NAP (name, address, phone number)

Customers call the number they find. If an old directory still shows your previous number or address, that call or visit is lost, and you never hear about it.

Your Google profile also depends on what the rest of the web says. Google gathers information from other sources, such as user reports and licensed data, and may update your profile when they say your details are wrong or out of date. A suggested edit you don't answer within 4 days can go live if public information, such as your own website, supports it.

Google also asks that the name on your profile be the real one you use consistently on your storefront, website and stationery. NAP itself is SEO shorthand, not a Google term.

1. Write one reference version: the name on your sign, the full address as the post office writes it, and one main phone number with the area code.
2. Open your Google Business Profile and compare. Text in blue in the editor was changed by Google, so check it first. Our guide to setting up a Google Business Profile shows where each field is.
3. Compare the footer and contact page of your website.
4. Search Google for your business name and town, and open every site that lists you: directories, social profiles, booking and review sites. Correct or claim the entries that differ.
5. When you move or change number, update them all in the same week, starting with Google and your website.

• Adding services or the town to the name on Google, such as "Riverside Physio Back Pain Leeds". Google doesn't allow it and may suspend the profile.
• Using a P.O. box or a virtual office as the address. Google doesn't accept either.
• A different number on each site, or a call centre line instead of your local one. Google asks for a local number under your direct control.