Should I use Moz Local?

[Eric_S]

I have put the time in to review all our business listings and updated it individually.

Are there more advantages in using Moz Local besides the convenience? For those that use it, what else have you found to be beneficial?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,
Eric

[CopyChrisSEO]

Hello Eric and fellow Mozers,

Yes, I believe you should... probably*. Even though you have invested your time to review all your business listings, Moz local goes a step further. It pushes your listing information out to the main data aggregators. Most businesses and SEOs (myself included) are not able to consistently influence this data for a few reasons, and consistency is key.

Moz Local helps keep the aggregators' data consistent. Without it or your continued time investment, aggregators like Infogroup and Localeze will eventually change your listing information. That bad data will then, in turn, be disseminated to your edited listings.

*Probably?
The effect data aggregators have on your listing varies. I believe this depends on your location and how many times that location's data has changed over time. You might be fairly far removed from these changes if you are well established or a new business in a newly developed area. Still, the cost is so negligible. Just do it and save yourself time.

Why Aggregators Change Our Listing Data
I've not had a unbiased answer to why this happens. The best answer I've heard (in my opinion because I've seen correlations that back it up) is from Vizergy's rep at Yext*. They say, aggregators switch or rollback listing info when they lack information or are presented with strong, conflicting data. Most often, the published data is reverted back to older, more verifiable data. This often winds up being a relatively data phone-book entry.

*Yext and a quick note on bias. I'm not personally bias to Yext or Moz Local. I like what works for my clients' needs. However, Yext is bias to their own product, and it is in their best interest to cast doubt on data aggregators.

Keep it consistent,
CopyChrisSEO and the Vizergy Team

[MattLawler]

Hi Eric,

I definitely recommend Moz Local. The convenience factor is fantastic, and an automated approach will get your data cleaned up on tons of sources. Duplicate listing suppression has also been huge for the clients I work with.

On top of that, the convenience will let you focus more energy on technical, content and links for the site as a whole which are extremely important for local.

Hope this helps!

Matt

[DonnaDuncan]

"Are there more advantages in using Moz Local besides the convenience? For those that use it, what else have you found to be beneficial?"

Hi Eric,

In my mind, there are a couple of advantages to using Moz or one of the other high-quality citation building services over doing it manually.

(1) Consistency - you have a way of ensuring your company name, address, and phone number (NAP) data is consistently distributed to a large proportion of local business directories, GPS devices, and local applications in the United State. Consistency is one of the ways you ensure your business is being credited with all the citations you build.

(2) Accuracy - Moz points out errors, inconsistencies, and duplicates which you then have the opportunity to fix. When you build citations manually, it can be difficult to identify and fix these. (3) Completeness - Moz gives you a single point of contact for distribution of your citation data to the four local data aggregators and Foursquare (which feeds Pinterest and other local search apps).

(3) Completeness - Moz gives you a single point of contact for distribution of your citation data to the four local data aggregators and Foursquare (which feeds Pinterest and other local search apps).

(4) Convenience (as you mentioned) - The single point of contact is especially helpful if you plan on updating supplementary data like photos and menus, have a large number of reviews you want to track and respond to, or if you know the business plans on moving or changing its phone number in the near future.

(5) Support - I personally find the tool and process very confusing but Moz has great support and they get back to you quickly. Local search is very confusing in its own right. This is not necessarily a bad reflection on Moz, as there's always room for improvement.

(6) Cost - The fee is fair and reasonable. Not the cheapest. Also not the most expensive.

[Eric_S]

Thank you for pointing our the pro's of using Moz Local. Will try to get my head around it!

[Eric_S]

You're definitely right that it will allow me to focus on the technical side of things if Moz handles everything through Moz Local. Thanks!

[Eric_S]

Really appreciate your honest answer and trying not to be bias. It's also good to know there are alternatives out there. What is important is the consistency and actually having the business pages set up which is a start I've made.

Thank you!

[DickensLawGroup]

Had the same question, these answers are very helpful, thanks!