Welcome to the first in our new series, Prospect Genius Reviews. We’re excited to be using this new column to share our insight on online marketing, search topics, and other subjects that may impact your web advertising strategies. So, without further ado, here we go with: Prospect Genius Reviews Directory Strategies.
Are there are directories that your business doesn’t need to be listed on? That may seem like a silly question, but take a minute to really think about it.
To start with, there’s the obvious answer: of course, there are category/service-based directories that don’t apply to your company’s offerings. If you specialize in appliance repair, the home building and remodeling directory Contractors.com isn’t the best choice for your business. Likewise, TripAdvisor is a great directory for restaurants and hotels, but it isn’t going to work for renovation contractors.
But dig a little deeper, and you might be surprised to realize that some types of more general directories still aren’t right for your company. Take, for example, Yelp.com. On the surface, this self-described “online urban city guide” is the perfect match for companies large and small. Designed to connect local consumers with the types of businesses they’re searching for, this directory organizes matches by category, proximity, and overall customer rating. In theory, the cream rises to the top so locals can easily see which neighborhood shop or doctor’s office would best serve their needs.
However, the businesses best served by this type of directory are brick-and-mortar establishments, ones that people can physically visit. Restaurants, hair salons, dentist’s offices, and so on do well on Yelp because all of the businesses found in the guide, even those in the professional services sector, are organized based on the searcher’s location.
As a result, if you’re operating a business like a restaurant, hair salon, or dentist’s office, a location-based directory is probably a great choice. But if you’re providing professional services that don’t require a client to visit your physical address, it might not be.
As a case in point, you won’t find Prospect Genius reviews on Yelp. An online advertising company for small businesses across the country, Prospect Genius’s services are not restricted to any one physical location, even though the company is headquartered in Troy, New York. If individuals were to search for Prospect Genius reviews on Yelp or a similar platform, they would only be successful if they were specifically searching in the Troy area. But as a web-based company, Prospect Genius doesn’t require clients to visit their physical address. So, having Prospect Genius reviews visible to only a fraction of potential clients is just not an effective client acquisition strategy. Simply put, it means that location-based directories are not effective marketing tools for them.
And that’s why Prospect Genius decided to pull down its Yelp listing. Today, when prospective clients want to find Prospect Genius online, they still have great options: the company’s Facebook and Google+ pages, and even the company’s own website. Easily accessible to Internet users in every corner of the country, these platforms offer an effective way to display Prospect Genius reviews and other information without the limitations of directories like Yelp.
By steering clear of location-based directories, the bonus is that Prospect Genius now has fewer platforms to monitor and respond to. With Prospect Genius reviews appearing in fewer locations online, they now need to spend less time and effort monitoring their listings.
So, instead of falling into the trap of one size fits all, do some thinking when it comes to your directory listings. Like Prospect Genius, you may find that there are directories that just don’t make sense for your company.
