How to Choose a Listing Management Solution That Works

As a local business, it's important to make sure that your company's name, address, and phone number are always up-to-date and consistent everywhere. You can do this manually, but you may need an automated solution if you have a lot of listings or are looking to scale.

Advantages of Using a Listing Management Solution

Your local marketing campaign is guided by your listings management solution. Below are some of its advantages:

• Time-saver. Because a listings management solution is automated, you can get multiple outputs from a single input.
• Positive influence on local SEO ranking factors. When your listings have accurate, up-to-date information, your company will likely show up at the top of SERPs.
• Overall control. Listing management solutions give you total control over what data you want to present online.

Assessing Listings Management Solutions Vendors

There are numerous listing management solution providers available, so it’s essential to do your research to ensure that you only work with the best. 

Each vendor provides certain benefits. Take the time to assess your options and make comparisons. To ensure that you're making fair, logical comparisons, you can check review sites like the BBB and Google Online Reviews.

How to Make an Informed Decision

After completing your assessments and comparisons, narrow your options to two or three vendors. Contact them and ask questions to make sound business decisions. There is no template for these questions since they differ per industry, but it’s best to ask the following:

• What makes you different from other vendors?

To make deciding between vendors easier, think about your current needs and determine whether the provider’s solution can address them. A product may have several excellent features, but if you don't need them, you're wasting your time and resources.

• What metrics does your system use to track and report on success?

Look for a service that delivers clear, easy-to-understand metrics. If the vendor does not provide reports, find another.

• What is the migration process for your platform?

Work with a provider that makes everything as easy as possible, including the migration process.

• Is customer support available?

Even if the platform is transparent and straightforward, it's reassuring to know that the vendor has a customer support system in place to help you if you need it.

• How does your distribution system operate?

You need a service provider with access to citation sources and the ability to boost your visibility on prominent third-party websites.

• When our contract ends, what happens?

When a customer cancels, their data sometimes goes back to how it was before. So be sure you know what will happen when your contract is up.

Work With a Reputable Listings Management Vendor

It takes time to choose the best listing management vendor. You must do proper research to ensure that you are partnering with a business listings provider that can assist you in achieving your goals. iSearch Engine can help make your business known locally. Send us questions to learn more.