Yext Review: Worth It for Small-Medium
Businesses or Agencies? [3 Pros, 5 Cons]

• Yext Reviews Summary
• Yext Review - Where does it Shine?
• Yext Review - Where does it fall short?
• Yext Cost Review
• Yext Partner Review
• Unpacking Yext Review Management
  • Yext Review Management - The Bright Side
  • Yext Review Management - The Dark Side
• Yext Powerlistings Review
  • Yext Listings Review - The Good
  • Yext Listings Review - The Bad
• Is Yext Worth the Cost for Small-Medium Businesses or Marketing Agencies?

Yext Reviews Summary

3 Things Yext Gets Right

• Extensive directory network: Yext's association with numerous directories is a huge win when it comes to expanding your reach and boosting SEO.
 
• Simplified and centralized listing management: Managing listings across various business listing sites can be a hassle, but Yext streamlines the process to save you time and effort. With Yext, you can effortlessly ensure accurate and consistent listings across multiple platforms.
 
• Review monitoring and notifications: It allows businesses like yours to stay on top of their online reputation by monitoring and sending email notifications whenever new reviews are posted.
 
• More on the bright side of Yext below.

5 Things Seriously Wrong With Yext

• Difficult onboarding and usability: Users have expressed frustration with the initial onboarding process, finding it all over the place and laughable. The user interface (UX/UI) doesn't exactly win any awards for being intuitive.
 
• Lackluster customer support: Yext's support has been described as almost non-existent, with support team members seeming to lack knowledge about the system itself. Users have been provided with confusing articles and unhelpful terminology, leaving them with more questions than answers.
 
• Too Expensive with Annual Contracts: Yext is way too expensive for what it does, there are many affordable alternatives available (like ReviewGain!). Also they force annual contracts so you can't get out if you don't need Yext anymore.
 
• No Review Generation Features: Yext only helps monitor reviews and respond to them. It doesn't help you get more reviews which is critical to Local SEO.
 
• Unfulfilled promises and misleading sales tactics: Some users felt let down by Yext because the software did not deliver what was promised during the sales call. There were even instances where sales representatives outright lied about the capabilities of the software.
 
• More on the dark side of Yext below.

Is Yext Worth the Cost?

• Emerging Starter Package: $199/year - Limited listings on a handful of sites. This plan doesn't even list you on Google, no point subscribing to this package.
 
• Essential Plus Package: $449/year - Get listed on top platforms like Google, Facebook, Bing, and Yelp. But this plan won't let you publish data directly. You can only make one-off updates, and they'll charge you every year! Save your money and DIY the listings or enlist the help of an intern/VA instead.
 
• Complete Standard Package: $499/year - Comprehensive range of listings, including all sites from the Essential Plus Package. You als get access to Yext Powelistings that lets you publish accurate data to all your listings.
 
• Premium Advanced Package: $999/year - Includes all features from previous packages, along with extras like review monitoring and website widgets. More on that below.

Yext Review - Where does it Shine?

• Yext has an extensive directory network that can increase your business's reach and improve your SEO, here's why people like this feature:
  • It's all about visibility: Creating loads of listings means your information reaches potential customers across various platforms, increasing the likelihood of attracting new leads and customers.
  • Improved SEO: Connecting your business to multiple directories through Yext has a significant positive impact on your search engine optimization (SEO)
 
Here's Jeffrey talking about how Yext helped him:
 

“Yext is allowing us to have visibility on all of our listings and continue to update them in a streamlined way” ― Jeffrey W. - Digital Marketing Specialist

 
• Yext's simplified and centralized listing management feature:
  • Instead of individually updating information on multiple platforms, you can make changes in one place using Yext listings dashboard.
  • This also eliminates the need for manual updates and reduces the chances of errors.
  • With just a few clicks, you can ensure that your business name, address, phone number, and other important details are consistent across multiple platforms.
 
• Yext's review monitoring + responding features:
  • Stay in the know: With Yext review management, you can monitor customer reviews in real time. Whenever a new review is posted, you receive email notifications.
  • You can also respond promptly to both positive and negative feedback directly from Yext's dashboard.

Yext Review - Where does it fall short?

• Difficult Onboarding and Usability:
  • Yext's onboarding process is all over the place with little to no help from their reps, making users question their sanity.
   
  • The user interface is like a puzzle without any instructions, they use terminology only they understand.
 
Customers absolutely hate their customer service. Here's what Don (ex-Yext customer) said in his Yext review:
 

“Unfortunately, YEXT's support is almost nonexistent. I use the term "almost" because the individuals who make up the support team do make an effort to assist. But, I believe that support has almost zero knowledge of how the system operates in the first place. When I ask specific questions about pushing information from one location to another I'm presented with articles and confusing terminology that gets me nowhere.” ― Don A. - Marketing Manager

 
• Atrocious Customer Support:
  • Users have found themselves wandering aimlessly in a support desert, with team members who seem to lack knowledge about the very system they're supposed to support.
   
  • Confusing articles and unhelpful terminology only add to the problem.
 
 
• Way too expensive:
  • Yext charges $449/year just to create one-off listings. This is a rip-off when you can easily do it yourself in a couple of hours.
   
  • The $999/year plan offers real-time listings management + basic review monitoring. Moreover they enforce yearly contracts, which is a big no-no for local businesses & small agencies.
   
  • Most businesses agree that the price is just not worth it and that there are cheaper and better alternatives out there (like ReviewGain *wink*). If you're on the hunt for some fresh Yext alternatives for 2023, my Yext alternatives blog has got your back with 8 of the best.
 
 
• No Review Generation campaigns:
  • Reviews are critical for Local SEO and Yext doesn't include review campaigns in any of their plans.
   
  • If you want to run review campaigns using Yext, you would need to pay extra.
 
Here's another Yext review by Kevin talking Yext's unfulfilled promises:
 

“They claim that they eliminate duplicate content. This is a flat-out mistruth. They do not eliminate it, they mask it or hide it behind a 302 redirect tag which will work fine for as long as you keep paying your subscription. However, the moment you decide to terminate your contract with Yext they remove those 302 redirect tags and all that "eliminated" duplicate listings content surfaces and plays havoc on your search engine rankings!” ― Kevin M. - Marketing agency owner

 
• Shady Cancellation & Sales Tactics:
  • Reversal of Listings After Cancellation: You know those magician tricks where something disappears right before your eyes? Well, that's what happens to your listings once you stop paying for Yext. All your hardwork is undone.
   
  • Customers were lured in by grand promises during the sales process, only to be left disappointed when the software didn't deliver as expected.

Yext Review - Cost & Plans

• Listings on a handful of niche sites like MerchantCircle and eLocal.
• This package only gets you limited reach and your business won't get any exposure.

• One-off listings on platforms like Google, Facebook, Bing, and Yelp.
• You can create your listings on these platforms yourself without paying a recurring price. Save your money for something that truly matters.

• A buffet of listings, including all the sites from the Essential Package and then some.
• The Power-listings feature helps you sync your business data across all your listings in real-time.

• There are more affordable options that can provide similar listing coverage. Don't overspend when there are alternatives available.
• The price tag is still steep for local businesses and small-medium marketing agencies. Think twice before investing such a significant amount of your budget.

• All the features from the previous packages, along with review monitoring and website widgets.

• It's too expensive, especially for local businesses and agencies and the compulsory annual contract.
• You can find better alternatives that offer complete reputation management + marketing solutions like ReviewGain.

Yext Partner Review

Yext Partner Review - Resellers

• The Yext Reseller Partner program lets agencies and consultants become resellers of Yext solutions to small business customers. Yext also offers white-labeling, branded listing scans and analytics you can offer to your clients.
 
• You can become a Certified Reseller Partner if you've 100+ clients. They will offer anywhere between 20-50% discount to resell to your clients based on the number of clients you have.
 
• If you're a small agency owner, you can still get upto 10% discount on retail plans. To understand how you can get this discount, you can read my Yext Pricing for Small Agencies blog.

Yext Partner Review - Alliance

• Alliance is just another term Yext uses for affiliates.
 
• As a marketing agency, you can refer customers to Yext and receive commissions when someone buys using your code/link.

Yext Review Management - The Complete Lowdown

Yext Reputation Management - The Bright Side

• Convenient review management: With Yext, you can easily manage customer comments and respond to reviews from various sites in one centralized platform.
 
• Timely review alerts: Yext keeps you informed by sending alerts whenever new reviews are posted. This feature ensures that you stay on top of customer feedback and can respond promptly to address any concerns.

Yext Reputation Management - The Dark Side

• No Review Generation Features: Surprisingly, even in the Yext Premium Plan that costs a whopping $999/year, you don't get any review generation features. So while Yext helps you respond to reviews, it fails to assist you in getting more reviews, which is essential for boosting your Local SEO.
 
• Interface and user-friendliness: Users have found Yext's user interface to be less intuitive and user-friendly compared to other options available. It's not designed well for businesses who want to manage reviews for multiple locations.

Yext Powerlistings Review

• Efficient listings management: With Yext, you can easily handle multiple locations' listings. It simplifies the process by allowing you to make universal changes across different platforms all at once, saving valuable time and effort.
 
• Powerful and versatile: Yext's Powerlistings is an incredibly robust tool that can be used for various purposes, such as managing online directory listings, FAQs, and longer content.

• Slow API and poor user experience: Yext's API moves at a snail's pace, leaving users waiting for important information to load. This sluggishness even affects Google indexing, making it harder to attract customers.
 
• Upload process and industry compatibility woes: Uploading data to Yext can feel like solving a puzzle with missing pieces, often requiring unhelpful support. Yext's optimization for specific industries can result in misaligned listings and issues going unnoticed.
 
• Reporting tool and social postings limitations: Yext's reporting tool lacks the necessary features for in-depth analysis. Social postings, especially on Google, come with restrictions, limiting your online presence.

Is Yext the Right Choice for Small-Medium
Businesses and Marketing Agencies?

• 3 Areas where Yext Excels - Extensive Directory Network, Listings Management, and Review Monitoring.
 
• 5 Serious Issues with Yext - Difficult to Use, Atrocious Customer Support, Expensive with Annual Contracts, No Review Campaigns, and Shady Cancellation + Sales Tactics!
 
• Cost Review - We explored the different pricing tiers, including Emerging, Essential, Complete, Premium, and and why they may not be worth it for your business.

“They had zero interest in anything other than collecting payments and closing deals. There was no support and nobody cared that we were paying for something that didn't work. Was so excited to work with them and very much scarred from the actual experience. Go into everything with your eyes wide open." ― Verified Owner of a Marketing Agency

• Generate 20-30 reviews monthly using 100 SMS review requests and 1000 email requests.
• Manage and respond to reviews effortlessly with a centralized dashboard.
• Monitor your online presence 24/7 and receive review alerts directly to your phone.
• Gain valuable customer insights through sentiment analysis features.
• Enjoy responsive and reliable 24/7 email and chat support (a refreshing change from Yext!).

• Receive a minimum of 150 glowing reviews per month using 500 SMS review invites and unlimited email requests.
• Attract more local customers by showcasing your reviews on social media and your website automatically.
• Includes all features of the Starter Plan.

• ReviewGain offers a 100% whitelabel platform allowing agencies to customize branding and pricing according to their needs.
• Start with 1 seat at $49/month per client + $0 whitelabel setup fee.
• As you add more clients, unlock up to 50% discounts, enabling agencies to save money while scaling their services.
• Count on our 24/7 email and tech support - we're your reliable tech team!