaigns from SEO companies that did not update their clients naps.. these clients benefit massively from these updates.

Google and etc have been known to say one thing, and the opposite or Just not taking their suggestion worked in the SEO 's benefit.

 

[keyserholiday]

That is not true at all. Everytime i fix inconsitent nap for clients, they move in rankings....

It makes no sense to say that. Small differences don't matter.. but variations of names, numbers and links to home or internal pages would matter and hurt you.

I pickup SEO campaigns from SEO companies that did not update their clients naps.. these clients benefit massively from these updates.

Google and etc have been known to say one thing, and the opposite or Just not taking their suggestion worked in the SEO 's benefit.

You and I have a vast difference of opinion on this subject. Is the only thing you do citation clean up or do you do other things? You probably use Yext as your citation clean-up service provider. If that is the case, then there is a lot more going on than just nap consistency.

 

[inbound WSJ]

You and I have a vast difference of opinion on this subject. Is the only thing you do citation clean up or do you do other things? You probably use Yext as your citation clean-up service provider. If that is the case, then there is a lot more going on than just nap consistency.

What kind of jab is that. You probably use yext.

How about ive been running my business for over 15 years. I know a thing or two about SEO .

We use multiple tools, including manual cleanup and building. Why would yext not be used, Moz lcoal, whitespark, bright local?

We see nice improvement across the board in maps when nap is inconsistent , but their website technical SEO is pretty good.

Normally its the major citations like yahoo, yp, yext and etc. Smaller citations dont seem to matter as much. But it is not something i am wiling to forgo and have clients lose potential revenue due to the loss of rankings.

 

[keyserholiday]

What kind of jab is that. You probably use yext.

How about ive been running my business for over 15 years. I know a thing or two about SEO .

We use multiple tools, including manual cleanup and building. Why would yext not be used, Moz lcoal, whitespark, bright local?

We see nice improvement across the board in maps when nap is inconsistent , but their website technical SEO is pretty good.

Normally its the major citations like yahoo, yp, yext and etc. Smaller citations dont seem to matter as much. But it is not something i am wiling to forgo and have clients lose potential revenue due to the loss of rankings.

It wasn't a jab. I know that you use Yext. I use Yext too. The citations that they build out or update, create backlinks, so it's not just data cleanup. I am trying to highlight it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, but an apples-to-oranges comparison. I also don't know if they had old citations that needed to be updated or if they never created them in the first place. I see that you use the same phone number on all of the citations and I don't. I use different tracking numbers for Google, FB, and Yelp. I have been in SEO for the same amount of time as you. I have witnessed a sharp decline in the importance of NAP consistency. I have seen too many GBPs rank with wildly incorrect NAP data. One of my clients kills it in her market and she had a lot of errors on her Yext scan. She had changed addresses multiple times over the years. None of it mattered for her SAB. The only value I see in citations is that if you don't create Yelp, Yahoo, Bing, and Apple Maps (if eligible) is to help trigger an autocomplete for your business.

Here is one screenshot of her rankings.

 

[dgrunited]

That is not true at all. Everytime i fix inconsitent nap for clients, they move in rankings....

It makes no sense to say that. Small differences don't matter.. but variations of names, numbers and links to home or internal pages would matter and hurt you.

I pickup SEO campaigns from SEO companies that did not update their clients naps.. these clients benefit massively from these updates.

Google and etc have been known to say one thing, and the opposite or Just not taking their suggestion worked in the SEO 's benefit.

I agree with you, especially on "Google and etc have been known to say one thing, and the opposite or Just not taking their suggestion worked in the SEO 's benefit."