Every business wanting to rank higher in organic search results needs a good NAP program. NAP (Name, Address, & Phone Number) data assists search engines to select the information to display in geo-targeted searches. In other words, if someone in your local region is searching for your type of business it is more likely you will appear towards the top of their search IF your company has correct, consistent NAP information to cross-reference. The more instances of that identical NAP data validates your business as being legitimate.
Consistent NAP In Online Directories
Although the number of citations (or places) where your NAP is listed is important, the consistency holds more weight. This is definitely a case of Quality over Quantity. Company contact information on your website, social media platforms, review sites, business directory listings, and online articles must be identical in order for Google and other search engines to identify the multiple citations they find.
Creating consistent backlink citations is time consuming, but not hard to do. For a new business owner, it is just a matter of submitting the same exact information in a short time frame to a multitude of listings starting with their website and Google +. The difficult part is correcting inconsistent NAP data already online. Search engines do not rely solely on what they find on the web, they also subscribe to business data gleaned by companies who collect and distribute business information for companies worldwide. Listings submitted by third parties may override the information you are trying to correct. For example: Company A finds an incorrect listing on InfoUSA and submits the changes, without realizing their more established listing on Yelp is also incorrect. When the search engines come across these listings, they negate each other and do not count as a citation for your company. Furthermore, if InfoUSA subscribes to the same database updated by Yelp, your updated listing may revert back to the incorrect version without you even knowing. It is essential to search for your company and compare every listing, then update them all at once.
In a nutshell, consistent "NAP"ping is essential to local organic search results. The time and effort spent is well worth it considering this task alone will improve organic searches for your company.