3 Map Details You Must Standardize Today to Protect Your Reputation

Your business probably appears in more places online than you realize. Google Maps, Facebook, Apple Maps, and a few directories you're fairly sure you never signed up for. That's completely normal!

The trouble starts when those places disagree with each other. One says 02-123-4567, another says +66 2 123 4567, and a third still lists the number you stopped using two years ago.

Luckily, only three details really need to match: your business name, your address and your phone number. Marketers call this NAP consistency, which sounds far more complicated than it is. Get those three identical across Google Maps, Facebook, Apple Maps and every directory that lists you, and you've fixed most of the problem.

Here's exactly what each one should look like.

Which 3 details need to match everywhere?

1. Your business name

Use the same name as the one on any physical signage you have.

It's tempting to squeeze in a few extra words, something like “Baan Suay Cafe Best Coffee Sukhumvit”, because it feels like it should help more people find you. It doesn't!

Google is strict about this one. Its guidelines say adding unnecessary information to your business name is NOT permitted, and that doing it could get your profile suspended.

The small stuff counts too: pick “&” or “and” and stick with it; decide whether you're including “Co., Ltd.”, and after that, be sure to use that exact version everywhere!

2. Your address, and your map pin

These are two separate things!

To clarify, your address is the text people see, but your pin is the marker on the map that determines where customers are led to when they click “Directions”.

So you can have a perfectly correct address and a pin sitting on the building behind you. Be sure to check both!

3. Your phone number

The golden rule here is to use just one number, everywhere.

Be sure to check for these two things:

1.      Old numbers on any old listings

2.      Formatting!

02-123-4567 and (02) 123 4567 might basically be the same to you, but a search engine sees that as different pieces of info.

What happens if my details don't match?

What usually happens is that you end up with duplicate listings, and your reviews get split between them.

So the 40 lovely reviews you've worked hard for are now 25 in one place and 15 in another. If these are positive reviews, you could be losing out on what’s essentially free advertising!

Search platforms also get less confident about recommending a business whose own details contradict each other, and don’t forget: less confidence means less visibility.

A few questions people always ask

Can I add my location or service to my business name?

Not unless it's actually part of your real name. Anything else and Google could see it as a breach of their policy…which might get your profile suspended.

I found two listings for my business. What now?

That's a duplicate, which happens more often than you’d think. If you created the second one yourself, you can remove it from your Google account. Just be very careful you're deleting the right one!

A quick heads up on this: when two profiles get merged, the reviews are combined, and your replies to those reviews are deleted.

Does the phone number format really matter that much?

Yes! Pick one way of writing it and use that everywhere!!

How often should I check all this?

I recommend at least every three months. Seriously, just set a repeating reminder on your phone! But always remember to check (and double, triple quadruple check) straight away if you move, change your number, or open a new social account.

If remembering things every three months isn't your strong suit (we've all been there!), you can have your listings kept in sync automatically instead.