Local SEO NAP - Two Different Cities....Same Zip Code

[DarinPirkey]

I've come across this recently and wanted to get your thoughts.

I personally live in a city called Greenacres (yes, it's the place to be) but my zip code is also for Lake Worth.  I'm a local SEO company so doing Local SEO stuff is pretty pointless (Google changed that in 2010) but I am sure other people have this issue for their business.

Question,

What do you do when your zip code is for two different cities.  Do you try to make all NAPs (Name Address Phone Numbers) the same city.  What if you cant'? Does having the NAP show up different cities hurt your efforts? etc.  Obviously I think you'd try to keep the NAP as consistent as possible but what do you do if the citation source changes it or only uses the major of the two cities?

There isn't a right or wrong answer (or maybe there is) but I wanted to get some thoughts on it.

Darin.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Vz,

Yes, I do think this could cause problems. It seems you are not actually having to solve an issue like this, but are just curious about it. In my opinion, this is the type of issue one would either need to take up with the RERs at the Google Map Maker Forum (http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/map-maker), or try to get direct help with from Google staff at the Google Data Issues phone number (http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs). Additionally, it might be necessary to talk to whichever directories are automatically changing the city name to see if something can be done about this. Inconsistent NAP is a major issue, so resolution, if possible, would be very important.

[DarinPirkey]

Yes, you have my question correct.  I am an SEO so I don't do local citations but I was just thinking that a person who is in my city would have the same problem.  So my question is how to handle this.  As another example I worked with a plumber in Coconut Creek before and their listing was changed to Pompano Beach on YP.com.   Coconut Creek used to be part of Pompano but became it's own city not to long ago.  Do you think that would be a problem with the NAP since the city won't be the same?

[MiriamEllis]

Hi vzPro,

I want to be sure I understand your question. Are you saying that in trying to create citations for Greenacres businesses, indexes/directories are automatically changing the city name to Lake Worth? If so, it could be that Greenacres is not a recognized city name, in the eyes of these indexes/directories. This was my first thought, as I believe I've seen a similar situation reported in the Google and Your Business Forum.

However, I did a simple Google search for 'shoe store greenacres fl' and Google is showing me some local Greenacres results, but they are mixed with Lake Worth results and one West Palm Beach result, interestingly. So, Greenacres appears to exist in Google's index of cities. This begs the question: if not on Google's local product, then on which product are you experiencing this issue of the city being automatically changed, if I have correctly described what you are experiencing?

When oddities like this arise, typically the best thing to do is to get in touch with a Google Mapmaker RER to see if they can help clarify Google's view of the geography. Please, feel free to provide further details.