Topics: Search Engine Optimization (Seo) Technology

7 Reasons to Consider Yext PowerListings For Your Green Industry Business

Picture of Chris Heiler Author: Chris Heiler

yext local search softwareI know many of you have added your green industry business to many of the local search and business directories that are available online, such as Yelp, MerchantCircle, Manta, YellowPages.com, etc, etc, etc. I'm sure you would agree with me that it is a major pain to keep track of these listings. That said, it is valuable to have your business listed on these sites, for a couple of reasons: 

  1. Consumers do use these sites to search for local businesses like yours, and...

  2. Quantity, quality and consistency between these citations can lead to higher rankings for your website.

Up until April of 2013 we’ve relied on spreadsheets to manage the hundreds of client listings our agency maintains. As you can probably imagine, this was a major headache. We’ve since partnered with local search software company, Yext, to help us manage these listings.

I wish we hadn't waited so long to switch to the Yext software. It's been a valuable asset to our agency and clients, and may be the same to your business.

 

7 reasons Yext may be right for your green industry business

yext power listingsYext’s PowerListings software ensures that a company's location information is accurate online, up-to-date and enhanced with photos, featured messages and more. The Yext PowerListings Network reaches over 150 million consumers each month. Because of this, we feel that Yext is a wise investment for many green industry companies.

Following are seven reasons we believe Yext might be right for your business.

1. A single dashboard 

Yext streamlines the entire local search directory submission process and removes the major pain points for a small business by giving each business a single dashboard in which to manage their listings. In other words, no more outdated spreadsheets.

2. A single account

If you’ve submitted your business to a number of these local search directories you know what a pain it can be creating an account for each website. Oh yeah, you also have to keep track of that information.

Not only that, but you have to keep track of which sites have actually activated your account. For some sites it is immediate, but for others it can be weeks.

With Yext you only need one account. Yext will create the accounts and listings on each website for you--in about five minutes.

3. Locating “rogue” accounts

We have a client who has changed business names multiple times and also has different names for each service division. They have many “rogue” accounts scattered online, all with different, inconsistent information. These inconsistencies between citations can really hurt a company in local search.

Yext is a lifesaver in this regard. The Yext software will actually track down all accounts associated with your different phone numbers and addresses. You can then “claim” these accounts or eliminate them, essentially cleaning up your online presence for the search engines like Google and Bing.

4. Updating your listings in one place 

As mentioned above, Yext provides a single dashboard to manage all of your listings. This includes the ability to update your listings all at once. Make changes in your Yext dashboard and your 40+ listings scattered across the web will be updated immediately.

Again, consistency is critical. If your business name, phone number or address changes, you want all of these citations to reflect that. Yext can easily take care of this for you in about 30 seconds.

Below is a screenshot showing a small view into the Landscape Leadership dashboard on Yext.

yext dashboard view

5. Monitor reviews

Another pain point for small businesses like landscape contractors, lawn care operators and retailers like garden centers is the ability to keep track of online customer reviews across these multiple local search directories. The Yext software actively monitors a business listing for reviews. Anytime your business gets a review, it appears in the Yext dashboard.

If your business receives a lot of reviews, this tool is essential.

6. Add additional information and updates

Yext allows you to add additional information about your business that you otherwise would not be able to add in each individual directory. This includes extra information about your products and services, staff bios, event calendars and even menus. The more information you can include in your listings the more your business will stand out against competitors.

Yext also allows you to easily add a “featured message” to many of your listings. This is a great way to update all of your directories in real-time with your latest promotion, which could be as simple as a downloadable coupon on your website.

7. Keep up-to-date with new opportunities

Yext is always adding new sites to its PowerListings network, most recently Bing Places for Business. When Yext adds a new partner site like this your business is automatically added to the site. You don’t have to worry about missing out on opportunities, Yext takes care of this for you.

 

Why Yext might not be a good fit for your green industry business

We want to give you the full picture of Yext, drawbacks included, because this is not a decision to take lightly. With all of the advantages, Yext does have a few drawbacks to consider:

1. While Yext’s PowerListings network includes over 40 different local search and business directories, it does not include all of the most relevant sites, Google+ Local and Manta being the two that stand out most. However, it is not difficult to manually create an account on each of these.

2. Submitting your business to the Yext PowerListings network will cost $499 each year. That’s not chump change. But we still see the value, especially when you consider how these directories can impact your local search rankings as well as how much time the software can ultimately save you.

3. If you’re going to pull the trigger and invest in Yext you need to look at it as a long term commitment, not as a one-year test run. Your Yext license needs to be renewed each year to maintain control of your listings. If your licenses expires, your listings will not disappear, you just won’t have the same control over them.

If you think Yext might be a good fit for your business start by checking to see how your business appears across the internet. This is a free scan provided by Yext and only takes seconds. Just click the image below and fill in your business name and phone number. If you want to go the manual route we suggest downloading our free worksheet that lists the 20 most relevant local search and business directories. Grab it here!

 

 

 

Picture of Chris Heiler

About Chris Heiler

Chris is the founder and CEO of Landscape Leadership. He has been in the green industry for over 20 years. Aside from leading the team at Landscape Leadership he enjoys speaking at green industry events across the country sharing his insights on marketing and sales. Chris now lives in Austin, TX, a transplant from the midwest and the great state of Michigan.

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