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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    BrightLocal

    Score7.2 out of 10
    N/ABrightLocal is a search engine optimization tool that tracks search rankings, builds citations, and monitors online reviews and stresses local search performance.

    $39

    per month

    Shorthand

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AShorthand enables the user to create interactive multimedia stories for any online audience — all with no code. The vendor boasts that Shorthand is used by hundreds of publishers, brands, non-profits, and more — including the BBC, Honda, Business Insider, and Doctors Without Borders.N/A

    Synup

    Score9.5 out of 10
    N/ASynup is a location intelligence tool that helps businesses with their local marketing, discovery, and engagement. Businesses and agencies alike can use Synup to get listed online, monitor online reputation, generate business reviews and track search engine analytics.

    $99

    per month

    Pricing
    BrightLocalShorthandSynup
    Editions & Modules
    Track Plan
    $39
    per month
    Manage Plan
    $49
    per month
    Grow Plan
    $59
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BrightLocalShorthandSynup
    Free Trial
    YesYesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsBrightLocal offers custom enterprise plans for businesses with more than 50 locations.—Synup offers scalable pricing plans for agencies looking to grow their clientbase and expand their service offerings. A discount is available for annual billing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BrightLocalShorthandSynup
    Considered Multiple Products
    BrightLocal
    Chose BrightLocal
    The price was cheaper at BrightLocal, although I have had to pay extra for things, but I like the flexibility that an al cart type program brings. I would say that Synup is easier to use and much simpler. Yext is more expensive and requires constant enrollment, but maybe the …
    Incentivized
    Shorthand
    No answer on this topic
    Synup
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    86%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    Features
    BrightLocalShorthandSynup
    SEO
    Comparison of SEO features of BrightLocal and Shorthand and Synup
    Feature
    BrightLocal
    6.7
    12 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Shorthand
    -
    Ratings
    Synup
    -
    Ratings
    Keyword analysis7.08 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Backlink management4.05 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    SERP ranking tracking7.711 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Page grader7.52 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Competitive analysis7.611 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Site audit / diagnostics9.98 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Site recommendations6.64 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Task management3.56 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO Channels
    Comparison of SEO Channels features of BrightLocal and Shorthand and Synup
    Feature
    BrightLocal
    8.6
    13 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Shorthand
    -
    Ratings
    Synup
    -
    Ratings
    Local SEO8.613 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social SEO7.96 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile SEO10.04 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Global SEO7.72 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO Platform & Account Management
    Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of BrightLocal and Shorthand and Synup
    Feature
    BrightLocal
    9.2
    11 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Shorthand
    -
    Ratings
    Synup
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-domain support8.59 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with web analytics tools9.910 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Creation
    Comparison of Content Creation features of BrightLocal and Shorthand and Synup
    Feature
    BrightLocal
    -
    Ratings
    Shorthand
    9.0
    1 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Synup
    -
    Ratings
    Content collaboration00 Ratings9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Publishing
    Comparison of Content Publishing features of BrightLocal and Shorthand and Synup
    Feature
    BrightLocal
    -
    Ratings
    Shorthand
    6.8
    1 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Synup
    -
    Ratings
    Content hub00 Ratings9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Embedded CTAs00 Ratings7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content distribution00 Ratings6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content promotion00 Ratings5.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BrightLocalShorthandSynup
    Small Businesses
    Serpstat
    Score10 out of 10
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Google Business Profile
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Yoast
    Score8.5 out of 10
    CoSchedule Marketing Suite
    Score10 out of 10
    Google Business Profile
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google Trends
    Score8.6 out of 10
    PathFactory
    Score8.3 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BrightLocalShorthandSynup
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (14 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BrightLocalShorthandSynup
    Likelihood to Recommend
    BrightLocal
    If you are a local business owner or marketing agency catering to local businesses, BrightLocal is a must have software. It has everything you need to track your local marketing efforts and to identify opportunities to make improvements, all at a very reasonable price point. You can also create nice looking reports to send to clients which are simple to create.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    Shorthand is ideally suited to visual stories where you have a good number of images and/or embeds or video to include. It is well-suited to long-form stories, where you wish to keep the readers' attention longer than usual. It can help to differentiate particularly important or intriguing stories from others on your website - and for this reason, it could be used as a premium content tool, perhaps for subscribers. It can also be used to showcase stories about awards you've organised, giving them special treatment. It is less suited to breaking news, or very time-sensitive news stories, as it can take some time to prepare, post or update shorthand stories. And it doesn't work well for stories with strong accompanying imagery
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Synup
    Synup is ideal for businesses with several locations, ensuring consistent and accurate information across all directories. This is crucial for franchises, restaurant chains, or retail stores. Small businesses and startups, often with limited resources, benefit from Synup's user-friendly interface and time-saving features. It simplifies the process of managing online listings without requiring extensive technical expertise. Businesses placing a high value on online reputation management find Synup valuable. The platform's review monitoring and centralized dashboard help businesses respond promptly to customer feedback, enhancing their overall online image.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    BrightLocal
    • When we use BrightLocal's citation building service, I know that we're getting quality citations done right. Their staff will email you with any questions and always double check the information before creating inaccurate citations.
    • I love that BrightLocal is very quick about making changes when requested. For example, if we can't find a city on the drop-down list, you can chat them and they'll add it. Or if a report is pulling incorrectly, they'll re-run it within a reasonable timeframe.
    • BrightLocal has a lot of different reports that are easy to send to your clients. You can even add them to a web-viewable dashboard so that your client can simply bookmark a link and view their reports when they please.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    • Enabling visual storytelling with multiple pictures
    • Embedding rich media within a story, including video
    • Engaging readers for longer than average dwell times
    • Making it easy to create striking article design without coding experience
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Synup
    • Synup is extremely good at keeping track of customer reviews from various platforms in one centralised dashboard.
    • One of Synup's strengths is its ability to sync business information simultaneously across multiple platforms.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    BrightLocal
    • Up and down rankings were not always right on with the local search, but only off by one or two spots
    • It felt like it was only used for local SEO, and I know there are more features, just never got to them.
    • Didn't seem useful for every single client in the way Ahrefs or Spyfu did
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    • Additional flexibility in how text is overlaid on pictures would be welcome so that there are more choices on what images to use with particular layouts
    • Enabling users to control the path of text - for example, enabling runaround - could enable some excellent designs
    • Adding additional section templates could speed up design
    • More flexibility in caption placement would be helpful
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Synup
    • Improving the mobile app experience could be beneficial.
    • Product is little too expensive.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    BrightLocal
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    I have never known it to be down during my use of it. All you require is an internet connection to log in and you can use it on multiple devices. Adding ease of accessibility, there are simple ways to log in. I've also never known a Shorthand story to go down once live on our site.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Synup
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    BrightLocal
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    Due to the integration with our content management software, there is a short delay on our site while it loads, which may cause some readers to drift away. However, I've seen other sites where it instantly loads articles, so I believe this to be down to the content management software behind our site more than Shorthand itself. Once that brief initial period is over, it doesn't require additional loading time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Synup
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    BrightLocal
    Although their customer support has always contacted me, they have not always been helpful. Many times I've had reports or information disappear with them telling me they had no record of it, even when I had reports that the information was in there. There are times when their system did have bugs and the support was able to help me there. Overall, the support staff is there but they cannot always do much and need to wait for their development team to get back to them which often takes a long time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    No answers on this topic
    Synup
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    BrightLocal
    Thryv reached out to me about 3 weeks before signing up with BrightLocal. While all of their features were impressive, there were only about 3 features that I would have used. Thryv wanted $200 per month for their service, which I found to be way overpriced for what I was wanting to use it for. I selected BrightLocal because it had the features I wanted at a lower price and then add ons. After using BrightLocal for a week and speaking with Becki, a customer service executive, I have discovered more features that I would use on BrightLocal than on Thryv.
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    No answers on this topic
    Synup
    Synup was recommended by a colleague and had great results for their company. We did a trial period and noticed a big turnaround in customer engagement and a boost in the positivity of our business.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    BrightLocal
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    As a web-based service, it is easy for users to log into from anywhere. Content can easily be shared, as you can set up teams that enable access to each other's work as required. And content can be reviewed by others before publication using the sharing function. You can also view how an article will look on different devices.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Synup
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    BrightLocal
    • BrightLocal's ranking reports have helped us better serve our clients' SEO needs, especially local SEO.
    • Reporting is nicely accomplished with their online client report dashboards.
    • Negative: some of their software defects are glaringly obvious take forever to fix, creating a number of awkward moments when we talk our clients through their reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    • Helped us create one of our top 10 most-read and most-shared stories in the last year
    • Enabled us to elevate key pieces of content, boosting dwell time on our site
    • But can also be time-consuming to adopt for some stories, meaning you need to choose well what stories really deserve the investment in time
    • Boosted collaboration between teams via its ability to share, including offering the chance for others to preview content prior to publication
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Synup
    • My Business after using Synup experience an increase in local visibility.
    • We improved our rating from 3.5
    • to 4.1 and our posts get 65% more engagement.
    • Real-time analytics provided by Synup empower my business with valuable insights
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    BrightLocal Screenshots

    Screenshot of Location SummaryScreenshot of Local Search Rank CheckerScreenshot of Local Search GridScreenshot of Local Search AuditScreenshot of Google My Business AuditScreenshot of Citation Tracker

    Shorthand Screenshots

    Screenshot of Easily add sections and adjust styling.

    Synup Screenshots

    Screenshot of Agency Operating SystemScreenshot of Local Listing Management SoftwareScreenshot of Online Reputation Management SoftwareScreenshot of Social Media Management SoftwareScreenshot of SMB Prospecting Tool for AgenciesScreenshot of Sales Pipeline & CRM