If you want to stay in your business then improving your online visibility will be critical, whatever size of your business is. People who are looking for products/services that you or your competitors are offering also must know how to find you.
These days, 97% of consumers will start either by looking at your business advertising or through an online search. The chances of your business showing up among their local search results will depend on several factors, but one very important factor is your NAP (Name, address, and phone number) that may always be within your own control.
Why is NAP important?
You should never overlook the importance of your NAP. You may have registered yourself on either any free business directory Australia or a certain paid online business directory, your potential customer will use your NAP to find you out. This will also offer a boost to your SEO if more people search your company.
Google always values providing correct information to all its users. Therefore, all your NAP information must be correct when you are going to optimize your website meant for local search. Also, Google values the consistency of information wherever it may appear online.
Therefore, we don’t think that you need any further explanation to tell you why it is important for you to make sure that all your information entered in the online business directory must be accurate, consistent, and updated.
You cannot assume that any search engines or your customers will find your right NAP information if you have entered different names, addresses, or wrong phone numbers.
Those businesses having accurate and consistent info listed all across different directories will also be rewarded by all search engines by providing a more favorable place in the search results. However, if your listings are pretty inconsistent then you will end up losing your business or make it difficult for your customers to even contact you.
If your customers who are looking for your services get the wrong address/phone number for your local area where they are searching, they are quite likely to give up searching you and go to your competitor.
As per the survey, almost 80% of the consumers may lose trust in local businesses in case they find incorrect or inconsistent phone numbers or business names listed online.
A few other statistics obtained from their survey of different consumers showed:
- About 24% said they usually try to call a local company before visiting it.
- About 40% stop searching for any local business in case they cannot find it due to the wrong address.
- About 68% would totally stop using any local business if they ever fund incorrect information given in online directories.
Therefore, if you have listed your products and services in more online directories then regularly check website of all those business directories to ensure that all the info entered on the list is accurate and consistent. Otherwise, the very purpose for which you have made an effort to enlist yourself will get defeated.
Also, it is important to see the customer’s feedback from time to time and address if any complaints are found.
