Do You Need Yext?

I need Yext to get out of my life. Most self-published authors will likely to feel the same. Even if you become a big author, Yext with its PowerListings is one way you don’t need to spend your money. In fact, I believe they are part of the problem they claim they’re going to fix. Here’s why.

I have a serious issue, which Yext isn’t allowing me to fix. I sold two businesses, which I also operated from my home before taking the plunge into providing coaching and editing services exclusively.  ‘Writing as a Ghost’ and ‘Land the Interview Resumes’ were profitable, yet problematic as I moved toward my new goals. Since 2015, neither operate at 310 W 39th St., Vancouver, WA. After seven calls in one week for resume work, I realized I needed to scout out faulty listings to stop receiving calls for services I no longer offer. That’s when Yext intruded once again into my world.

I used Merchant Circle in the early days of my business as a ghost writer. It’s one of the first places I decided to make sure my listing was correct. Yext took over! Thus, Yext is interfering with my efforts to fix the problem.

It’s amazing how many of the listings it shows me in its PowerListings® Scan Results can’t be claimed without signing up for Yext’s Local Listings monthly fee to fix my scan results. If it seemed I was able to edit, clicking “Claim this listing” either sent me to a Yext shopping cart or an error message. “Something seems to be broken.” After two sites wasting my time, I found myself asking a question you need to ask well.

Just how dire is the  “27% of the time customers search for you, they will see the correct information” message for my business?

It could be a serious issue—but only if your target audience is in the local space. If you’re targeting a broader audience, local is only as important as your need for massive local traffic. Without that need, Yext is a waste of SEO  and advertising dollars.

Ultimately, your decision should be based on what type of customer you want to attract.

• Are you prepared to compete in the cut, cut and cut-again world of bargain-basement pricing? Yext will give you this even if your messaging is focused on the massive value you create for your customers.
• Are you prepared for spending hours on the phone and rarely advancing anyone to customer status because they are looking for the ‘cheapest’ option? Unless your content is well-crafted, this is likely what Yext will deliver as well.

I am not targeting the type of customer who uses Yext-based listings to find ‘Writing My Own Book.’ Thus, the warning doesn’t trigger anxiety for me personally. However, I am concerned for my clients who find all this search engine optimization stuff confusing. So many ideas businesses throw at us strive to capture our fears so we’ll pay money to protect ourselves. It’s an environment that is especially nauseating when I’m working with older clients.

What do you do about inaccurate listings?

I’ve tried to claim listings, but Yext seems to be in control of most of the sites that have the wrong business names. Paying a fee to correct an error on a site I never even signed up for just isn’t an option. Simultaneously, I recognize mergers and partnerships have created Yext alliances, so there are some sites I originally created a free listing on that now fall under Yext’s control.

My strategy is to correct those I can. Meanwhile, I’ve also asked Yext to delete those listings which don’t have my business name listed correctly. If they aren’t willing to do this, I refuse to pay them money to do it for me. They created the problem.

Not allowing business owners to change a basic business listing is unethical!

At the very least, I should have the option to report the business as closed—for free. Google does this, and I believe any online directory should do the same.

Preferably, Yext should make it easy for any business owner to at least correct the business name to reflect the business that is hosted at an address. Alternately, they could give business owners the option of removing any listing that displays incorrect information from the Yelp database. Because they require business owner verification to alter a listing anyway, it should be an easy enough feature to offer.

To require any business owner to pay to ‘update’ his or her information is as ethical as ransomware. Allowing a listing service under Yelp’s control to multiply false information and then demanding a fee to fix it is like infecting someone’s computer and then demanding they pay for the software that will ‘remove’ it. Yelp’s existing system feels like an extortion scheme, especially after you see their fees for ‘fixing’ your ‘problems.’

It’s my opinion Yext might be useful for some of you. However for most of you, there are far better SEO investments you could make.

What is your opinion? Leave your comments below.