What is Nextdoor for Local Business?
Nextdoor for Local Business is a platform where you can list your business and offer deals to members of your surrounding community, thanks to geolocation technology. It’s free and only requires basic computer skills to create an account.
Customers can recommend your products or services to their neighbors and leave reviews. You’ll also appear in searches for businesses like yours, and can get insight about what people are talking about by tapping into local conversations.
What features does Nextdoor for Local Business offer?
Nextdoor for Local Business is similar to most social media platforms in that users can search, post, rate, comment and leave reviews about your company. Here’s what it has to offer local businesses:
Business page
This is a profile for your business — the landing page where users can see your contact info, address, business hours and what you have to offer. It’s also where they can read reviews. A business page is free and you can verify your page using your phone number.
Local Deals
Purchase ads on the Local Deals feed where you can advertise a discount or sale. Target the specific neighborhoods you want to reach, as nearby as 0.1 miles, and as far away as 10 miles. The duration for your Local Deal can be anywhere from seven to 30 days.
It takes about four minutes to buy and post a deal, according to Nextdoor. After it’s published, users see it in their newsfeeds, under the search results, on the local deals and business pages.
Recommendations
Recommendations are a way for businesses to build trust within the community. If a Nextdoor user wants to recommend you, they’ll tap the heart icon on your page.
The number of Recommendations you’ve received is displayed clearly wherever the name of your business is listed. You can’t buy recommendations — they can only be given by users.
Neighborhood favorites
Once a year, Nextdoor runs a contest where people can vote on their favorite business in categories including health, personal care, retail, food and drink. The voting period usually lasts around three weeks. Every vote is also added to your page as a Recommendation.
You’ll get major bragging rights for winning, because only 1% of Nextdoor businesses earn the badge — a trophy icon next to your listing. You’ll also show up higher in search results and receive a window sticker and a letter of recognition from Nextdoor’s CEO.
Nextdoor Pricing
Nextdoor is a free platform. Only local businesses and real estate agents who want to advertise and generate leads from Nextdoor will be charged. Pricing details, however, are not published on its website as advertising fees vary per neighborhood.
According to third-party websites, its cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) rate is $25 for advertisers and real estate section sponsorships range from $100 to $1,000 per month. To get accurate pricing information, you may join a neighborhood via Nextdoor or schedule a call with its support team.
Pros and cons
Nextdoor can be a good way to connect with potential customers who live nearby. It can also provide valuable insight into your reputation. Set up notifications for when people interact with your page, but otherwise it doesn’t require much upkeep.
Still, be sure to weigh the pros and cons before signing up:
Pros
- Free to use. Set up an account without paying a cent.
- Clear neighborhood insights. It shows you exactly how many people can see your page and the number of neighborhoods you’re qualified to reach.
- Users can contact you directly through the app. After someone finds your business, they can call you or go to your website with one click.
Cons
- Outreach is limited to people using the app. If you’re based in an area where Nextdoor isn’t widely used, it may not be as effective.
- Difficult to gain traction without recommendations. You’ll appear at the bottom of search results if you don’t have any recommendations, and it can be hard to compete with businesses that’ve been on Nextdoor for a while.
