Lead Aggregation Sites –  Are they worth it?

In other words – should I use a service like Hi pages?

The ones I mean are as follows:

• HiPages
• Service Seeking
• Local Search
• Three Best Rated
• Yellow Pages

In UK:

• Check a Trade
• Rated People

There are loads of them. Most analysts see it as an opportunity that if you spend money being listed on these places then you’re going to get leads. Sometimes you pay to be listed.  Sometimes you pay for the leads.

I know you’re always wondering:

• “Should I put my money there?”
• “Should I invest in those?”  
• “Are they any good?”

I get asked quite a lot by my clients, “Should we be doing this?”  The short answer is, “NO. You shouldn’t.”  And there’s a longer answer to come around.

I’m Jon and I’m from Small Fish Business Coaching.  I’m a business coach who works with tradies.  I run the Tradies Toolbox Coaching Program and that’s about figuring out where to spend your money, your marketing money in particular, so you get the best return on it. This is an important point to consider.

There is no wrong answer when it comes to marketing.

It’s just choices and the consequences of those choices, or the return you get on that investment.

So the premise of these guides:

• You give them some money
• You advertise
• You’re listed on their directory and they spend all the money
• You get found by Google, doing all the SEO and that stuff
• Someone typed your trade and your area, and the directory will come up so you get to be shown

There’s nothing wrong with that premise except for few points.

This is the long answer:

Google doesn’t rate these directory sites as highly as it rates the site that gives the right answer. A site that says, “We are a plumber in Byron Bay”  will get ranked higher than a site with directories of plumbers in Byron Bay.  And the reason Google does that is because people prefer that. People would rather click on a site that gives you the answer you want than on the directory where you have to go and search again.

If you build a proper website,  the site will rank high more readily.  If you do it properly, do your SEO properly and all those things,  your site will rank above one of those directory sites.

That’s one point. Directory sites are not as appealing to the prompter who wants to click and search for the trade and the area and then click on the directory site and start searching again.

Another point is, they make people rate you on there.  People are going there because they can get some independent rating. But the truth is, it doesn’t really happen and nobody has very much faith in any kind of rating system on those sites so it’s nothing. And what happens is they often also suggest that you get three quotes or they’ll even send out for three quotes but I’m told by my clients who have invested in this that the quality of the leads you get is somewhat poor.

Recommended Reading: Is your website performing well? Questions for your web people.

So why would you and should you invest in these lead aggregation sites?

There’s one answer.

If  your business is too small and you can’t afford to build a proper website and invest properly in a SEO or Google AdWords campaign and getting yourself on the map and all that, pay for some of this.

If you can afford it (and I will persuade you that you can and you should, it’s not that expensive), to build a proper website, then you should.

Here are few of the benefits of having a website:

• It will rank better easily and people will get the answer they want, which is what you’re good at, and what they want more quickly than if they go delving into a directory.
• You’ve also got the opportunity to present proofs that you’re good. You can put testimonials from your customers on there.
• You can explain what your processes are and give them  guarantees and tell them why you’re great.

So you’ve got that opportunity on your website to reassure them and prove your credential with third party independent testimonials.

So that’s the longer answer.

If you can’t afford to build yourself a proper website and do your SEO or a Google AdWords campaign, which of course costs money, then these directories might be okay.

If you can stretch to a few $100 or $1000 a month for the marketing (SEO, and AdWords) then I would do that by preference.

And of course, I’m really talking to businesses here where “Search-Lead Marketing” is a big factor for you. I’m talking about electricians, plumbers, air conditioning where people go, “I need a ______ trade”  and they get on their phone or their computer and they search.

This is my tip for today. If you want a help to think through how to build a website or how to structure the information on your website for your web builder to build the one you want, and if you want to talk to me about how to do SEO and how to hire an SEO person and brief them properly, that’s what I do.

I’ll help you through that.

I’m a business coach, book a time with me and I’ll talk you  through.

See you later.