Shady Marketers Use Yext Tool to Create Local Listing Email Warnings
Recently some of our clients have been receiving a rash of unsolicited emails warning them about their local listings, and that their online visibility is suffering because they aren’t being found on major sites like FourSquare, Yelp, MapQuest, or even Yahoo and Google. And while it’s true that it’s good to be listed on those sites, the emails are phrased in misleading ways to create the illusion of a problem where there really isn’t one.
The emails start out making some claim like, Your business may be missing valuable customers by not being listed correctly on leading premium websites like blah, blah, and blah. Following that there’ll usually be a graphic showing a whole lot stuff in bold, red text to reinforce the idea that whatever it is this company is telling you about, it is super serious and of dire importance (see image on the right).
Here’s why these emails are misleading. Let’s say we have a client whose address is 123 Cherry Lane. They might get one of these emails saying, “We did a search for your company listing, and you aren’t showing up anywhere! You need to hire us as soon as possible to fix this.” But if you look closely at the address they searched for, it’s 123 Cherry Ln. Simply changing Lane to Ln. can totally fool these sorts of local directory indexing tools. The slightest change in spelling, an additional punctuation mark, or a standard abbreviation can be all that these fly-by-night marketers need to fabricate a scenario where suddenly you aren’t appearing anywhere online.
Of course, this also highlights the notion that you should make sure your business address is consistent across all of your online listings and throughout your website. But, the next time you get one of these emails, you can ignore it. You’re just part of a mass mailing effort hoping to grab your attention through scare tactics. Rest assured, if you’ve gone through the process of creating listings and social media profiles or you have hired us – you’re visibility is doing just fine.
Have you ever considered publishing an e-book or guest authoring on other sites?
I have a blog based upon on the same information you discuss and would really like to
have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would value your work. If you’re even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an email.
Wow! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a totally different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and
design. Excellent choice of colors!
I simply want to tell you that I am just newbie to blogs and really enjoyed you’re web blog. More than likely I’m going to bookmark your blog post . You actually have awesome articles. Thanks a bunch for revealing your webpage.