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Assessing and Choosing a Listing Management Solution

One of the foundational ranking factors for local SEO is ensuring that the business' name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent and accurate across directories and data aggregators. This can be managed manually, but you may find it necessary to use an automated solution when you manage many listings or need to scale. 

But how do you decide which solution to use? Because you're entrusting your data and you/your clients' online reputation to a third party, it's essential to vet your options carefully and ask the right questions.

Benefits of a listing management solution

A listings management solution should serve as the basis for your local marketing strategy. Here’s why:

  1. Positive impact on search engine rankings
    Citation accuracy was rated among the top five factors that contribute to local rankings. That means when your business data is correct, you’re more likely to be shown at the top of search results when your customers are looking for businesses like yours.
  2. Saves you time
    Ensuring location data accuracy doesn’t have to take up all your time. It’s a big job, but listing management solutions automate it. One input, multiple outputs.
  3. Puts the control back in your hands
    Listings management solutions allow businesses to have complete control over the information people see about their business online. You set the narrative by inputting your correct information once and the listings tool will distribute that data to all partners.

Weighing your options between listings management vendors

If at this point you’ve realized that you need a listings management solution, the next step is to start evaluating potential vendors. To do your due diligence, consider the following strategies:

  1. Understand your product options
    The first thing you should know is that you have options. There are multiple vendors who offer listing management solutions with varying benefits.   
  2. Compare products
    Not all listings management solutions are created equal, which is why it can be helpful to compare products using review sites like Capterra and G2Crowd.
  3. Enlist the help of fellow marketers
    There’s nothing quite like a personal recommendation, so engage with fellow marketers on LinkedIn or use your own personal network to see which vendors people use and what they like or dislike about them.

Before you buy, ask the tough questions

Once you’ve narrowed down your search to two or three vendors, it’s time to ask the tough questions and get the answers you need to make an informed decision. The type and quantity of questions you ask will undoubtedly vary depending on your unique business needs, but make sure you at least ask and get answers to these six.

  1. How does your platform measure and report success? 
    You’re looking for a platform that provides transparent, easy-to-understand data about your progress. If they don’t have a reporting platform, or their reporting platform leaves you feeling confused, it might not be a good solution.
  2. What level of customer support do you offer?
    You want a vendor that treats you like a friend, not a number. A vendor’s response to this question will reveal whether their customer support (or lack thereof) will leave you feeling stressed or at ease.
  3. What does your distribution network look like?
    A listings management solution is only as effective as its distribution network. You want a vendor that has relationships with the citation sources that can get you exposure on the most impactful third-party platforms.
  4. What is the process of migrating onto your platform?
    You want to partner with a listings management service that makes the transition process as easy as possible. Whether you’re currently working with a listings management solution or you’ve never partnered with one previously, you want a vendor that makes the onboarding process easy.
  5. If we go with you, what happens when our contract ends?
    Some listings management solutions only suppress bad data, rather than correct it. When customers cancel, their data reverts back to its original, uncorrected state, so it’s good to find out whether you’ll be in trouble if you ever leave.
  6. Why should we go with you over the competition?
    When you’re talking with potential vendors, remember what’s most important to you. If you’re seeking a listings management solution, your number-one priority should be accuracy on the most listings possible. A vendor might have a lot of cool features, but if those features don’t offer what you need most, you might want to look elsewhere.

Choosing a vendor is never easy, but asking the right questions help take some of the stress away. We wish you the best of luck selecting the listings management service that best fits your needs!


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