What Is NAP and Why Does It Matter?
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone. Simple enough. The problem is most takeaway owners set up their Google Business Profile a few years ago, put a slightly different trading name on Just Eat, listed a different mobile number on Facebook, and have never thought about it since.
Google's job is to give searchers accurate, trustworthy information. When it crawls the web and finds three different versions of your business details, it can't be sure which one is correct. So it hedges. It shows you less confidently. You slip down the local pack. A competitor with tidier listings takes your spot.
This isn't a theory. NAP consistency is one of the clearest signals in local SEO, cited repeatedly in Google's own guidance on how it ranks local results. It costs nothing to fix. It just takes time — roughly 30 minutes if you're organised.
What Counts as a Mismatch?
You might think your details are consistent. Check again. These are all real mismatches that confuse Google:
- "Raj's Chicken Shop" on Google vs "Rajs Chicken Shop" on Just Eat (missing apostrophe)
- "123 High Street" vs "123 High St" vs "123 High St." (abbreviations vary)
- A landline on Google, a mobile on TripAdvisor
- An old address after you moved premises two years ago, still live on a directory site
- "Open until 11pm" on Google vs "Open until 10:30pm" on Facebook — not NAP, but signals conflict
- Your website footer still showing a number you've since changed
Any of these is enough to introduce doubt. Fix them all and you remove the doubt entirely.
Where Google Looks: The Platforms That Actually Count
Not every mention of your business carries equal weight. Focus your audit on the platforms Google actively crawls and trusts.
| Platform | Why It Matters | Difficulty to Update |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | The primary source — get this right first | Easy, instant |
| Your own website | Second most trusted source — footer, contact page, schema markup | Easy if you own the site |
| Just Eat listing | High traffic, well-indexed by Google | Via Just Eat partner portal |
| Deliveroo listing | Same as above | Via Deliveroo partner hub |
| Uber Eats listing | Same as above | Via Uber Eats manager |
| Facebook Business Page | Google indexes Facebook pages | Easy via page settings |
| TripAdvisor | Strong domain authority, widely crawled | Via management centre — can take days |
| Yelp UK | Lower UK traffic but still indexed | Via Yelp for Business |
| Yell.com | Old but still crawled | Via Yell business account |
| Apple Maps | Catches iPhone users not on Google Maps | Via Apple Maps Connect |
If you've ever been listed on a local newspaper directory, a community site, or an old "best takeaways in [your town]" roundup, those count too. Google aggregates the lot.
The 30-Minute NAP Audit: Do This Now
Grab a notepad. Write down your definitive NAP — the exact name, address and phone you want everywhere. Then work through this list.
- Search your business name on Google. Look at the Knowledge Panel on the right. Is the name, address and phone exactly right? Click "Suggest an edit" if not, or log into Google Business Profile to fix it yourself — that's faster.
- Open your Google Business Profile dashboard. Check the name, address, phone, website URL and category. Make sure your website URL points to your actual site, not an old URL.
- Check your own website. Look at your footer, your contact page and — if your site has one — the "About" page. Do they all show the same details? If your site has schema markup, check that too (your web developer can do this in under five minutes).
- Log into your Just Eat partner portal. Find your restaurant info section. Cross-check name, address and phone against your definitive NAP word for word.
- Repeat for Deliveroo and Uber Eats if you're on them. Same process.
- Open your Facebook Business Page. Go to Page Settings > Page Info. Check name, address, phone and website URL.
- Go to TripAdvisor's management centre. Log in and review your listing details. Note: TripAdvisor changes can take several business days to go live.
- Search Google for your phone number in quotes — e.g. "01234 567890". Scan the results for any directory listings showing different details. Click through and update any that are wrong.
- Search Google for your old address or old trading name (if you've ever changed either). Find any pages still showing outdated info and request corrections.
- Check Apple Maps Connect. Many shops ignore this. iPhone users searching Apple Maps won't find you properly if your listing is wrong or unclaimed.
That's the full audit. Some fixes happen instantly. TripAdvisor and some directory sites take longer — note them down, check back in a week. The goal is a single source of truth everywhere.
If your website is the problem — old number in the footer, no schema markup, or you can't log in because a previous developer owns the account — contact us and we'll sort it as part of any Takely build.
Schema Markup: The Part Most Takeaways Skip
Schema markup is a block of structured data that lives in your website's code. It tells Google, in plain machine-readable language: "This is a restaurant. The name is X. The address is Y. The phone is Z. Opening hours are A to B."
Without it, Google has to guess your details by reading your page like a human would. With it, there's no guessing. Google's own documentation calls schema one of the clearest ways to help it understand a local business page.
A Wix site built from a template almost certainly doesn't have proper LocalBusiness schema. A PDF menu definitely doesn't. This is one reason we build menus as real searchable text with schema on every Takely site — it's not just about customers finding items, it's about Google understanding what you serve and where you serve it.
You can test whether your current site has schema using Google's Rich Results Test tool (free, search for it). Paste your URL in and see what comes back. If nothing comes back under "Restaurant" or "LocalBusiness", you've got a gap.
What Consistent NAP Actually Does to Your Rankings
Local search rankings are decided by three main factors: relevance (does your listing match what someone searched?), distance (are you near them?), and prominence (how trusted and well-known is your business online?).
NAP consistency feeds directly into prominence. Every mention of your correct details, across credible platforms, acts as a vote of confidence. Industry research consistently shows that citation consistency is among the top local ranking factors — not because it's exciting, but because it's foundational.
The practical effect: once you've cleaned up mismatches, you stop leaking ranking signals. You won't jump from position 8 to position 1 overnight. But over four to eight weeks, as Google re-crawls those pages, you'll typically see steady movement — especially in less competitive towns and categories.
If you've already done the audit and still can't work out why you're not showing up, the problem might be elsewhere. Read why your takeaway isn't showing up on Google for a broader diagnosis.
How to Keep NAP Consistent Going Forward
One audit fixes today's mess. What prevents tomorrow's?
- Designate one source of truth. Your Google Business Profile is the master record. Every other platform copies it.
- Change your number or move premises? Update everywhere in the same week. Set a reminder to check all platforms on that same day.
- Don't let staff update listings ad hoc. One person owns the business info. That's it.
- Screenshot your current correct NAP and save it somewhere obvious — in a shared Google Doc, pinned in your WhatsApp group, wherever your team actually looks.
- When you join a new platform (a new delivery app, a local directory, a review site), copy from that master record. Never type it from memory.
For a full picture of how your Google Business Profile fits into local SEO, see our guide to Google Business Profile for takeaways.
The Quick Summary
| Task | Time | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Fix Google Business Profile | 5 min | High — primary source |
| Update website footer + contact page | 5 min | High — second most trusted |
| Audit ordering app listings (JE/DR/UE) | 10 min | High — heavily indexed |
| Fix Facebook Business Page | 5 min | Medium |
| Update TripAdvisor + directories | 5 min (then wait) | Medium |
| Add/fix schema markup on website | 30–60 min (dev time) | High — machine-readable trust signal |
Total time for the basics: roughly 30 minutes. Most takeaway owners have never done it. That's your edge.
Frequently asked questions
Does NAP consistency really affect Google rankings?
Yes. Google uses mentions of your business across the web to verify that your listing is accurate and trustworthy. When those mentions conflict — different phone numbers, spelling variations, old addresses — Google's confidence in your listing drops and your local ranking suffers. Fixing mismatches removes that doubt. It's one of the few free improvements with a clear, measurable effect over time.
How long does it take to see results after fixing NAP?
Allow four to eight weeks. Google re-crawls pages on its own schedule, so changes don't show up instantly. Your Google Business Profile updates fastest. TripAdvisor and directory sites take longer to be re-crawled. Don't expect overnight movement, but most shops notice steady improvement within a couple of months — particularly in less competitive local markets.
Does it matter if Just Eat uses a slightly different version of my name?
Yes — even small differences matter. "Raj's Pizza" and "Rajs Pizza" are technically different strings. Google can often figure out they're the same business, but it introduces uncertainty. Use your exact registered trading name consistently across every platform, including punctuation and capitalisation. It takes two minutes to fix and removes any ambiguity.
What if I've moved address and can't update an old directory listing?
Try logging into the directory site to claim or update your listing. If you can't claim it, use the site's contact or correction form — most directories have one. For major sites like Yell or Yelp, you can flag incorrect information even without account access. Google's support team can also help remove or correct Knowledge Panel data that comes from third-party sources.
Do I need schema markup if I'm already on Google Business Profile?
Yes, they serve different purposes. Your Google Business Profile is a Google-managed listing. Schema markup on your own website tells Google what's on your site directly, in structured machine-readable code. Without it, Google guesses. With it, Google knows. Both signals together are stronger than either alone — and schema is one of the things most DIY website builders quietly leave out.
Should I list my takeaway on every directory I can find?
Quality over quantity. A handful of consistent, well-maintained listings on high-authority platforms (Google, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Yell, Yelp) outperforms dozens of listings on low-quality directories — especially if those extra listings drift out of date. Spreading yourself thin and then failing to keep details updated creates more problems than it solves.
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