Palaciobox using BrightLocal

Long Time User & Fan

To some degree or other we've used all the different toolsets, and every single local business we've worked with has been entered into the system. For some we've used limited items, like citation building and tracking, and for others we've used the whole suite. The improvements over the years have been impressive, with white label dashboard a few years ago, right up to the recent local rankings grid reports.

Pros

The ease of setup when entering a new client is probably my favorite feature, the way you can literally utilize every tool in the shed during a clean click through process.

Cons

The fact that their "Citation Checker" shows an ever growing number, and displays a chart giving a false impression of growth when the old citations may no longer exist. When a citation no longer exists, it should come off the report just like a lost link would. The Google Analytics integration is also very basic, and it would be nice to have more data options, but for a basic customer dashboard it's okay. It's going to need an update soon, since new businesses are defaulting to GA4 and I dont think this integrates

Indespensible

The experience has been a five star experience. It's a great resource that's easy to use, with excellent support, and very competitively priced.

Pros

The software has nearly everything needed to review, analyze and build Local SEO and digital marketing strategies. This is the first time I've used a tool that covers +90% of our needs. It's easy to setup and use, especially with the extensive and well formed support and training videos and articles provided. Top that off with quick and personal support through calls and chat, and this is a real winner for our organization and customers.

Cons

BrightLocal is a multifaceted set of tools, and initially it was challenging understanding what features are included in the plan vs what were paid add-on tools. Add to the complexity a credit system for reporting and other features and understanding the costs can seems nearly impossible until you begin to use the tools. More keyword research tools would be helpful. Adding more niche review sources would also be helpful.

80% data inaccuracy. 0% customer service.

abismal

Pros

N/A none at all terrible do not consider you have been warned

Cons

This is a reporting tool who's data is 80%+ inaccurate. After working through many automated emails from them, my team and I finally got a meeting with our Brightlocal rep. They literally told us to go in and fix it manually for each and every client. Clearly we have no use for a reporting tool who's reporting is so aggressively wrong so we attempted to cancel our annual subscription. Here was the reply: Our rep: "As per our Terms and Conditions: Section 6.5) 'If you subscribe to a Subscription Service then you may cancel such Subscription Service at any time. Termination will take effect from the end of the current Subscription Service Period. Subscription Fees will not be refunded for early cancellation or any other reason'." Basically, if you own the annual account for a day, you can't get refunded for the year, even if the product is faulty in nearly every way from a reporting perspective, contrary to what was advertised. I'm sure a representative will comment on this rating and claim that they "taught us how to correct this issue and how to identify reporting mistakes" so here is my preemptive rebuttal: A. - Going in regularly to correct reporting issues completely eliminates the purpose of having a reporting tool. We were not made aware of the potential for reporting inaccuracies until after we were annual customers. B. - With client facing white label reporting, I might be able to identify and ignore faulty information but my client certainly won't.

BrightLocal for Quality and Price

Overall experience is satisfactory.

Pros

Citation Management, Rankings, GBP, Reputation Management - affordable and accurate all in one place SEO management software

Cons

No backlink monitoring system yet available for managing / getting backlinks