Does anyone use Moz Local + Yext? How valuable is this for local businesses?
-
For brands that have a budget to pay $600 / year for valuable backlink directories, would you recommend Moz Local + Yext?
I would like to hear some feedback on marketers that use Yext.
Thanks,
Cole -
If both your Yext and Moz listings match, it won't matter, as the citation information will be correct no matter who they prioritize.
-
Hi Dudley,
I realize I am resurrecting an old post here, but can you give any more information on which of the two services will be able to update a record if using both Yext and MozLocal? Do data brokers favor one over the other or is it more luck of the draw?
-
We actually have a project in the works that will put whitespark down a few notches. They offer a great service, and I applaud their attention to detail and service to their clients.
BUT...I can't talk about it yet though. It will be a service and site to behold
As to Yext vs MOZ local, it just depends on what works best for your client's needs. Also, you are only allowed 5 listings with Acxiom before they charge you for each submission (goes off of submission IP address). Just an FYI for those that don't know.
-
Just wanted to chime in and add my experience with both providers.
To be clear, Yext is more expensive. It also is a direct feed into more listings. If you are trying to get listings published quickly and need to show results (or reports) to a client, Yext would be a better way to go. As a subscriber, you can also give your clients discounts from the Yext pricing page, which can help add to your overall total commitment from the client. As far as data being removed, the additional data that is added via Yext's api is no longer valid or displayed once you stop paying (they call it no longer a "trusted" listing). I have never had one revert back to a pre listing status. Yext uses one of the many large databases: Factual. Chances are that by submitting to factual the other data aggregators will pick up your listing with time, even if you have not submitted to them.
Moz local is a great resource for companies that have the time to wait. The data aggregators they submit to take time to publish the listing. Acxiom, Nuestar and the others can sometimes make it confusing or even very expensive to list on their data networks. Acxiom is one of the stronger databases, having been known to be a direct feed to Google.
My advice:
If you can afford to wait the 2-3 months to have the listing start to appear, then use Moz. The time period you have to wait is not necessarily the fault of Moz, as even if you submit directly to Acxiom yourself it will take 2-3 months to go live. Ultimately, your listing will appear on the other citation sites, it will just take longer to do so.
If you are looking for an additional source of income and are a great salesman, use Yext. Yext has a much better interface of showing how many listings are incorrect, (even if many of the ones that are listed are from their own proprietary citation sites. ). This makes it an easier sale to your clients, and also easier for you as an agency to get an idea of how bad your clients current citation status really is. Yext will get your listings posted very quickly, and give you a place to link to off of your main domain, giving your clients additional sources of validation very quickly. Some of the sites they submit to are a bit dinky, but hey, a link and validation source is just that. Pricing is higher, but I think its fair considering the speed and extras you get for the money.
AND... the elephant in the room is of course.. do it all yourself! This will offer the most control over all your listings and control over who and what to submit where. You will lose out on some of the other benefits of MOZ (cheaper cost vs your time and long wait) and YEXT (faster speed, lots of directories but higher cost). It's worth noting that some of the YEXT directories that they are partnered with you cannot actually submit to, as they are either created by YEXT or locked so that you have to use their service to submit your listing there.
-
Managing locations in multiple places can be a headache, but it should be fine to manage the same locations in both Moz Local and Yext. There are some overlaps between our distribution network and Yext's distribution network such as Factual and Foursquare. In those situations, only one of the two services will be able to update the record on that given partner.
-
Erica,
You mentioned you do not want to use both tools at the same time. Doesn't Yext cover sites that Moz Local does not cover?
-
Thanks Erica!
Sounds like I want to move forward with Moz Local for most of our customers.
Awesome feedback.
-
This shouldn't be a problem. The only time it would affect things if is you stopped it on one account and then waited weeks, months, or years to start it again on another account, which would interrupt the service.
-
What happens if I move listings from one account to another?
-
With Moz Local, we do not actively do anything to your listings if you stop paying us. There are reports of Yext actively removing data when you stop paying, but since I don't work for them, I'm not comfortable commenting on their practices. Mihm is a far experienced in the local listings space than I am.
Here is what we say in our FAQs for Moz Local:
What happens if I cancel my listings with Moz Local?
Moz Local will simply report to the sites in our network that the listing is no longer under management by one of our customers. In this event, Acxiom and Neustar Localeze will revert your listings to their status prior to your Moz Local subscription. In some cases, your other listings will lose enhanced content like website URL, secondary category information, logos, and other images.
Moz Local will not actively remove your listing from our network of sites. You will always have the ability to reclaim your listings manually on each site if you decide to cancel your Moz Local subscription.
-
How it was sold by Mihm at Local U Dallas was that Yext is pretty much like heroine. When you stop paying, the thrill is gone. And he positioned Moz Local as something different.
The documentation says that listings may go away if we stop paying, not 'will go away'.
So which is it?
-
In partial Yext defense, as we ran into this with Moz Local, some of the providers we both work with only keep the info updated as long as Yext/Moz/other company tells (pays) them to and then the provider actually reverts it back.
-
You don't want to use both tools for the same listings as that will cause a headache of its own, no matter which choice you go towards.
-
Forgot to mention, I have had very good experiences with Whitespark.
The work is carefully and diligently done.
On completion, you get a spreadsheet with logins and passwords.
So you "own" your own listings.
-
Another problem with Yext is that you are locked in to a very high annual fee.
If you don't renew, Yext threatens to "release" your listing and says you have to manually "reclaim" each one.
Not a good solution and not the most noble of business practices, IMHO.
Now that there are better alternatives, I would use Yext only for big businesses with deep pockets. Its only advantage is its speed. If I had a reputation management client who need to push negative stuff down quickly...I might consider Yext. But that's it.
-
Gotcha. You solely focus on Moz Local.
Does anyone use any other service besides Moz Local?
Thanks,
-
Yext is fast, but it tends to create duplicates and inconsistent citations. Plus Yext is obviously one of the most expensive options. Moz is obviously slower, but it's definitely less expensive. Moz Local hits the high notes and I've noticed that I've had less issues with duplicates.
There's also a feature in Moz Local where you can nuke a duplicate with one button. With either one, you should probably still supplement your local campaigns with something like Bright Local or Whitespark.
I've used both Yext and Moz Local, but never the two in conjunction. There are also many listings that would become locked if you used Yext which could be counterproductive, and at least redundant, if you used Moz Local as well. I tend to look at it this way; "Do you want it done fast, or do you want it done right?" If you quit subscribing to Yext, a lot of listings disappear and content added via Yext tends to revert (for anything they lock).
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google my business: How "Listing on Maps" are calculated? They are too high for us!
Hi Moz community, Our business listing on Google show some unbelievable statistics. According to their insights, we have 21K "Listing on Maps" and 1K "Listing on Search". This is impossible. Have you ever faced this? How these are calculated? There is no way that our business will be searched 20 times more on maps than usual search. Please clarify. Thanks
Local Listings | | vtmoz1 -
Local SEO - 2 Locations
Hi SEO pros, If I'm undertaking SEO for a company which has a single website (no location specific pages) and 2 office locations I'm curious on a couple of points: 1. Obviously setting up 2 locations in GMB is a must, but in terms of citation building is it just a case of needing to input 2 citations into every directory (one for each address) 2. Link building - assuming this doesn't change much from when you're ranking for one location? 3. Schema markup - Do i need to create 2 x local business schema and input both into the headers? 4. On-page SEO - trying to rank for 2 locations I'm assuming is much more difficult as you can't optimise both location keywords throughout the site - does anyone know a way around this?
Local Listings | | Jack11661 -
Radius Size around GMB location for google local search
We are a digital marketing agency Our clients are (virtually all) retail automotive dealerships. We compete in various market places coast to coast (USA). Since Google puts retail automotive dealerships under Local SEO umbrella, is it known ( published ) how large is the radius around my client's Google My Business rooftop's address? How wide is their search 'reach' according to Google? Asked another way, in a triangular, three SEO geo area, with one city being at the epicenter of the population dispersion, and my client, versus my client's competitors being different distances from where the majority of the population emanates from, all other SERP factors being equal (assumption) between the two competitors, how far is each clients REACH from a Local Search standpoint. Is this known? Published by Google. ONE example: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/BMW+of+South+Albany,+U.S.+9W,+Glenmont,+NY/42.7662693,-73.8138088/@42.6727121,-73.7993527,12z/data=!4m9!4m8!1m5!1m1!1s0x89dde0fe8829c405:0xd915fb9b3b60bf33!2m2!1d-73.7973301!2d42.589211!1m0!3e0
Local Listings | | GaryT_SEO1 -
(Australian Business) Ranks 7th Brisbane, but ranks 3rd in Sydney and Melbourne. Why is Brisbane ranking worse, how to fix?
Years ago the rank would be the same across Australia. If we ranked 3rd in one city, it would be the same in every other city. Right now, we are ranking 3rd in Sydney and Melbourne, however we ranking a low 7th in Brisbane for keyword "Trampolines". Why is this? How can we fix it in Brisbane. Interestingly, we are a Brisbane based business. The keyword is "Trampolines" and the website is http://www.vulyplay.com
Local Listings | | Vuly0 -
Have You Used Twitter For Google My Business Support?
Hey Everybody! If you've been doing Local for some years, chances are, you remember those dark days in the past when there was zero Google local support. You could post something in their forum, but that was pretty much your only hope. It was an absolutely amazing day when they finally rolled out phone support, and I'm still very grateful that this exists, but just this week, I learned about another way to contact support. Joy Hawkins has surfaced a Twitter account you can tweet when in need of assistance and she says its not only really fast, but that the help is US-based (which would be great for US users). I'd never heard of this before and wondered if any of you have tried it, and what response times and overall satisfaction you experienced with it. If you've not tried it yet and are experiencing a local client conundrum, maybe give it a try and let our community here know how it went?
Local Listings | | MiriamEllis5 -
address on my websiteto help with local searches
If I put my address on my website, does it help that page to rank for local searches? especially if it's the same address that i am using for moz local and all my citations? I want my other pages to rank in different cities as well as i have a service that travels to all cities in my state. Will that address of my home town on my home page make google think that i don't service other cities? Thanks, Ron
Local Listings | | Ron100 -
Google Local: When moving locations, is a new website/content needed?
I've effectively moved companies before, but I've heard that ranking locally in a competitive market after an address move it is necessary to redesign the entire website/content/domain as Google associates the old website/content/domain with the old location. Is this true? Does anyone have any direct experience with this? NOTE- I have updated citations across the internet and have regular social signals going to the new location, and this has been the case for almost 6 months now.
Local Listings | | mgordon0 -
Local Subdomain vs. Local Subfolder
I know this is an issue that's been discussed here ad nauseum but I have, possibly, an interesting case. A third party company created our local search pages, and they perform very highly in SERPs, but are subdomains (local.website.com). But my problem comes down to two things, one of which isn't necessarily a subdomain vs. subfolder issue. 1.a. With the subdomain local.website.com we rank much higher for local search than we do for regular search on our main domain and it's respective keywords, would changing these subdomains to subfolders keep the link juice that the subdomain currently possesses and actually help our website rankings? b. And what strikes me as the most puzzling is that on local.website.com ALL of the content is identical (I can thank Copyscape for that) to the other local search pages on our own site and various other sites in our industry. I know the duplicate content is hurting our domain, which makes it even more confusing that our subdomain is ranking so highly for things like "diamonds by the yard florida". 2. We're an online only company, and I feel as though gaming the local search function isn't exactly something we should be doing, both from an ethical and an SEO standpoint. Is there any evidence that abusing the local search functions can have a negative affect on a domain's rankings? Hopefully this makes sense, if anyone needs clarification please let me know and I'll endlessly clarify. Thanks,
Local Listings | | allurez0