Not ranking in the top of maps. Yext cleanup?

[Brent Fluxx Media]

To Yext? Or to not to Yext for maps rankings

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on the yext $499 plan for a locksmith company (in big city 600,000) that just is not ranking in the top maps even being fully optimized everywhere with 200 indexed citations + website/Google my business optimized and verified with proper categories, press releases, geo tagged photos etc. The website was rebuilt Nov 1st on the same domain which is over a year old.

Yext is saying i have 48% error rate on the citations

The website just started ranking organically last week with 30+ bottom of page 1 results and seems to be climbing.

Questions:

1. Is it normal to not see (top 3) map rankings right away when the website just starts to rank on the first page for 30 + keywords? Should i just wait it out for a couple weeks?

2. Has anyone seen a jump in map rankings when using the Yext or similar service?

3. Should I apply for a partner Yext program? Anyone know the discount you get?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know there are 100 other factors that go into maps rankings but would love some advice. Thanks all!

 

[James Watt]

I haven't used Yext personally, though I've heard their scan accuracy is one of the better ones since they have direct API access to a number of the sites. A big question I would have... what are those inaccuracies? Are they NAP issues? Missing citations on relevant sites? Only 3 photos when a 'complete' citation (according to Yext) would have 5? I'd take an hour and do a little auditing before sinking $499 into Yext, especially since when you stop paying them, you're putting those citations at risk of reverting... a manual clean-up (either with whitespark's service or in-house) makes the investment a little more permanent, so that's worth considering.

When you're doing your audit, like you said yourself, citations aren't the only factor that matters. If you've optimized the website properly, and there's no NAP issues lurking, then I'd take a look at the back-link profile, the state of the customer reviews for the business, and do a double-check for hidden duplicates or something to make sure there's nothing you missed. Locksmithing is one of those industries too that I guess Google keeps an extra close eye on, since there's so much spam there. Given your industry I'd do a little extra due diligence to make sure there aren't any potential penalties you've got.

 

[JoshuaMackens]

To Yext? Or to not to Yext for maps rankings

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on the yext $499 plan for a locksmith company (in big city 600,000) that just is not ranking in the top maps even being fully optimized everywhere with 200 indexed citations + website/Google my business optimized and verified with proper categories, press releases, geo tagged photos etc. The website was rebuilt Nov 1st on the same domain which is over a year old.

Yext is saying i have 48% error rate on the citations

The website just started ranking organically last week with 30+ bottom of page 1 results and seems to be climbing.

Questions:

1. Is it normal to not see (top 3) map rankings right away when the website just starts to rank on the first page for 30 + keywords? Should i just wait it out for a couple weeks?

2. Has anyone seen a jump in map rankings when using the Yext or similar service?

3. Should I apply for a partner Yext program? Anyone know the discount you get?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know there are 100 other factors that go into maps rankings but would love some advice. Thanks all!

Yext is tricky. While I'm hardly unbiased, I think $500 a year to rent your listings is a little expensive. You can just do them on your own. Or pay someone else to.

Your Google organic ranking should mirror your maps ranking. If you rank in the 30's in organic, you should rank someone in the same area for maps, give or take 5 spots or so. If either ranking is astronomically different from the other, you have an issue. It could be as simple as how long the Maps listing has been around or how long your website has been up. Or it could be more complicated, like bad NAP, etc.

 

[RajNijjer]

Hi Brent

Raj from Yext here and wanted to add my thoughts on your online presence. Your challenge is a big in that you're in a competitive category and metro area. Your online presence should build on three pillars:

1. Website - Build a local service focused website with schema.org markup that clearly articulates your NAP, Enhanced Content (Category, Description, Hours, URL, Images, Services, Reviews) and Services offered.
2. Google My Business - Setup your business in Google My Business and mirror the content on your website
3. Yext's 60+ Publisher Network - Use the platform to amplify your website content by publishing consistent data on authoritative sites that Google will use to crawl/validate your business. You might want to start with this because our template lays out the fields you need to be successful. Think of it as a Local Business location manager and you can leverage that content elsewhere.

With respect to your questions, I have answered them below:

1. Is it normal to not see (top 3) map rankings right away when the website just starts to rank on the first page for 30 + keywords? Should i just wait it out for a couple weeks?
-Yes, this is normal and a long game. If done accurately, this process takes weeks, if not, months. If you are looking for INSTANT leads, opt for a paid advertising model.

2. Has anyone seen a jump in map rankings when using the Yext or similar service?
-Yes, if you email me at Raj@Yext.com, I am happy to share this data.

3. Should I apply for a partner Yext program? Anyone know the discount you get?
-We offer discounts to our partners who have multiple clients i.e. this is based on volume. Partners also get additional benefits like Duplicate Suppression which is a MUST HAVE IMO. Again, if you email me, I am happy to connect you with someone I trust to take great care of you!

Cheers and Good Luck with the business, you are the engine that powers our economy!

-Raj

 

[jonkeel]

We've used Yext successfully for over a year. As a Yext Partner the discounts are good, and they increase when you hit certain client numbers. If I look at what we pay per month, we find it's a good ROI...and, the data we download every month as part of our client reporting (with links to the verified sites) is cool.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks for replying Raj and for making yourself directly available to help Brent.

 

[Brent Fluxx Media]

Wow Thanks everyone for the response.


Raj, Thank you for answering the questions. I just sent you an email. Since i'm just starting to rank, I think i'm going to give it a couple weeks and see what happens in maps. If my client wants to pay the $500 then great, i will do that.



My plan is:
Citation cleanup (if client will pay)
Continue slowly building and earning backlinks
Do more social syndication (just started)
Add more 5000 + words of extra VALUABLE content on the website (website is a little lacking on wordcount)



Here is additional info:

Yext claims:
21 of the 50 sources say "Missing listing"
7 out of 50 sources have the wrong info in the phone number
22 out of 50 are just "Not standing out"

Backlink profile:
We just starting building backlinks Nov 1st 2015. Before Nov 1st 2015 There was no backlinks besides citations. We currently have a mix of relevant do and no-follow links ranging from DA 10 - 90 with a highly branded anchors with some main keyword anchors mixed in and some with brand + main keyword etc. Most of the top people ranking do have better metrics for now but we are gaining fast which is why i believe we started ranking on the first page.


Website: has services, reviews, proper reviews. BBB verified badge proper title tags, meta data (not keyword stuffed) and good schema

Google Reviews.
We are KILLING IT. 130+ 5 star reviews. the best competition is at 15... Which makes me think reviews are not a major part of the ranking factor.

Schema:
according to https://developers.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool/ Shema is setup correctly with correct NAP, address. Longitude and latitude, description hours, category etc.

I also checked for any duplicates on google my business search and map maker with no duplicates found for the address or phone number.

According to Webmaster tools there is no penalty


Thanks all!