What's Yext? And Could It Be the Next Big Thing for Businesses?
What's Yext? If you've not heard of this service, let's explain it briefly. Yext is a company that lets you get the word out about your business to 47 different directories without having to do it yourself. It will cost you, though. Not a deal-breaker type of "cost you." But it's not free. More on that in a minute.
For those businesses, organizations, and associations who don't have the time to surf nearly 50 sites and discover how to submit your listing, Yext might be an invaluable tool. Write up what you want to tell your local market space and Yext makes you visible to your chosen region instantly. Another feature is that what you post can be updated through the service very quickly.
We mention this because by going the old-fashioned route -- visiting all of the directories on your own -- it can take a couple of weeks for the chosen directory to provide you with the update you've requested. In other words, for those entities that want to offer coupons or daily offers, Yext is made to handle it.
And let's say you're thinking of subscribing to Yahoo Enhanced Listings. That's a charge of $119.40 yearly. With Yext, it's all part of the package.
Please note, there is one super-important listing which Yext cannot help with , Google + Local Listings. For advice on getting a your listing to appear to appear on google when a potential client does a local search, read this.
So, how much will Yext set you back? Five-hundred dollars annually.
DIY vs. Professional Help vs. Yext
There are three ways to proceed with getting listed on directories. They are:
DIY. If you place a small value on your time, this route works. On average it will take you a day-or-two to hit the 47 directories that Yext does instantaneously. Remember though, unlike Yext, it could take anywhere from a couple of days to a few months for you to appear. If you find yourself in a mission-critical situation, it's simply not practical to take this project on alone. Contract with a Citation Building Professional or a Search Engine Optimization Company.
Getting your vitals -- the name of your place, its address, phone number, and other info -- into a directory and link building aren't the same. The tougher of the two is link building. That's why you'll find that citation building won't set you back too much. A couple of companies we can pass along are NGS Marketing ($230 for 60 citations) and Whitespark ($200 for citations in 50 large directories. For $500, Whitespark gets you a ticket for 100 mainstream directories and approximately 20 extremely local directories).
We've put together a handy little chart that should give you a brief idea of the three ways of "going local" on an Internet directory, side-by-side. Take a look:
Compare | DIY | Professional | Yext |
Cost | Free | $200 to $500 (one time) | $500 (annually) |
Time (Effort) | 10 – 20 Hours | Less Than 2 Hours | |
Number of Listings | 30 – 60 | 50 – 120 | 47 |
Google + Local Listing Page Creation | Yes. | No. Google wants you to confirm your address. They actually send you a postcard by snail mail. | No. |
Benefits For Google Local Search Rankings | Yes. It also helps to have at least 20 structured citations from high quality sites. | Yes | Yes |
Yahoo Enhanced Local Listing | It costs $9.95 per month. | It's part of the service. | |
Time For Listings To Go Live | Takes time, like a couple of hours to a few weeks. | Generally "goes live" immediately. | |
Updating | Manually | Manually | Yes |
(This table and article heavily draws upon information provided in Yext Review.)
Some Issues With Yext to Think About
At review site Big Diastemia, they scrutinize Yext. Pretty detailed, but the bottom line is they aren't too kind to the service. Among the negative comments posted on BD are things like this:
There's a concern that Google's way of doing things (specifically their Terms of Service) might penalize people who contract with Yext. Big Search doesn't like it when people try to out-fox the system for higher rankings.
Duplicate listings are another red flag for Google. A citation building pro's job will ferret out and eliminate duplicate listings. Yext doesn't.
Yext uses very aggressive sales practices which turns some folks off.
Other critics question what happens when you try to cancel or don't renew Yext. Does your listing vanish? According to the blog Kat & Mouse, the “core information” (name, address, and phone number) doesn't get scratched. Videos, pictures and coupons will.
Obviously, the ultimate decision is up to you. Like anything that requires you to pay for a service, do your research. We just hope that we've helped a little to fill your knowledge bank.
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