Yell.com Advertising

[Coachhirecomparison]

Hey People!

I was just wondering what other users of Yell.com advertising thoughts are.

Over the last 8 months i spent a lot of money on advertising with Yell but the return was rubbish. After weeks of complaining i actually got them to switch my Sponsored listing adverts to PPC. This is now up and running, it is working quite well but they now say i have to Pay £500 a month minimum to get their premium service just to be able to change Keywords or even change or add different area's to my campaigns. If i do not pay this then they can not even tell me what i am spending as a daily budget.

what are other peoples thoughts on Yell, do you think they have had their day?

Cheers
James

 

[Esk247]

Pay £500 a month minimum to get their premium service just to be able to change Keywords


hahahahahahahahahahahaha



p.s. that is what i think of them.

 

[arcon5]

^^^

As he said

yell.com are an absolute joke. Steer clear.

Google adwords & bing work well. Whats your industry?

 

[Coachhirecomparison]

^^^

As he said

yell.com are an absolute joke. Steer clear.

Google adwords & bing work well. Whats your industry?

We run a Coach Hire Comparison website.

We started around the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire area and now just launched National due to linking with Merlin Entertainments Group booking website.

The PPC is on google with Yell.

For this website i think the best way forward is for the PPC but i am not able to even think about learning the ins and outs of Adwords, although i would like to it would take too long so outsourcing this part of our advertising will have to be done.

The more people i speak to the more people say they will not advertise with Yell again.

When you think about it, why go to The Yell website when you can just type anything you want straight into a Search engine?

 

[Esk247]

Well it's about being top of the search engines for your best keywords e.g. words that best describe what you sell.

Or key phrases/sentences that people type in these days e.g. 'coach hire company newcastle'

It calls for research if you do it yourself, and you can waste money setting up your first PPC campaign but you're already wasting money with Yell.

Sorry i can't get over that..£500 a month? SERIOUSLY?

You can get a decent PPC set up by a professional for less than that and it would have much better results.

 

[Coachhirecomparison]

Well it's about being top of the search engines for your best keywords e.g. words that best describe what you sell.

Or key phrases/sentences that people type in these days e.g. 'coach hire company newcastle'

It calls for research if you do it yourself, and you can waste money setting up your first PPC campaign but you're already wasting money with Yell.

Sorry i can't get over that..£500 a month? SERIOUSLY?

You can get a decent PPC set up by a professional for less than that and it would have much better results.

We are seriously thinking of just stopping the standing order and suffer the consequences.

It is £500 a month.

Our monthly charge is £417+Vat yet they still wont change things.

The advertising world is a crazy one, but i suppose if done right, a very good one?

 

[Esk247]

If it is generating enough work for you then keep it going and start looking at alternatives to slowly introduce as a replacement over a 6 month period.

If you are losing money e.g. ROI is poor (return on investment) then you'll have to think about dropping it and picking a cheaper alternative that gets you faster results.

It's always hard to advise over a forum because we cannot see your marketing budget or monitor the performance of the advertising with Yell.

I just presume you're spending much more than you need to and your return on investment is poor. You could well do better saving that £500 a month for yourself until you find a more solid advertising platform.

PPC mixed with a dedicated SEO (search engine optimisation) strategy perhaps.

 

[estwig]

Is there that much money in running a 'coach comparison website', that you can throw £500.00 a month away??

OMD, guess what website anyone reading this is gonna start doing??

 

[liquidauctions]

£2800 with yell & yell.com 2009 about 6 phone calls no jobs

 

[crphillips]

We sacked off all of our yellow pages ads a few years back and we're going to ditch yell.com this year. I only keep it because google searches yell's listing. There's way better ways to advertise for free nowadays though.....just a little time is needed.

 

[Connexions]

In another company i am involved with, paid £4k to have a listing on the top of 3 categories. Click through and view rate was terrible. This was 5 years ago. They tried to sell us the same thing the other week, but for £1.4k

I said no..

 

[kakram]

A friend of mine who had a removals company listed with Yell.com had very bad experiences with them. He was paying for a specific position for "Oxford Removals" which they had promised him. He was paying £250.00 a month 5 years ago and they never delivered on their promise.

I would use that £6000.00 a year (OMG!!!) to increase my page rank on Google.

There are many other business directories around which are free - the more you get listed on - it will improve your Google rank - one of the primary criteria that Google uses is how many sites link back to your site ... work on link exchange and link backs to your site. Very worthwhile. I spent a year working on linkbacks - 2 or 3 a week. One of my sites has had a number one rank on Google for over 8 years now - I don't advertise it AT ALL now - 90% all traffic is from Google. So you must look at SEO and link backs.

And register on as many free business directories as you can . . .

 

[kakram]

Tip: Assign a task to one of your employees (or yourself even). For an hour a day (5 days a week) - list your company on as many free business web sites as you can find. Open up a spreadsheet so you can keep track of where you have listed. Google tools will be able to tell you where traffic is coming from. In six months you notice a difference in traffic and page ranking - just from an hour a day .. much cheaper than £6000.00 a year on Yell.

 

I was foolish enough to take out an ad on yell.com it cost me £420 quid and I have yet to get a phone call 4 months later, total waste of time and money. My advise to anyone thinking about an ad on yell.com come is dont bother.

 

[Coachhirecomparison]

Thanks for all the advice and tips.

I think the overall perception is that Yell and Yell.com no longer work, which is probably why they have resulted in selling PPC for Google.

I will work on my Back Links straight away.

 

[sundance]

I've been spending £1,000 (yes,I know,I know) a month since November and have had virtually nothing back!

 

[popunder]

The yell thing is outrageous but seems to be what they're reduced to in an effort to survive.

I would have a conversation with a local, recommended AdWords agency who will be able to advise you on the kind of costs you should expect, and maybe run a short trial campaign. A client of mine runs a national AdWords campaign for quite a competitive industry via a company called UKDynamo near Melton Mowbray (not too far from you I believe). She was very complimentary about them, they improved the return from her spend massively on her previous DIY efforts.

 

[redtreeland]

I think Yell.com knows they're dying, so in a desperate attempt to make money they're selling people PPC packages which are made as non-transparent as possible.

Direct advertising via AdWords is the way to go. Drop me a note if anyone needs help.

 

[liquidauctions]

I think Yell.com knows they're dying, so in a desperate attempt to make money they're selling people PPC packages which are made as non-transparent as possible.

Direct advertising via AdWords is the way to go. Drop me a note if anyone needs help.

I agree with you, have you see there latest book?

 

[redtreeland]

I agree with you, have you see there latest book?

No, but I imagine it's just a couple of pages thick? Long-gone are the days when kids can reach the top cupboards by stepping on them.

 

[liquidauctions]

No, but I imagine it's just a couple of pages thick? Long-gone are the days when kids can reach the top cupboards by stepping on them.

It looks like around 30 % less in pages and also it is just slightly larger than a5 but alot smaller than a4 page size.

By browsing the 2011 book it looks like my competition has stopped using yell almost so I guess it isnt only me who didnt get any results.

 

[popunder]

Derby Yellow Pages 2010 - 795 pages excl. index and waffle
Derby Yellow Pages 2011 - 600 pages excl. index and waffle

Basically 25% less content, added to around a 20% drop between 2008 and 2009 as far as I remember.

Leicester YP 2008 - 1494 pages of ads
Leicester YP 2010 - 993 pages of ads (same old large book format)

A huge 33% drop over 2 years, haven't received the 2011 one either so presumably smaller again.

 

[Stubee]

No no no, I spent £450 with Yell.com and got 2 phone calls totalling £40 of work. Definitely not worth it. When the time came to renew, their sales guy told me I probably wouldn't see results unless I spent over £1000 with them......showed him the door pdq.
Regards

 

[crphillips]

We had the rep around last year.

I told them i wanted to cancel everything as nobody uses the Yellow Pages anymore.......they went on to tell me how that isn't true and people do use the yellow pages.

Around 15 mins later they then got on about the new format and told me that the new book was going to be smaller with fewer pages.........nuff said.

Oh.......and the free listings will no longer be listed by categorisation.......they'll simply be listed in the back in alphabetical order......so basically someone has to know who you are and what you do to find you......kinda defeats the idea of advertising.

 

[Barretts-Selfstorage]

We have been monitoring over the last few months where all of our new clients come from and we have noticed none have come via Yellow pages or Yell.com. We are going to definitely finish using them when the rep comes around soon. We thought about cancelling it last year, as we knew that we were not getting the business from it to cover the costs but he persuaded us to stay on at a reduced rate because of the so called new products......... we will definitely being cancelling it this year.

 

[Tom McClelland]

Never give Yell any money. Giving Yell money is about the same as ripping it up, without the pleasure that you might gain from ripping money up.

 

[popunder]

Heh heh being a Yell rep must be a painfully awful job....

 

[Dot Design]

Four words: Huge Waste of money

 

[fefster]

I used to work for Yell and I would say avoid them.

Of course they can drop the price but the saleperson will be holding you ransom because they don't want to lose revenue.

Basically, they get paid a large percentage on 'increase' and a much smaller percentage for renewal revenue.

That's why they are always trying to upsell and are loath to take a 'decrease'.

If anyone has any questions about Yell, just let me know.

 

[Ibebito Media]

I talked with a Business Development Manager from Yell yesterday and he said that they have inside information from google regarding the daily high volume search terms. When they have a list of keywords they will search the database for the companies who are related to the keyword search. Then the sales team will call the companies and try to sell adwords.

It is all mass production to sell adwords accounts and websites at a low cost. He said this is not always the best way but it is company policy.

I have 20 Google adwords vouchers from £75. If you don't have your own adwords account and want to use adwords then I can give you the voucher. I will help you to set-up the campaign and do the keyword research and ads creation. Will do this all free of charge.

If you want me to manage the account we can discuss this option. I don't work with monthly contracts. If you want a review of your account i will do this also free of charge.

 

[Newcott]

If anything the photo made me laugh:

http://gizmodo.com/5748743/at-last-you-can-send-the-yellow-pages-to-hell

 

[Scott barton]

Heh heh being a Yell rep must be a painfully awful job....

Actually my friend, you couldnt be more wrong. I have been an account exec at Yell for 7 years, and what you clearly don't know is that the compact directories have increased usage and calls, that combined with our new range of digital media products is making my life at Yell the best its ever been thanks. All the data on usage is available on various " informed business forums" for you to read, and i suggest forum members do read it, instead of gossiping and listening to ex Yell employees, they are ex employees for a reason, normally because they cant handle the job. The change in size was was driven by consumer demand and years of trailing the compact book, the results of which showed increase leads for our advertisers. 8 out of 10 users want the smaller book and prefer to use it. Fact.

We have also deleted around 1000 outdated or closely related classification, making the book an easier to use.

Some clients make snap decisions based on cost and rumour, I'm willing to help anybody who has a question make an informed choice.


If anybody has any questions regarding their programme with Yell and any of the products we have to offer - Yellow Pages, Yell.com, Net Reach, Videos, Goggle Adwords ( did you know we are Googles biggest authorised reseller in the UK ) or websites, SEO & SEM please feel free to email or ask me,
" a current yell REP"

 

[WirralPrinters]

My site is brand new and is beating yell on certain terms already!

Yes, yell is very good but it is a directory for ALL business types.

I would eventually like to have many directories dedicated to each business type.

Yell certainly has its place as does BT and the very popular freeindex.

I just hope that us small guys get a chance to be better and more personal than yell, bt and other multi-million pound directories

I have enough exp to produce my own telephone directory for each directory that I have - and the contacts, print ability etc to compete with mega companies such as yell!!!

Not having a pop, just letting others know, that Yell and similar are not the only ones capable of providing a good service

Even us little guys can do it.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Scott, don't you worry that despite Yell repaying £150m ahead of schedule, they are still nearly £3billion in debt and, with all the upheveals in the company, it could be an unsafe firm to be with?

About figures from here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...239653/Yell-cuts-debts-ahead-of-schedule.html

 

[WirralPrinters]

Scott, don't you worry that despite Yell repaying £150m ahead of schedule, they are still nearly £3billion in debt and, with all the upheveals in the company, it could be an unsafe firm to be with?

About figures from here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...239653/Yell-cuts-debts-ahead-of-schedule.html

OMG!!!!!

HOW does a company get itself into such a debt, it sells advertising in one form or another ??????

 

[Matt1959]

If anybody has any questions regarding their programme with Yell

ok here we go... I'm a one man band providing a very niche service to homeowners and I've trialled yell.com on a rolling monthy contract. I have spent hours learning how to make the best use of yell.com and have had fantastic help from their staff on the phone.

IMHO most people don't understand how yell.com works - not surprising as the way its explained by yell is utterly poor.

Anyway, like I said, I'm trialling - I have the best looking ad in my catagory in my region if not the whole UK (not difficult as most ads are rubbish) and the ad covers many postcodes and extends to a 30 mile radius of where I work. I'm lucky to get 2 click throughs to my website a week and in 2 months have got just one job that I know of.

Compare this to google where I am number one locally in the listings where I get at least 40 to 50 click throughs a week and where I get most of my work.

Its obvious to me, yell is not being used by the public in the way Yell sell it.

For a say a builder with a 10 page classification and rotating ads - its pointless.

Finally, I'm ditching my trial due to Yell twice not renewing the monthly rolling contract. The first time they blamed it on a computer glitch, the second time they blamed the vat rise. So now I've had enough, will cancel my DD tomorrow and they will have to whistle for their money...

Sorry no questions, but just wanted to stick my experiences here as I think I've given Yell the benefit of the doubt, researched it and it still don't bloody work

 

[WirralPrinters]

ok here we go... I'm a one man band providing a very niche service to homeowners and I've trialled yell.com on a rolling monthy contract. I have spent hours learning how to make the best use of yell.com and have had fantastic help from their staff on the phone.

IMHO most people don't understand how yell.com works - not surprising as the way its explained by yell is utterly poor.

Anyway, like I said, I'm trialling - I have the best looking ad in my catagory in my region if not the whole UK (not difficult as most ads are rubbish) and the ad covers many postcodes and extends to a 30 mile radius of where I work. I'm lucky to get 2 click throughs to my website a week and in 2 months have got just one job that I know of.

Compare this to google where I am number one locally in the listings where I get at least 40 to 50 click throughs a week and where I get most of my work.

Its obvious to me, yell is not being used by the public in the way Yell sell it.

For a say a builder with a 10 page classification and rotating ads - its pointless.

Finally, I'm ditching my trial due to Yell twice not renewing the monthly rolling contract. The first time they blamed it on a computer glitch, the second time they blamed the vat rise. So now I've had enough, will cancel my DD tomorrow and they will have to whistle for their money...

Sorry no questions, but just wanted to stick my experiences here as I think I've given Yell the benefit of the doubt, researched it and it still don't bloody work

In a way, I'm glad to hear that - yell get too much money for nothing as far as I'm concerned.

I know quite a few businesses who have paid 400+ and not get a single sale from their site.

I offer 5 banner types across 2 sites (all shown in various sizes over various sites) for my printing website at only 29 GBP. I will place these better over the next few days - I am always looking at how to make the site better and have lots of ideas I am working on.

 

[lockie]

Yell dont have a clue.The last one who rang me lied and said they were working with google.Ok how are you doing that or are you just selling adwords ? errrrrm well yes its adwords.

Next they tell me how many clicks for a certain search term so i ask how many were in the local region i work in, again they cant answer.Anyone can throw figures around and reps are certainly good at that but when you ask for breakdowns they fall apart.

I will never forget the rep trying to get me to sign up again for the book.I said whats the point your prices have gone up but the book is smaller.Arrh yes but thats so it goes through peoples letterboxes. He didnt have an answer when i said the only people who rang me were those locked out and it was on the door step.

I spent good money over the years with it but its had its day now.Yell .com is only worth doing if you are in a small section with only a few competitors or have the top sponsered listing.

Far better spending money on seo or adwords.

 

[Scott barton]

Great to hear you new site is going well. Do you want me to run a free website analysis on it for you. Just one question, what do you mean by it beating Yell on some terms ?

 

[Scott barton]

It looks like around 30 % less in pages and also it is just slightly larger than a5 but alot smaller than a4 page size.

By browsing the 2011 book it looks like my competition has stopped using yell almost so I guess it isnt only me who didnt get any results.

Just wondering, but what were your expectations from Yell
such a niche business?