So, you want to learn about Yext PowerListings, eh? Well, good for you! That means you’re looking into ways to improve your business’s local SEO, which is important when it comes to ranking for high-priority keywords in your company’s service area.

The big question we hear from both existing and potential clients is, “Is Yext worth it?” We can’t give you a straight yes or no, because the answer varies depending on the type of business you’re running, your service area, and your budget, to name a few factors. But what we can do is arm you with the information to make a decision about whether working with Yext is the right move for your company’s local SEO goals.

What Is Yext?

Yext is a tech company based out of NYC that prides itself on making it easy for businesses to update their NAP (name, address, and phone number) information on about 80 websites and directories across the internet, all from one centralized location.

What Are Yext PowerListings?

When you sign up for Yext’s local Seo Services, you can also snag a more prominent listing in some directories, which Yext calls a PowerListing. A Yext PowerListing puts your company ahead of other businesses (presumably competitors in your industry) on some directory websites, which is intended to help you stand out among the competition.

How Much Does It Cost to Sign Up for Yext PowerListings?

Yext advertises that PowerListings costs $500 per location per year, though bulk discounts are said to be available (or at least, negotiable) for businesses with multiple locations. This is a recurring annual fee, and Yext expects its clients to continue subscribing to the service year after year—so there are some consequences if you cancel your account early. (More on that in the next section).

How Does Yext Work?

The way Yext works is that you provide them with detailed information about your business, then they push that data out to about 80 websites and directories across the web. Beyond the basic information you’d expect to find in an NAP citation (name, address, and phone number), this can also include things like images, logos, hours of operation, categories, and more. The more detailed this information is, and the more consistent it is across the web, the more likely search engines are to recognize a pattern—making it easier to identify your business as trustworthy and show it in search results for your services.

What Are the Main Concerns About Signing Up for Yext PowerListings?

Let’s say that you sign up for your Yext Powerlistings subscription. You drop an annual fee of $500 on this service, hoping it will make all of your company’s local SEO dreams come true. You’re hopeful and optimistic. But… should you maybe be a little concerned? Here are a few reasons you might want to pump the breaks before you commit to Yext for your local SEO needs:

Yext PowerListings Concern #1: You Have to Pay $500/Year Indefinitely or You Lose Your Results

Remember how we said that Yext pushes your NAP information out to these 80 directories, along with additional data like images, logos, hours of operation, categories, and more? Well, as soon as you stop paying for your subscription, all of that extra data will be removed from the listings across the web immediately—and the NAP information can revert back to whatever it was before you started paying for Yext, too.

Basically, as soon as you stop paying for Yext, it will be as though you never used a local SEO service to begin with. Your business’s NAP citations across the web will be back to square one. All of that hard work you did, and the $500 you dropped on local services? POOF! Gone. No results to show for it.

Yext PowerListing Concern #2: The Listings You’re Getting Aren’t All Very Valuable

Additionally, the 80 websites and directories that Yext pushes your data out to? They aren’t all very high quality listings. They only submit to one actual data aggregator, Factual—so they’re not sending your information to Acxiom, Localeze, or other data aggregators that would distribute your local SEO information to other NAP citation websites. And a lot of the other websites Yext pushes your information out to are just GPS providers, which offer limited (if any) SEO value, since search engine crawlers can’t read them.

You’re not able to select which of these sites you submit your company’s NAP information to, either—you’re stuck with Yext’s pre-selected options, some of which are just mapping services or mobile apps (rather than the more commonly used local directories).

So, you’re paying to get your business listed on 80 websites and directories… but not all of them actually provide value when it comes to local SEO.

When Are Yext PowerListings Worth the Investment?

If you’re a large, profitable company that has multiple locations, and you don’t have an issue paying $500 per year indefinitely to keep your local SEO listings intact, then Yext PowerListings might be a good choice for you. The platform does allow you to make updates as often as you need to, and the changes you make are accepted pretty quickly.

If you don’t have a lot of time to work on your NAP citations manually (which can be a complicated and time-consuming process), it might be worth dropping half a thousand dollars a year for the foreseeable future just to make sure your local SEO information is handled.

What Local SEO Services Should I Consider Other Than Yext?

If you’re a business that can’t quite afford to spend $500 per year indefinitely (or risk losing your local SEO results), don’t worry! There are local SEO services out there other than Yext that are more affordable, and some of them can even get you better results than PowerListings can.

Local SEO Services Option #1: Moz Local

If you know a little bit about NAP citations, and you have enough spare time to spend on manually updating your citations to be consistent across the web, then Moz Local might be the choice for you. Much more affordable at $99 per location per year, Moz submits information to all of the data aggregators in the U.S. (Acxiom, Localeze, InfoUSA, and Factual). It also clearly outlines for you which of your business’s listings across the web are incomplete or inconsistent, and identifies any duplicate listings that might exist (which can be confusing for search engines). It tells you exactly what component of each listing is missing (for incomplete listings) or incorrect (for inconsistent listings), which basically gives you the directions you need to go manually update the listing yourself to improve NAP consistency for your company.

If you’re able to dedicate enough time to staying on top of inconsistencies and incomplete listings, and you’re comfortable updating your business’s listings throughout the web on a regular basis, then Moz Local is the do-it-yourself solution to consider for your business’s local SEO success.

Local SEO Services Option #2: Blue Corona

Our team of local SEO specialists can manage your company’s NAP citations for you so that you can continue doing what you do best: running your business. We provide an affordable, effective local SEO solution for businesses looking to get more leads and sales from the web. If that sounds like something you’re interested in, contact us or fill out the form below for a free local SEO analysis. We’ll tell you how you compare to your competitors, outline areas where your local SEO could stand a little improvement, and more.

Bottom Line: Are Yext PowerListings Worth It in 2017?

No, because you’re locked into your $500 per location per year agreement until the end of time, lest you lose the valuable data included in your existing local SEO citations upon canceling your Yext subscription. And no, because Yext pushes your information out to websites and directories that provide no local SEO value for your business.

Ready to sign up for some hands-off local SEO services that will work (without holding you hostage)? Contact Blue Corona for a free local SEO analysis, and start improving your NAP consistency across the web today.