Essentially, yes, a NAP listing and a local listing are rather similar. However, when people talk about local listings, they mean Google My Business profiles and Yelp, or other similar options. NAP listings fall into this same category, but they are different because there are so many.
In all, there are over 200 different websites that offer NAP listings. The more that your company is listed, the better.
What's Included in a NAP Listing?
Business Name
Address
Phone number
Basically, all NAP listings consist of the same three things: your business's name, your business address, and your company's phone number. Let's explore them in more depth.
Business Name
This is the legal name of your company. It needs to be accurate and not abbreviated in any form. That is unless you abbreviate the name of your business regularly and have it listed as such on your website. If the name on your website is Plumbing, Inc (just to use an example), then your NAP listings need to have it as Plumbing, Inc as well.
Address
Where is your business located? You shouldn't include P.O. boxes in your address instead, stick to your street address where customers and clients can find you. You can have a suite number in your address, as long as it's on your website.
Again, you must keep the address the same on your social media, website, and NAP listings.
Phone Number
How can people contact you if they have a question or want to hire your service? This phone number is their primary method of contact. It can be a cell phone number, a toll-free number, or a standard landline. You're good to go as long as it's the way to reach your business and matches all your other listings and website.
Of course, there is other business information that a NAP listing can include. Your company's website, fax number, social media account links, and a short description of your business often end up on these websites. Since you have control over what goes on them, filling out each NAP listing is important.
The more information you include, the more likely your listing will help improve where your company shows up in the search engine results, especially the local results.
In addition to improving your search engine results, your NAP listings can also bring in customers who prefer to use listings other than Google My Business. For this reason, you must be careful and ensure that you enter your information accurately.