The top five ways ‘yellow pages online’ programs fall short.

Wednesday, 18 July 2012 14:06

Hoyt

 The times have changed. And now you, and everyone else, are using the internet to find local businesses.

To get with the times, YP expanded their services to offer websites and online advertising to their customers. The problem is that they only offer a partial solution that misses the mark by ignoring some fundamental requirements.

Let’s explore the top five ways that Yellow Pages misses the mark:

 

1. No growth strategy
Google is constantly updating its database to provide the most relevant search results. Your website needs to grow over the course of time to take advantage of Google’s index. Providing regularly updated content on your website is the single most important thing you must do. YP’s solution provides a relatively flat website with no growth capability or strategy. This will cause your relevancy in the search engines to dissipate over time.

2. No Call To Action
We’ve seen hundreds of YP websites purchased by local businesses, and virtually none of these websites have a clear Call To Action (also referred to as C2A.) Having a very clear and prominent C2A is critical for the success of your website. You don’t want to drive a visitor to your website only to confuse them. Click here to read more about effective calls to action.

3. AT&T owns your website
Oh boy, did you know this? If you have purchased the YP online solution and they built you a website, you don’t own it. They own it. If you decide later to move your website, they are not going to let you, as they own the intellectual property rights and you’ve only licensed those rights from them. Lucky for you, your AT&T site has very little value, in any case.

4. Low quality design
Interface and graphical designs are critical elements to keeping a visitor’s attention while they’re looking at your website. Do you want to present your potential customers with a cheap looking website? That could be a deal breaker. Even more important is the interface design… Your website needs to have a very easy-to-use and intuitive interface that visitors can understand and use. You want your website visitors to BUY your goods or services! Your website should clearly direct the visitors to take action!

5. Focusing on the wrong success metrics
The YP guys are notorious for showing up when it is time to renew your contract and then disappearing until next year. When they resurface each year, they like to talk about how many impressions, visits, and clicks their service has brought to you. While these numbers are important, they don’t mean anything to your bottom line. Your business survives by sales, and you need to know what your website is really worth to your business.

Your website does not have to be a sunken cost. Your competitors that understand this fact are already at work growing online presences that will be very difficult to surmount the longer you wait.

A smart company like Jackpot can show your return on investment in simple terms and build a website for your company that represents you well, while focusing on driving and measuring your new business.