When you have a partner that plays a role in nearly 100% of your customers’ web presences, you fly up to NYC to ask them a few questions. TrustWorkz loves partnering with Yext to help us secure data, optimize listings, and manage reputations for our customers. Chad Arango from Yext was kind enough to sit down with us for an interview to share with our customers and followers. Below is a transcript of our questions and Chad’s answers.
1. What would you say are the top 3 reasons for claiming & correcting your online listings?
Chad: Before addressing the claiming portion it’s important to understand what it means to “claim” your listings… a claimed or verified listing still has the potential to be altered by other data sources, i.e tax records, aggregators and the normal compilation process of local data. In fact, 43% of U.S businesses have one incorrect or missing address across directories. If you look at “claiming” based on a control basis that is where Yext changes the game. That said, correcting & locking your listings is what you want to accomplish.
In narrowing the importance of this discipline down to a top 3… the first would be ensuring search engines, mobile apps and consumers can easily triangulate your business when searching for it. In today’s world where the nature of search is increasingly in favor of “near me” & “around me” searches clean, consistent and up-to-date listings are more imperative than ever.
Secondly, controlling your listings gives you the ability to provide rich data. Search engines want to provide their users with more rich data in search results: useful information like event dates, reviews, menus and other details that can answer their query at a glance, or at least help them decide which result will be the most relevant. In quoting Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, who in his keynote speech at Google I/O, said… “It’s not just enough to give [users] links. We really need to help them get things done in the real world.”
Thirdly, the on-going protection of keeping your online business listings up-to-date with… well, your business. You change your hours; you add new products and services and even run different promotions and marketing unique to certain locations… the value of having your business reflect digitally relative to your current state increases the customer experience, which can lead to better reviews, more repeat customers and makes you an easier choice and find for non-locals… of which, are usually more inclined to spend more than a local.
2. How are local search trends changing?
Chad: Search has become less about website rank and more about overall content and online presence…In fact “near me” searches have increased nearly 146% YOY and 75% of mobile searches result in a store visit within one day. These computers in our pockets have enabled us to learn and search the world around us in an intimate/immediate way that we never could be before. It’s because of this phenomenal access to the everyday things we need that have fundamentally changed local search. And with correct, consistent and rich content search has shrunk the path to purchase immensely.
3. Can you tell us anything that’s “coming soon” from Yext or something that our customers should ask us about?
Chad: At Yext we are all about location, location, location. Our products and offerings are continuing to evolve as the world becomes more in tune with location management in order to be successful. A couple new features we have announced are Publisher Suggestions and our SnapChat feature.
We hope you gained value from our interview with Chad at Yext. If you did, it would mean the world to us if you Liked or shared it with your friends!
