Nextdoor, Ring, and all those directory sites are filled with curiosity – and not the fun kind.
Why you shouldn’t rely on directory sites when making purchasing decisions – Kirstyn M. Yancy
Published Nov. 6, 2024
When my phone gets a notification, I check it – like most people I presume. I mean, obviously if I’m in an appointment, client meeting, or in my weekly BNI meetings, that’s a no, but when I’m sitting or standing at my desk, yeah, I’m seeing who’s lighting up my phone.
I always let out an exhaustive sigh and a beautiful eye roll when yet ANOTHER Ring notification comes through. “Omgsh there were two chickens crossing the road. Does anyone know who they belong to?” Are you freaking kidding me right now? Or “last night around 3am I heard dogs barking.” Okay Karen, it’s 4pm, so idk what you want me to do about that? These neighborhood apps have gotten a little out of hand.
Nextdoor for example. Nextdoor started out well-intended. It’s a neighborhood website, you can chat about upcoming events, sketchy situations, etc. But now, every Harry with a hammer is creating a Nextdoor account – and several of them. You’re technically supposed to only have one account, in one neighborhood, but there’s Jane Doe’s Dog Walking FV, Jane Doe’s Dog Walking Holly Springs, Jane Doe’s Dog Walking Cary, Jane Doe’s Dog Walking Raleigh, Jane Doe’s Dog Walking North Raleigh and so on. Why? How? Well, just like other directory sites – like Yelp, HomeAdvisor, and Angi, Nextdoor doesn’t check to see if you’re this “business” is a real business. And don’t even get me started on Facebook! Heck, at least HomeAdvisor and Angi do background checks. (You caught that though? HomeAdvisor and Angi do not require any documentation to prove that the people listed on their sites are actually a business.) So, maybe don’t go to Nextdoor to get recommendations for the best [insert industry here] in town?
Consumers deserve transparency; we demanded it in 1973 when nutrition information was required to be on a label, we should be demanding it today before every purchase. Is that roofer insured? Is he even licensed? Does that plumber know how to re-pipe a whole house or should we only trust him with fixtures? Should we EVEN trust him with fixtures? Does Jenny have the experience to be grooming my pup? How can I trust her with my fur baby? These are the questions we’re left with when you rely on these neighborhood sites and lead generation sites.
When you see a business’ name, you shouldn’t then have to think, well, are they ACTUALLY a business? That’s why Google got so restrictive on creating Google Business Profiles. They’re cleaning house! They’re deactivating all those Harry with a Hammer’s and making it to where you have to prove you are a legit company to have your name in the Local Pack.
I’m writing all of this to say: company website > directory site.
As a consumer, if a company is highly recommended on one of those directory sites, do your research further.
As a business owner, you 👏 need 👏 a 👏 website 👏
…like yesterday.
Call us at 919-553-9042 or send us an email at info@tmsdigi.com
As we mentioned, Angi, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack, Yelp, Nextdoor, they're in it for one thing and one thing only: dolla dolla bills y'all.
What's this mean for you?
If the unlicensed contractor you hired for x-service messes up, well, that's on you for not asking for the proper paperwork, not doing any additional research, not going to your state's licensing board or Secretary of State... (that's a lot of extra work for you, right??) It's definitely not on them for putting Harry with a Hammer on their site who decided he was going to be an electrician today.
When my phone gets a notification, I check it – like most people I presume. I mean, obviously if I’m in an appointment, client meeting, or in my weekly BNI meetings, that’s a no, but when I’m sitting or standing at my desk, yeah, I’m seeing who’s lighting up my phone.
I always let out an exhaustive sigh and a beautiful eye roll when yet ANOTHER Ring notification comes through. “Omgsh there were two chickens crossing the road. Does anyone know who they belong to?” Are you freaking kidding me right now? Or “last night around 3am I heard dogs barking.” Okay Karen, it’s 4pm, so idk what you want me to do about that? These neighborhood apps have gotten a little out of hand.
Nextdoor for example. Nextdoor started out well-intended. It’s a neighborhood website, you can chat about upcoming events, sketchy situations, etc. But now, every Harry with a hammer is creating a Nextdoor account – and several of them. You’re technically supposed to only have one account, in one neighborhood, but there’s Jane Doe’s Dog Walking FV, Jane Doe’s Dog Walking Holly Springs, Jane Doe’s Dog Walking Cary, Jane Doe’s Dog Walking Raleigh, Jane Doe’s Dog Walking North Raleigh and so on. Why? How? Well, just like other directory sites – like Yelp, HomeAdvisor, and Angi, Nextdoor doesn’t check to see if you’re this “business” is a real business. And don’t even get me started on Facebook! Heck, at least HomeAdvisor and Angi do background checks. (You caught that though? HomeAdvisor and Angi do not require any documentation to prove that the people listed on their sites are actually a business.) So, maybe don’t go to Nextdoor to get recommendations for the best [insert industry here] in town?
Consumers deserve transparency; we demanded it in 1973 when nutrition information was required to be on a label, we should be demanding it today before every purchase. Is that roofer insured? Is he even licensed? Does that plumber know how to re-pipe a whole house or should we only trust him with fixtures? Should we EVEN trust him with fixtures? Does Jenny have the experience to be grooming my pup? How can I trust her with my fur baby? These are the questions we’re left with when you rely on these neighborhood sites and lead generation sites.
When you see a business’ name, you shouldn’t then have to think, well, are they ACTUALLY a business? That’s why Google got so restrictive on creating Google Business Profiles. They’re cleaning house! They’re deactivating all those Harry with a Hammer’s and making it to where you have to prove you are a legit company to have your name in the Local Pack.
I’m writing all of this to say: company website > directory site.
As a consumer, if a company is highly recommended on one of those directory sites, do your research further.
As a business owner, you 👏 need 👏 a 👏 website 👏
…like yesterday.
Call us at 919-553-9042 or send us an email at info@tmsdigi.com
As we mentioned, Angi, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack, Yelp, Nextdoor, they're in it for one thing and one thing only: dolla dolla bills y'all.
What's this mean for you?
If the unlicensed contractor you hired for x-service messes up, well, that's on you for not asking for the proper paperwork, not doing any additional research, not going to your state's licensing board or Secretary of State... (that's a lot of extra work for you, right??) It's definitely not on them for putting Harry with a Hammer on their site who decided he was going to be an electrician today.