January 6, 2011 | 
sproutgarden
Any one still use the Yellow Pages
I have to say I do, especially if I am ringing round getting quotes. I can see the companies much more clearly on paper and then I tick off when I have made contact. Really helpful if you arranging something like a Skip where they all have similar names – Skips R US, Just Skips etc. it can be hard to remember who you called when looking at an on-line listing, although you could always print it out.
So I felt a bit sorry for the guy from Yell.com who cold called me this morning.
He began his pitch by asking me If I knew about changes Yell were making to their free listings and how they were working in partnership with Google. I politely stopped him immediately and explained that I had already allocated my advertising spend for the year and wouldn’t be looking to take space on Yell.
He persisted in his efforts to win me over by telling me that Yell was the most used listing site on the web. I quickly did a Google search for Garden Design Richmond and in the results I was the second or third listing on the first page of Google – Well done Zoe and the team at http://www.bwebsites.co.uk/ for the excellent SEO on my site. Yell don’t appear until the second page.
I mentioned this to Mr Yell. He explained that you need to search Garden Design IN Richmond in order to get Yell on the first page. He was right they do then appear on the first page, still below a direct link to my site and an indirect link from the Best of Richmond/Hounslow.
I pointed out that this didn’t really seem a good investment as I would be paying quite a bit of money to get a listing that was lower in the rankings than the listings I already have. Of course he says, Yell is the most used listing site in the country and that I hadn’t understood his point. I understood fully Yell is the most popular listing site, but my own belief is that most people, most of the time just use Google, they don’t go to a listing.
Needless to say I didn’t invest and judging by the responses I had via Twitter neither does anyone else, in my trade. Although like my self most had tried it out at some stage. We didn’t get to discussing costs but it was expensive when I first started out and I think I got one enquiry
That said I do like Yell and Yellow pages when I know who I want to find or when out working in an unfamiliar area. I did have Yellow Pages lite in my van. Basically I ripped out all the useful pages i.e. Builders yards, skip companies, garden centres and made my own mini directory. It was really handy thing to have. These days I use the iPhone app to find trades when out and about you get a more refined list than via Google. So I guess it works better form some trades.
Anyone else got any thoughts…
Leave a comment Posted in just mumbling | 1 Comment
Yellow Pages (the printed book) is desperately old fashioned and redundant for the majority of people nowadays, I live in a block of flats and nobody’s bothered to pick up their copy. As for their website Yell, clearly it does get significant traffic but it’s competing with many similar (and better) sites, so no longer the dominant force they used to be.
As I run thebestofrichmond I am probably not best placed to offer an objective opinion, but I am familiar with this marketplace. I also know that small local businesses stuck in the old ways of marketing are still paying huge sums to the Yellow Pages rep on their annual visit, money which would be far better spent on a whole variety of more targeted local marketing opportunities. I would also argue that Google Places is actually more valuable than yell and is (at least for the moment) completely free.
What people want these days is not just to find a tradesman or garden designer or restaurant or whatever, they want to find a local company that comes recommended by their customers, so getting testimonials from customers is crucial. I think businesses would be better of spending their money with local suppliers who charge less and provide a more personal service, rather than handing over hard earned money to a big corporate with a £4bn debt to service. But as I said, I do have a vested interest here so interested to hear what others think.