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In this article:\nWhat are Google Alerts?\nHow to set up Google Alerts for your business\nReasons why you should be using Google Alerts\nGoogle Alerts can be a powerful tool to help you grow your business and online visibility. It may not be the most effective tool out there, but it’s a surprisingly useful, free tool to get you started in tracking brand mentions, competitor reputations, (some) reviews, and keywords.\nThroughout this article, we’ll guide you through the best uses of Google Alerts for your small business, how to get it set up, and how to create specific alerts for your business needs. \nWhat are Google Alerts?\nGoogle created a free system, Google Alerts, that allows you to set up notifications for specific mentions of phrases online. When Google Alerts find a mention of the phrases you set up, you’ll receive an email notification to let you know where that mention was found. \nGoogle Alerts can help your business in several different capacities, from tracking competitor activity online, to notifying you of negative reviews, to finding more link opportunities for your business. \nWe’ll guide you through these applications in a little more detail below. But first let’s go over how to get set up to use Google Alerts. \nHow to set up Google Alerts for your business\nFirst, we want to show you how to set up Google Alerts. As long as you have a Google account, you can sign in and use Google Alerts. \nIf you don’t already have an account, simply go to Google.com and click “Sign in” to create a new account. \nStep 1: Sign in to Google Alerts\nGo to google.com/alerts and click “Sign in.” If you already have a Google account, it may already have you signed in. If that’s the case, move on to Step 2. \n(Image)\n\nStep 2: Create an Alert\nOnce you’re signed in, you can easily start creating Alerts for your business. On the main page, Google will provide you with several suggestions, including “Me on the web.” These will be your personal or business name and email (depending on which Google account you are logged in with).\nIt’s always a good idea to see where your business is showing up on the web, so feel free to click the + icon next to your business name if it shows up. \nTo create your own alert, simply type something into the search bar that says “Create an alert about…”\nSeveral of the most recent search results with your phrase will be displayed below the search box, similar to a normal Google search. \nClick “Show options” to select the following options:\nHow often to receive notifications\nSources\nLanguage\nRegion\nHow many results\nWhich email to deliver to\nOnce you’ve filled all of that out, click “‘Create Alert.” And you’re done!\n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nReasons why you should be using Google Alerts\nNow that you know how to set up Google Alerts for your business, let’s talk about some of the reasons why you should and how Google Alerts can benefit your online growth. \nMonitor new content\nIf you are involved with content marketing (which you should be), then you are likely producing new content on your website on a regular basis. This could be blog articles, infographics, videos, etc. \nAs you create new content, set up a Google Alert with the name of your new page or article to see when other websites share or republish your content. \nCheck to see that these websites are giving you proper credit as the originator of the content and linking back to you. If not, you can ask them to properly credit you and insert valuable links to your site.\nTrack mentions and reviews of your brand and get more links\nBeyond new content that you post, you can track mentions of your brand/company name and specific branded services or products. Check these mentions regularly and see if they are being linked back to relevant pages on your website. \nexcited african american male getting google alerts on cell phone\n\nThis will help provide more value to the places that are mentioning your brand so that their readers can follow the link to learn more about you. It also helps increase your search engine visibility. \nYou can also create a search string like “[your brand or product] + review” to get alerts when blogs or websites post articles containing your company or product and “review” in the title or content.\nTrack your competitors to find new citation opportunities\nSee where your competitors are showing up online. You can create alerts for your competitors’ name, phone number, and address to find new opportunities for ideas for citations and listings to help improve your local SEO. \nQuick guide: \nLocal SEO: 15 free tips for better search rankings\nYou may also like: \n25 free business listings for your business\nSearching for your competitors could also help you find other link opportunities. Chances are if someone is linking to a related competitor they’d be willing to link to your website as well. \nFind new guest post opportunities\nGoogle Alerts can help you find new guest-posting opportunities for your business. \nGuest posting is a great link-building and content-marketing strategy that can help improve your online reputation. \nCreate an alert for phrases like “[insert topic] + write for us” or “[insert topic] + become a contributor.” Most websites that accept guest posts will have some kind of “write for us” page, so keep an eye out for those kinds of opportunities within your industry. \nMonitor your keywords\nAnd finally, you can and should be monitoring your own keywords that you want to be showing up for on Google. This will show you the places that are likely showing up well for these phrases and what kind of content they are producing. \nUse that to guide your content strategy and help your website rank better for specific phrases. 

How and why you should set up Google Alerts for your business

In this article:\nFree advertising ideas for retail shops\nFree SEO ideas for local businesses\nGet involved locally\nIs the cost of advertising your store bumming you out? It’s a tough gig to start a new business, get your name out there, and start acquiring new customers. But that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible, and there are even some free strategies that you can use to get started. \nThese strategies can help you advertise your retail business for free, and several of them will even help you show up better on Google and other search engines!\n1. Create and claim your online profiles\nTo help increase your store’s online visibility, it is imperative that you claim your major online profiles. Google and Yelp are the big ones here. When you claim these profiles, it helps these search engines and review platforms verify that you are a legitimate business and they are more likely to show your listings to customers. \nMake sure you add as much relevant information as possible to these listings so customers can get all of the details they need before coming into your store. \nCheck out our guides:\nHow to claim your Google My Business listing\nHow to claim your Yelp business listing\n2. Get more online reviews\nWhen you have your online profiles created, you can start getting online reviews. Reviews are a powerful conversion tool that will help sway consumers toward your store. \nTry these methods to get new customer reviews:\nProvide great customer service and ask for reviews\nPut signs up that encourage customers to leave reviews on your online platforms\nInclude links to your Google listing in email receipts\nInclude instructions to leave reviews on print and email receipts\n3. Respond to your reviews\nWhen you start getting reviews, it’s important to respond to them too. Develop a rapport with your online followers and customers by engaging with them when they leave nice feedback about your store. \nIt’s especially important to respond to any negative reviews that may come in. You want everyone to have a good experience with your store, so find out what went wrong and try to improve the relationship. This also shows potential customers that you are willing to resolve any issues that may come up. \nGo deeper: \nHow to respond to negative reviews\n\n4. Find more listings sites to post your store on\nBeyond Google and Yelp, there are tons of other free listings sites that you can use to advertise your retail business. When you do start creating these profiles, just be sure that your business name, address, and phone number (also known as NAP) are consistent across all of these. \nInconsistencies with your NAP info can make it difficult for search engines to verify your information, which could result in lower search result rankings. \nGet started with \n25 free business listing websites every small business should be on\n. \n5. Set up a free website\nWhile free websites aren’t always the most user-friendly (for the creator of them) they are a great way to get started if you’re strapped for cash. And every business should have a website. \nSome of the free resources we like for building websites include:\nWix\nSquarespace\nGoogle My Business\nThere may be some fees associated with owning your own domain and hosting the website, but these are usually very manageable and totally worth it when you consider the total cost of creating a website with a professional web developer. \n6. Boost your local SEO\nSEO, or search engine optimization, is how you get your website and business to show up in the search results on Google, Bing, and other search engines. Some of these methods we’ve mentioned, like setting up a website and claiming your online listings, can help you with this. \nWe also have \n15 free tips for better local search engine rankings\n that you’ll definitely want to check out. \n7. Start a blog\nA blog is another thing that can contribute to your SEO efforts. But it can do more than just that. A blog provides value to consumers without them having to purchase anything from you. It can help customers learn more about you and your business too. But remember, you need to keep posting new content regularly for your blog to be worth anything.\nHere are some ideas that you can use for your store’s blog:\nPhotos of new products as they come in\nEmployee features\nVideo tutorials (how to create the perfect budget outfit, how to use specific products you offer)\n8. Start social media accounts\nWhen most of your target customer base is spending at least 30 minutes of their free time on social media, it’s good to take advantage of that. Create social media accounts for your store on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter—whichever is relevant to your business that you can keep up with posting on. \nCreate lots of fun content that users will feel enticed to engage with. Here are some ideas to get you going:\nDiscounts and deals\nNew products\nOutfit pairings (for clothing stores)\nCustomer testimonials\n9. Partner with other local businesses\nGet together with other local businesses and partner with each other on social media. Share each other’s followings by doing a Facebook Live video together and tagging each other’s business page in it. \nMaybe you’re a clothing store that just got a new shipment of workout clothes in. Partner with a local gym to do a fun workout tip post. Get creative with this and have fun. \n10. Send out email newsletters\nEmail might seem like old news, but there’s still a lot of power in this. For retail businesses, send out emails that offer online specials or sweet deals. Use the subject line of the email to mention the deal and entice your customer to open it. \n11. Get involved with your local chamber of commerce\nYour local \nchamber of commerce\n is all about helping small businesses in their community succeed. Take advantage of their resources, like marketing materials and a free listing on their website. This will help get your business out in front of your community. \n12. Get involved with community events\nAnother way to get known in your community is to get involved in local events. Maybe there’s a 5k or a blood drive going on. Volunteer yourself and your employees to help out. Where your logo and display your branding to help spread awareness. \nYou might even offer some free swag to participants like pens, bracelets, or coupons for your store. \n13. Host an online Q&A\nDo you get a lot of questions from customers about the products in your store? Maybe you sell cleaning products and customers want the know what works best to get pet smells out of carpet. Or maybe you sell clothing and jewelry and customers are concerned about what goes best with their hair color and style. \nHost an online Q&A for customers to ask their questions or with a list of common questions that you hear from customers and answer them. Post this on your website, in your blog, and on your social media channels.\n14. Offer discounts and promotions\nWe all love to save a few bucks. Offer some sweet deals to your customers to entice them to come into your store and share those deals with their friends. Never underestimate the power of referrals when it comes to great deals. \n15. Start a loyalty program\nSpeaking of saving some money, loyalty programs are a great way to advertise your store and get customers to buy more items. Use a point system or punch card and after they spend so much money, give them some store credit. \nCheck out our guide: \nThe 6 elements of an effective customer loyalty program\n16. Make promotional videos\nMake promotional videos to share on your website, online listings, and social profiles. One resource we like for this is \nBiteable\n. You can create a free video that looks professional and shows off the great qualities of your store. \n17. Start a YouTube channel\nWhen you make your promotional videos, online Q&A’s, or video tutorials, share them on a YouTube channel. This is another great way to spread brand awareness, attract new customers, and build up your online reach. \n18. Put customer testimonials on your website\nReviews are powerful. And sharing a video testimonial that shows a customer who is genuinely happy with their experience at your store can go a long way. You can use these as a part of your promotional videos, add them to your social media accounts, and gain more opportunities to bring in customers. \n19. Post on the Facebook Marketplace\nTake advantage of every platform out there for putting your products in front of new customers. People are constantly searching for great deals on things they need in the Facebook Marketplace. Post popular items from your store in the Marketplace to get them in front of more people. \nYou’ll have to do this from your personal page, but customers want to connect with real people, so it’s really a win-win. \n20. Print out flyers\nSpread awareness of your store the good old fashioned way with printed flyers. Get a friend or local college graphic design student to create a professional-looking flyer with an enticing promotion and post those things everywhere! \nTest out these strategies to see what works best for your store as you’re getting started. Get new customers, and start growing your business!

20 free local advertising ideas for your retail business

In this article:\nAre free website hosting and domain services really free?\nAdvantages to free web hosting and domain\nDisadvantages to free domain and website hosting\nThe “almost free” option for web hosting\nThe importance of building a solid online presence\nIf you’re reading this article, you are likely aware of the importance of creating and maintaining a \nsmall business website\n. Every small business needs a website, even super-small one-person concerns, if for no other reason than to attract more local customers and \nimprove your local SEO\n. But a good, \nsimple website\n site can be a robust marketing, customer relationship management, and sales tool, rather than be merely informative. \nSmall business owners are almost always on a tight budget, so you may be tempted to use any of the thousands of “free web hosting” or “free domain” options available. Several of the major website builder platforms offer a free option, as Wix does.\nNaturally, like the man once said, there is no free lunch. Everything that’s “free” actually costs you something, whether in time, convenience, features, control, bandwidth, advertising space, or any number of other ways.\nLet’s go over some of the pros and cons, and some of the advantages and features, of some of the “free” domain and web hosting options, so you can make a more informed decision.\n(Please note: we have made an effort to provide accurate information as of the time of the publication of this article, but of course prices and features may change without notice.)\nAdvantages (or “pros”) to free website hosting and domain\nThere are dozens, even hundreds, of free web hosting and free domain services, so obviously there are significant upsides or “pros” to going this route.\nIt’s, well… free!\nIf cost is your primary concern when getting your website up and running, then you can’t do better than free. There are tradeoffs (see below) but you absolutely can get your domain and your web hosting for free.\nUsually quick to get set up\nMany free hosting and domain providers can get your site “on the web” almost instantly. If you want to redirect your own, previously purchased domain, that can take a little while (and most don’t allow it; see below), but if all you need is “a website for your business,” then you can get yours built and functional in almost no time.\nSimple to use\nSimple is often best for busy small business owners, and nearly every free web hosting and domain provider makes it very simple to get your website built and online. You don’t have to know any HTML or code or, really, any design principles. If you can drag/drop items around a computer screen, and maybe select/highlight/copy/replace text, you pretty much have all the skills you need.\nMany offer templatized website builders, pre-built pages, and tutorials\nWith some of the free sites, you get access to pretty impressive array of website building tools, templates, free stock images, and tutorials. Wix is a very popular choice here.\nDisadvantages (or “cons”) to free website hosting and domain\nNow that we’ve covered some of the benefits to using a free hosting and domain service, let’s talk about some of the tradeoffs.\nOn-page advertisements\nIn the digital realm, “free” always comes with a cost, and one of the primary ways you pay for free web hosting and domain is with ads that will appear on your website, pretty much on every page. \nDepending on the site you use, these can be either pretty unobtrusive or pretty obnoxious. Some sites put their ads in a banner along the bottom of each page, while some keep them prominently at the top, and make them “sticky” so they move down as you scroll through your pages.\nThese ads may be a simple pitch to visitors of your site that they should use the same free site builder you used (Wix.com does this, for example), and they may be for products and services that are related to your business’s products and services. Or, they might be completely random banner or pop-up ads, some of which might be for things you don’t want to be associated with. \n(Image)\nIf you want to get rid of the ads, many of these service providers will remove them for a monthly fee… but then your free hosting and domain isn’t free anymore, is it?\nYou generally can’t use your own custom domain name\nMost free domain and hosting options don’t allow you to specify a custom domain (i.e., www.yourbusinessname.com). Your business website will be hosted on the “cloud” via their servers and on their domain, which means your website address will typically be something like [yourusername].[thefreehostingsite].com/[yourbusinessname] or at best [yourbusinessname].[thefreehostingsite].com. This doesn’t exactly roll trippingly off the tongue and isn’t easy to remember or market.\nSome companies allow you to upgrade to a custom domain (or redirect one you already own) for a small cost, but then, it’s not actually free anymore. Are you starting to see how this works?\nBandwidth throttling and limited or no storage\nBandwidth is basically like the utilities company of your site. Data is the “water” that makes your site run, and you pay for what you use. If you have a lot of visitors/traffic to your site, you use a lot of bandwidth, which your hosting company has to pay for.\nFor free hosting and domain providers, it’s common to limit your “free” bandwidth severely, because, after all, you’re not paying for it. And if you have images or videos hosted on your webpages, they can eat up a ton of bandwidth whenever they’re streamed or downloaded.\n(Image)\nStorage is almost always capped as well, because every image and video and music file and .pdf on your website, and every item in your online store has to be stored on the free host’s server, which you’re not paying for. So if you have a good amount of content and images to store, you’ll probably bump up against your limit pretty quickly.\nOnce you know what level of bandwidth/usage and storage your website will require, you can generally upgrade to a paid plan that fits your needs.\nLimited design and template options\nThis is an issue with all templatized online website builders, but particularly for free options which sometimes can be even more limited than the basic “pay” versions. While they make things easier for novices and you can create a great-looking site using some of them, there is necessarily a limitation on the design and template choices you can choose from.\nSome, like WordPress, allow pretty robust plugin and customization options, particularly if you know a bit of code, but with most free options you’ll be selecting from a few pre-designed layouts, within which you can usually make certain customizations.\nAgain, if all you want is “a website” that looks good enough to make your business seem professional and provide contact information and current hours (which is indeed valuable), then this may not be a concern for you.\nPoor on-site performance, questionable SEO, and spam\nAll pre-built, templatized webpages can potentially suffer from website performance issues like slow page loading, poor image loading, and other problems. The fewer options you have for on-site optimization, the less control you have over page load speed and other performance of your pages.\nIn addition, Google and other search engines might not “see” your free site and recommend it in search results as often as you think they should, if you are using a free site hosting service. This is because free site hosting companies might be tempted to stuff too many websites on a server than it can safely handle, which can cause lag and other performance issues. Since page load speed is one of the key factors in Google’s algorithm, this in turn can induce Google to remove your site from search results.\nAnother issue is that the host company itself may be engaging in practices that search engines consider “spammy” and this will trickle down to you if you’re hosted there. Depending on what ads they run, you might be inadvertently advertising questionable products and services or even including links to malicious software or malware on your site (this is somewhat unlikely but it is possible depending on how reputable your free site host is).\n(Image)\nPotentially lower-tier support \nSince you’re not paying the company anything, they may not prioritize fixing any issues that may come up. \nOn the other hand, if you pay for “VIP” customer support on some website hosting sites, you can skip the line and get higher levels of personalized service in case of service outages, downed websites, and other broken functionality. If you are not paying them anything, you may just be subject to the luck of the draw, or even get no response at all.\nIf getting someone on the phone/chat/email quickly in the case of trouble is valuable to you, then you should make that a priority and pay for the full-service site.\nFree websites can seem “iffy”/not legitimate\nA basic webpage with a bunch of unrelated banner ads plastered all over it doesn’t exactly paint your business in the best light. If you’re trying to capture local searches and give out basic information about your business, this may be sufficient. But to truly help support your brand, your website should ideally be an extension of your physical space. \nWith some of the free options out there, this may or may not be a possibility. \nThe “almost free” hosting and domain option\nI think we can all agree that $2.95 a month for web hosting is pretty much a steal. Well, that’s what you will currently pay for a WordPress website when you sign up via \nBlueHost\n. ($2.95 for hosting, or $4.95/mo for building a website using their drag-and-drop Wordpress builder.)\nTruth be known, it’s really not that expensive to get your own custom domain registered (usually around $15 a year or so), and web hosting can be as little as $8 a month, with no ads and enough bandwidth and storage to meet the needs of some small businesses.\nIf you want to \nsell\n things via your website, you’re going to want the ecommerce functionality and shopping carts, along with the increased bandwidth and storage that go with it, and in that case we’re talking (ballpark) about $30/month for hosting (BlueHost's online stores start at $15.95/mo), and more if you need additional storage, bandwidth or features, so usually the truly free option is not the right choice for you in that case.\nWhen you consider \nhow important a website is for small businesses\n, the fairly low cost of building and maintaining a professional-looking, highly functional website seems like the biggest bargain in the world.\nWork to strengthen your online reputation\nGetting your small business website up and running is a key part of building your online presence, but it’s not the only thing you need to do. Online review sites like Google My Business, Yelp, and TripAdvisor are extremely important for local businesses.\nWhen you get regular online reviews and engage with your customers online, everything about your business performs better online, including how your website and \nonline listings\n show up in local search results.

Are “free” website hosting and domains really free? Pros and cons

In this article:\nWhat is Facebook Marketplace?\nWays to use Facebook Marketplace for business\nHow to list your inventory\nHow to sell individual items\nHow to set up a shop on Facebook\nFacebook isn’t just for funny memes and old-time friends anymore. It is a powerful marketing tool that businesses, sole proprietors, solopreneurs, microbusinesses, and all types of side-hustlers can and should take full advantage of. And a large part of that includes the Facebook Marketplace. \nWhat is Facebook Marketplace?\nFacebook Marketplace is a platform where individuals and businesses can buy and sell items via Messenger. Users can look to the Marketplace for specific items they are in search of (like a new vehicle, furniture, or clothing item) using filters and selecting categories, or they can browse the entire Marketplace. \nSellers have the ability to add the price and details of each product so that they are placed in front of those who are searching for it.   \nWays your business can use Facebook Marketplace\nUsing Facebook Marketplace is just another avenue to get your products and inventory out in front of customers in a place that they are spending a lot of time. With almost 2 billion daily active users, it’s worth the effort. \nThere are a few ways that businesses can use Facebook Marketplace to list their products or inventory:\nSpecific types of businesses, like auto dealerships, event venues, and real estate agents, can list their inventory on Facebook Marketplace by working with a Marketplace listing partner\nYou can advertise your store or specific items in the Marketplace, even if you aren’t directly posting there\nEligible sellers can also display items on their Facebook Page shop and add them to the Marketplace for free. If you’re not able to share your shop items in the Marketplace, you’ll need to contact Facebook’s support team to see if you are eligible\nHow to list your inventory in Facebook Marketplace\nIf you have an online retail store, it may already have the ability to integrate with the Facebook Marketplace. A number of ecommerce solutions can help you add the products from your online store to the Marketplace. \nHere’s the list of ecommerce listing partners that Facebook currently works with:\nadMixt\nBigCommerce\nCedCommerce\nChannelAdvisor\nCommerceHub\nDataCaciques\nFeedonomics\nProductsup\nQuipt\nShipStation\nShopify\nZentail\nIf you use any of these solutions, find out what their capabilities are for integrating your products with the Marketplace. \nNote, as of September 13, 2021, Facebook Marketplace has discontinued the distribution of vehicle, home rentals, and homes for sale listings from partner catalog feeds. Listings provided to Facebook via partner catalogs will not be displayed on Marketplace, including the homepage, category pages, browse experience or in search results. \nRead more\n.\nHow to set up a shop on your Facebook page\nYou can set up a shop on your Facebook page and then share those items to the Marketplace (if your business is eligible). \nWe’ll walk you through setting up your shop first. \nStep 1: Go to your Facebook page and click “Manage Shop” and move on to Step 3. If you don’t have the “Manage Shop” option, then go to “Settings” and follow Step 2. \n(Image)\n\nStep 2: After clicking on “Settings,” click on “Templates and Tabs” in the left menu bar. Make sure that the “Shop” option is toggled on. Go back to your page and click “Manage Shop.”\n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Click “Start Shop Setup”.\n(Image)\n\nStep 4: Choose where you want customers to complete their purchases: your website, Facebook or Instagram, or direct message. You also have the option to use a partner platform (like Shopify or BigCommerce) or an API. Click “Get Started.”\n(Image)\n\n \nStep 5: Create your shop. Go through Facebook’s shop creator. Choose the business page you want your shop to be on, choose or create a business manager account that will connect to the shop, choose the visibility you want your shop to have, and add your items. \n(Image)\n\n \nHow to sell an individual item on Facebook Marketplace\nIf your business isn’t eligible for adding a shop or you can’t connect with an inventory partner, you can always share products from your individual Facebook page. \nEvery Facebook user has the ability to add items to the Marketplace. Just make sure that you are following Facebook’s \ncommerce guidelines\n if you want your products to show up. \nStep 1: Log in to Facebook and go to Marketplace. \n(Image)\n\nStep 2: Click on “Create New Listing.”\n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Choose your listing type: item for sale, vehicle for sale, or home for sale or rent.\n(Image)\n\nStep 4: Add your photos and product details, including title, price, category, condition, description, and tags. \n(Image)\n\nStep 5: Choose your delivery method. Some items may be eligible for shipping. But you can also just have the customer pick up the product at your store. \n(Image)\n\nStep 6: Choose the groups that you want to list your item in and publish it! You can share your product to any buy/sell/trade groups that you are a member of. \nNow you can sit back and wait for someone to reach out about that product! 

Facebook Marketplace step by step: how to get set up and list items

In this article:\nWhy add your business to the BBB\nHow to create and claim your BBB listing\nWhat to do next\nThe Better Business Bureau (BBB) aims to provide consumers and businesses with a directory that promotes the trustworthiness of businesses. \nAdding your business to BBB will help convey to consumers and other shops that they can trust you and your business. \nWhy add your business to the Better Business Bureau\nBBB’s mission is to be a source of trust for consumers and businesses. \nBeyond the huge trust signals that BBB sends to consumers and other businesses, BBB is another online directory that helps improve your business’s online visibility. \nIt’s important to add your business to as many reputable online directories as possible in order to show up better in the local search engine results. \nGo deeper: \n25 free business listing websites every small or local business should be on\nHow to create and claim your BBB listing\nLet’s get your business listed on Better Business Bureau!\nStep 1: Create a BBB account\nGo to \nbbb.org\n and click “Login.” \nYou can add your business to BBB without a login, but you won’t be able to claim it unless you have an account. \n(Image)\n\nNext, go to the box on the right where it says “Create My BBB Login Account.”\n(Image)\n\nEnter your email and click “Email me Now.” If your email is not in BBB’s records, you will need to fill out your Name, Title, Email, Business name, and Zip code. Click “Register with BBB”. It will take up to 2 days for BBB to email you your password and instructions to finish setting up your account. \n(Image)\n\nWatch for an email from BBB, be sure to check your junk folder. When your email arrives, follow the instructions to set up your password and go to bbb.org and log in. \n(Image)\n\nIn the meantime, proceed to the following steps to see if your business is in BBB’s directory or if you need to add it. \nStep 2: Search for your business\nSearch to see if your business already exists in BBB’s directory. \n(Image)\n\nIf you see your business listed, proceed to Step 3 (Option 1). \nIf you can’t find your business, proceed to Step 3 (Option 2). \nStep 3 (Option 1): Claim your existing BBB business listing\nIf your business does show up on BBB’s directory, click on it. And then scroll down to the section that allows you to “Claim your listing.”\n(Image)\n\nThis is where you will need to be able to log in, so if you are still waiting for an email from the BBB you may need to wait a day or two to finish claiming your listing. \nAfter clicking “Claim your listing” when you are logged in, you will be brought to a page where you can verify your association with your business. \n(Image)\n\nYou can verify your business by phone or email. Choose the option you wish to use and click “Verify.”\nOn the new screen, you’ll have a place to enter your verification code that you received via phone or email. Enter your verification code and click “Claim.”\n(Image)\n\nNow you have successfully claimed your listing on BBB and will have full access to edit and make changes to it. \nStep 3 (Option 2): Add your business to BBB\nIf your business does not show up in BBB’s directory, click “Submit a request to add it to our directory.”\n(Image)\n\nYou’ll then be redirected to a form to add in all of your business information, including:\nBusiness name\nType of business\nBusiness start date\nAddress\nBusiness phone number\nWebsite\nBusiness email\nAny notes you have\nYour name\nYour contact email\nYour phone number\nClick “Submit your request.” It may take up to a week for BBB to approve your request. At that point, you will be able to go through the process of claiming your business. Go back to Step 3 (Option 1) to claim your business listing. \n(Image)\nAnd you're done!

How to get your business listed with the BBB

In this article:\nWhy use Crunchbase\nHow to create and claim your Crunchbase business listing\nWhat to do next\nCrunchbase is a platform where professionals can discover new technologies and innovative companies, connect with other like-minded professionals, and pursue new opportunities.  \nThey have a free online directory which you should add your business to. \nWhy add your business to Crunchbase\nFirst, adding your business to multiple online directories is super helpful for improving your online visibility and local SEO. \nGo deeper: \n15 free tips to improve your local SEO\nSecond, once you’ve added your business to Crunchbase, they have some awesome features that you can take advantage of:\nCrunchbase Pro to access company, investor, and funding data\nTools to identify new prospects and improve lead generation\nAccess to their market research to stay on top of the latest market trends in your industry\nThese additional features aren’t free, but they definitely have their appeal. \nHow to create and claim your Crunchbase listing\nLet’s get started!\nStep 1: Create a Crunchbase account \nThe first thing you need to do is set up a new account on Crunchbase. Go to crunchbase.com and click “Log in” in the header. \n(Image)\n\nThen click “Register” on the new window that opens and fill in your email address, first and last name, and password. \n(Image)\n\nClick “Register” and you’re done! Crunchbase will take you to a new page that helps you fill out your profile more in-depth, so you can continue that process or go back to crunchbase.com. \nStep 2: Authenticate your Crunchbase account\nWhen you are logged into Crunchbase, go to the top right corner and click your profile icon, then select “My Account.” \n(Image)\n\nThis will take you to your account where you will then click on “Social Authentication.” Crunchbase just wants to verify that you are a real person before allowing you to create a company profile. \n(Image)\n\nChoose at least one social network that you are on in order to authenticate yourself. When you click the profile you choose to use, Crunchbase will open a window for you to log in to that social account and allow them to access your information. Click “Allow” and then click “Done.”\n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Check to see if your company exists on Crunchbase\nSometimes online directories like this pull information from other databases or someone else created a profile for your company without your knowledge. \nSo it’s always a good idea to check to see if your company exists in any online directory before adding it. \nSimply go to the search bar in the top navigation and type in your company’s name. \n(Image)\n\nIf your company shows up in the list, proceed to Step 4 (Option 1). If your company is not in the Crunchbase directory, proceed to Step 4 (Option 2). \nStep 4 (Option 1): Edit your Crunchbase listing\nIf your company does exist in Crunchbase’s directory, click on it and select “Edit.” This will allow you to update all of your company’s information. \n(Image)\n\nA form like will appear that has some of your information already filled out. If anything is incorrect, be sure to update it, and also add any missing information like your website or customer contact information. \n(Image)\n\nWhen done, click “Save All Edits.”\n(Image)\n\nAfter that, you’ll see the following message: “Your edits have been submitted. They may take a few minutes to appear.” And your edits will be live. \n(Image)\n\nStep 4 (Option 2): Add your company profile to Crunchbase\nIf your company is not on Crunchbase, click on the menu icon in the top left of your screen and then click “Add New Profile.”\n(Image)\n\nSelect the type of profile you are adding to Crunchbase (this will likely be a “company” if you are doing this for your small business.)\n(Image)\n\nGo through the form on the next page and fill out all of the following information for your business:\nBusiness name\nDescription\nAlso known as (other names that your business goes by)\nLegal name\nFounded date\nNumber of employees\nCompany type\nWebsite\nSocial profiles\nContact email\nPhone number\nDetailed description\n(Image)\n\nAfter the form there are several additional types of information you can add to better complete your company profile. Fill out any that apply to you. At the very least, be sure to add your “Categories.”\n(Image)\n\nClick “Save all edits” and your profile will be added to Crunchbase. \n(Image)\n\nCrunchbase will make all of your information live after a few minutes, and there are no additional steps to claim or verify your business profile. \nNow that you claimed your Crunchbase business listing, what’s next?\nWhen you’ve completed your Crunchbase company profile, be sure to continue adding your business to other online directories. This will help improve your business’s online visibility and provide you with more opportunities to get found by customers. \nCheck out our list of \n25 free sites that every small business should be listed on\n. 

149 articles found in “Growing your business”

How and why you should set up Google Alerts for your business

20 free local advertising ideas for your retail business

Are “free” website hosting and domains really free? Pros and cons

Facebook Marketplace step by step: how to get set up and list items

How to get your business listed with the BBB

How to create and claim your free Crunchbase business listing

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