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Had a yell.com ppc campaign, no support or help to narrow down what I was advertising so got everyone looking for some sort of garden clearance.
I was meant to have reviews etc but got nothing after I agreed to sign up. Total waste of money for me.
Yellow pages is a complete waste of time. It will be dead within a few years.
For local work (which I presume you are) all you need is a website with 'Gardening services in [your town]" for a title. Do a really good job and give each customer a few cards, asking them to please hand them to their friends. Way more cost effective than ad words. Ad words is great if you are selling mail order widgets and need to compete with every other company selling widgets in the UK. For a local gardener it's pointless.
There are several parts to yellow pages:
1. a free listing on yell.com
2. a paid for "priority listing" on yell.com
3. an entry in the paper version
4. support with a pay per click campaign to overlay on google adwords.
I guess if they are offering a package then it's all 4.
I would question the value compared to google adwords. I do items 1 & 2 for minimal cost then add in combo with our own google adwords campaign and that works well for us as it also helps to bring us up on organic searches.
If your happy with your own google adwords, then augment that. If not, then fix it, then augment. Wouldn't use yell to do that as I think others will do it better without trying to sell you add-ons. Certainly I'd recommend the person I've used.
John, agree, for a small local gardening business, a web page with free google + and adverts in the local mags and word of mouth will work very well once established as you'll not have much churn. To get established, I think augmenting with leaflets (and some door knocking!) around your existing customers everytime you visit them will quickly grow the round. Having a sign written van and good cards / handouts at the ready is important.
Thank you for all your replies, they are much appreciated!
@Jeff McCoy I definitely agree that word-of-mouth is a great way to promote a business, although sometimes a business needs a kickstart! It Sounds like your friend is in a good position, it’s good when you can pick and choose your work!
@James Brett It sounds like you have had a poor experience with Yellow Pages James. I definitely wouldn’t use Yellow Pages for a Google Adwords campaign as it needs to be monitored carefully. I do actually run a Google Adwords campaign and this seems to work fairly well for me.
@Ben Jakes I hear what you’re saying Ben and I would say that a website is a must in this day and age. Google Adwords is good and works for me especially if you are in a particular niche or have a side-line.
@John Fulton I agree with you John, I actually haven’t seen a Yellow Pages book lately, I think most people just go online and search, I do know that Yellow Pages can help your website to show up in a organic search.
@Andrew Watts Thank you for your reply, I was thinking about points one and two Andrew. I also run an Adwords campaign that seems to work fairly well, maybe this is the answer to implement one and two and run an Adwords campaign alongside it.
Once again thank you for your help, points taken!
I pay £39.60 per annum for a medium prominence ad on Yell.com and this year it brought in 6 regular lawn mows which equate to £170 per round.
For the 2 years I've been running here 75% of my customers have come through Yell.com and another 15% will be recommendations from those 75% :-)
Just have a free listing, and get your current customers to review you on Yell.com. Job done.
1. Google everyone googles these days get high on there list. As for paying to bump you up the list. I normally skip past paid ads and go to first free 1.
2. Word off mouth. Do a good job at a fair price and word will get around takes longer but gives a great foundation to grow biz
3. Sign writing. Linked to word off mouth in that people see you workin and like the job you hav done and can take down your details. As well as getting stuck in traffic people can take down your number.
I dont advertise in local papers anymore and i think that leaflet drops dont work. If i get leaflet its in the bin straight away with other junk mail.
In reality it has bought very little business in but the successful leads have been of a high quality and generally in my experience people who search on yell aren't looking for the cheapest job.
In terms of Google, yell features near the top of the organic listing so most traffic probably comes from there rather than people actually searching out yell.
The other positive point is that we have a good collection of reviews on there which may come across more trustworthy than testimonials on your own site or other review sites. If you are going to use it then it is important to encourage customer to leave you feedback which will make you stand out from everyone else.
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