YouPage.co.uk

Reviewing and advising a start-up

What do you think about YouPage?

www.youpage.co.uk

We asked a panel of users to review and advise YouPage

1 - What was your first impression?

Google-like interface. I had no idea what to search for, a little description of what the search engine is for, would really make things more clear. Clicking the about page made things more clear. (Gregory De Jans)

The first thing I thought was that the page looks much like Google, it’s simple and not overloaded which tends to be a good thing for search engines. However, I did not immediately understand what youpage.co.uk was offering. (Felix Speiser)

1 - What was your first impression?

I was somewhat mislead by the name. Given my association with e.g. YouTube, I was expecting a service that would address me as an individual consumer/user. It appeared the message was destined to the owner of a local small-sized business. Having adapted to this, I went looking for the true differentiation in the service, because the tag line “The Internet’s Local directory” left me with a “not-another-one” feeling. The good news is that the concept includes sufficient stimuli to continue digging deeper. (Patrick Torrekens)

2 - How describe YouPage’s concept?

Search engine to find local businesses. Community based. (Gregory De Jans)

It was hard to figure out exactly what YouPage offers businesses. What I learned from the website, youpage is a local directory for businesses that also offers microblogging or twitterlike communication for those businesses. Most importantly it offers a feature that displays the latest searches and allows to answer them. (Felix Speiser)

2 - How describe YouPage’s concept?

Youpage brings the marketplace concept closer to owners of local small businesses and creates the opportunity for them to enter in dialogue – through micro-blogging - with their local community customer base. This results in an interesting lead generation, loyalty, and promotion channel for the business owner and an effective, personalized search capability for the end user. (Patrick Torrekens)

3 - Which are comparable services?

yellow pages. www.happenr.com. (Gregory De Jans)

At the first glance I would have compared it to Google Maps local search but with the live search feature it could also be compared to the german service käuferportal.de, a service that attracts buyers that are searching for a product and then sells them as potential customers to up to 3 specialist dealers that will then contact the customer with specific offers for their needs. (Felix Speiser)

Youpage integrates many different services: Search engines (Google/Yahoo), Directory services (Yellow pages), Marketplace service (Ebay/Ubid), Micro-blogger sites (Twitter/Jaiku) - (Patrick Torrekens)

4 - What are the benefits? To who?

Event organizers have a way to make their events public and known to their public. Local businesses have a channel of publication. Community sites are really popular for the moment so this company can benefit from this. (Gregory De Jans)

Probably the most unique feature is the life search and the ability to reply to searches. This could be used by businesses to reply immediately to a search for their product, giving advice and starting the sales process right away. (Felix Speiser)

4 - What are the benefits? To who?

Localization and personalization are clearly advantages that appeal to this target audience. Small businesses often avoid the big e-marketplaces because their message does not reach the parties they are interested in. Offering blogging facilities on top of a directory service re-enforces the personalization aspect. The main benefit to the users (both businesses as well as individuals) should come from the upgraded search engine* (as compared to the ones currently available). (Patrick Torrekens)

* given the short notice and possibilities I had for accessing the YouPage service, it was impossible to make an adequate assessment of this.

5 - What is the biggest hurdle for growth?

Build up a large community. Find companies who are willing to participate. Compete with larger search engines. (Gregory De Jans)

It might be an interesting solution for businesses, who can answer to searches for their products immediately. On the other hand, the benefit for the user is harder to communicate and it will be hard to channel enough traffic to the search engine, considering that google already offers a strong local search using its map technology. (Felix Speiser)

5 - What is the biggest hurdle for growth?

The quality of YouPage’s search engine is crucial and will define – to a large extent – the success for this service. While it is nice to bundle a number of functions (directory, e-shop, blogging,) into one service, it is not sufficient to create sustainable differentiation. A search engine that is recognized by the target audience (i.e. small and medium sized enterprises) as being state-of-the-art in its category, offers true differentiation. Next to this, it will be required to grow the community of publishers and end users. This will require a clearer positioning and more appealing branding than the current ones. (Patrick Torrekens)

6 - Suggestions for the look and feel?

Simple and easy to use but maybe too simple for people who don’t know the site (see first topic: not really clear what it is for). (Gregory De Jans)

I very much liked the youpage.co.uk start page because it is very clearly arranged in a manner that users are used to from Google. By clicking on one of the links however, I was forwarded to a page which had a completely different look and feel than the start page. I believe that this could be surprising and would strongly suggest keeping the style as clear as the start page. Also I think that the font-size on the content pages is way too small. (Felix Speiser)

6 - Suggestions for the look and feel?

A “no-risk” site. Neat and clean. Quite some techy language used not really appropriate for the target audience. The front page should have a good summary of all aspects of the service (directory, blogging, events, etc.). (Patrick Torrekens)

7 - Advice or ideas for improvement?

Invest in good online marketing. Make sure people know what the website is for. It is not clear what’s meant by local (only the UK, only some parts in the UK, global but depending on what country/city you come from?). Make this things clear on the homepage. (Gregory De Jans)

I believe that the live search should become your killer feature and that it should be emphasized accordingly. Microblogging could be nice for local businesses, to tell their customers if there is something new going on. Live search however offers a great opportunity for businesses to reply to people searching for their products right away and by doing so kick-starting a sales process. It could become a new way of SEM. (Felix Speiser)

7 - Advice or ideas for improvement?

Rather than commercializing your technology as a full-fledged B-to-B service, with all complexity of branding and positioning linked to it, you may consider licensing some of you search engine technology to established players who can use it to enhance their current services. All major players are looking into localization and personalization of their services. Times may be right to bring them solutions in that area. (Patrick Torrekens)

Up to you... What are your tips and comments for

Nigel Gay (Founder)?

www.youpage.co.uknigel.gay@youpage.com

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