META Descriptions and NAPs
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Does the meta description/snippet need to match the NAP for that office? If it doesn't, will it hurt local results/cause inconsistencies?
The reason I am asking is that we are using one line for one of our offices to answer texts. But, our other offices have their own distinct numbers. So, if we want people to text us and advertise it through the meta description/snippet, can we just use that one number for all the offices? Or, do we need to purchase additional lines?
Thanks,
Ruben
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Thanks!
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You can put anything into your meta description and it won't mess up any NAP inconsistencies. It's used purely as the text to show in SERPs - not related to SEO, link building, local map pack, etc.
Differences in NAP in the actual website content and various business citations could cause issues, but not in the meta description.
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I understand it has no direct effect on rankings, however this is a little different. In regards to NAPs, they have to be consistent and if they aren't, then it will hurt your rankings locally. So, if I have a toll-free number listed on Yelp, but then a local number on Yellow Pages, that could cause a problem.
However, what I don't know is what the effect of having a different number in the snippet/meta description would have or if that would cause a similarly inconsistency?
The reason I am asking this is a cost issue. It's cheap to have dedicated lines for each office for someone to call into, but adding the ability to text to each number cost a lot per extra line. So, I'm trying to figure out if there would be any ill effects to just using the same number across the snippets for the different locations, or if we need to just pay the extra amount.
- Ruben
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Not sure I totally understand the question but overall.. meta descriptions have no direct affect on rankings. The goal of a meta description is to entice people to select your link instead of the others on SERPs - use whatever it takes to make that happen.
If someone is looking for a specific office, it would make sense to use that specific office's info in the meta description.
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