Importance of Online Presence & the Local Search Ecosystem

1. Presented by Christian Ward, EVP, Yext Partnerships l cward@yext.com l @wardchristianj

5. Town of Hilsdale Dynasty Buffet Elmhurst Hospital
Brodie Mart
• Offline presence is a readily understood problem
• Online presence, however, is now more important

6. • Failing online directly correlates to failing offline
• For business merchants, this is a critical issue

8. Sources: Neustar/Localeze 15miles. 2014; MediaPost, 2014; comScore, 2013
63%
Use at least
2 devices to
search
25.1B Local Searches Annually
31.5%
Search on
non-Google
sites
54%
Substituted
YellowPages
with online
search
72%
Trust online reviews

9. $6T offline
$400B Online
SALES
Sources: Search Engine Land, 2012; Kenshoo, 2013; POPAI, 2012; MediaPost , 2014

10. Digital Tools Drive Offline Consumer Behavior
of in-person purchases
40% include online research
55% within 1 hour of initial mobile search
of purchase-related conversions occur
76% in person & locally
of purchasing decisions are made
Sources: Google, April 2012; Google, March 2013; POPAI, June 2012

11. Your digital presence needs to accurately and compellingly drive
customers to your physical locations, across:
• Your own website
• Directory listings & search engine results
• Your social profiles
• Reviews of your business

14. Goodfella’s
Pizzeria
144 Orchard St
(212)432-3200
Agreed
Yup!
Perfect
.
Exactly
Yes.
Spot
on
That’s it
Confirmed
Same

15. Goodfella’s
Pizzeria
144 Orchard St
(212)432-3200
144
Archer St.
Good Fella
Brick Oven
Where?
212.345.1122
Never heard
You mean
Goodfella’s
LES?
of it
144 Orchard
Ave.
Great
movie
I don’t think I
know them

16. This is How Local Search Works Too
• Consistency : getting the same exact NAP
• Authority : from sources you trust
• Number : in large quantity
• It’s logical – consistency in trusted sources matters
+47
more

17. • Inconsistent Names
• Missing Listings
• Wrong Addresses &
Phone Numbers
• NO CONTROL

19. What do you
mean by “Fix”
my Online
Presence?

20. Yahoo! User Review
Google Places User
Mobile Yelp User
Customer Facebook Post
Twitter Post
Angie’s List Review
Yelp App User Signal
Yahoo! Mobile User
Regional Directory
Claimed Yahoo Listing
Claimed Yelp Listing
Foursquare Check-in
DexKnows Page
Store Locator
Bing Local Listing
News Article
Government Filing
Tax State Forms
Unstructured Forum
Bank Loan Data
Unique Biz ID Forms
Patent Registration
Trademark Application
Phone Records
Out of Biz Call Center
Acxiom Database
Infogroup Database
Lexis Nexis Directory
GigWalk Submit
Offshore Location Team
Nasdaq Filings
Thomson Reuters
The Local Data Ecosystem
?

21. • Submission is not Control!
• This data can and will change
• Don’t blame the Aggregators
• How does this happen?
Fix it at the “source” = Completely Inaccurate & IMPOSSIBLE!

22. These Arrows
mean nothing
On the other
hand,
CONTROL is
Everything!

26. Robust Publisher Network

29. It Works: Enhanced Content
THE OBJECTIVES
• A restaurant chain wanted to increase local search
presence and visibility
• Raise brand awareness
• Drive online reservations
• Promote digital offers
RESULTS
THE YEXT SOLUTION
Update and correct location information for all 95 locations
across Yext premium publishers
Utilize enhanced content to increase local brand presence
Optimize business description and categories
Employ Yext’s unique Featured Message to drive awareness of
local and national offers and promotions
Corrected & Added Content
2,342 Addresses corrected
24,936
Logos and photos
added
4,163 Descriptions updated
722 New Listings Added
10000
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
302%
LIFT
7/1/13 8/1/13 9/1/13 10/1/13 11/1/13 12/1/13 1/1/14
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
157%
LIFT
Profile Views Search Impressions

30. Use high-resolution, well-composed images to 40% More Search Impressions
illustrate your clients’ business.
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Searches per Location
No Content Logos, Photo, Video
Use the alt Attribute — provides accessibility for
vision-impaired persons using screen reader and
other accessibility technology. It’s also a great place
for you to place important, descriptive information
about an image. This information will be crawled and
used to improve search rank in many instances.
Don’t embed important text in a picture. The
picture/graphic should serve as an illustration of the
information being conveyed. It should not itself be the
entirety of the information on the page.

32. CATEGORY RESULTS
Fortune 500 Sporting Goods:
Retail
• Launched with four categories
• Categories were added, totaling 15
• 42% lift in searches since launch
• Category optimization prompted 45% lift in
profile views
SEARCH LIFT
Average searches per day with three
categories: 100
288% lift in searches when categories
were increased from 3 to 17
Average searches per day with 17
optimized categories: 388
National Retail Bank:
Financial Services
National Insurance Provider:
Professional Services
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
42%
9/16/08 9/23/08 9/30/08 10/7/08 10/14/08 10/21/08 10/28/08 11/4/08 11/11/08
Phase 1 – launched with basic content:
Name, address, phone, website, one
category
Phase 2 – launched with enhanced content:
10 categories, enhanced content including
logo, photos, brands, products and services,
business description, and hours
Saw a 3x lift in searches after categories
were added
SEARCH LIFT
2500000
2000000
1500000
1000000
500000
0
140%
6/1/08 7/1/08 8/1/08 9/1/08 10/1/08 11/1/08 12/1/08 1/1/09
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
SEARCH LIFT
288%
12/1/08 1/1/09