The company we keep says a lot about us. This is true online and off. For entrepreneurs and executives and the businesses they run, it’s especially important in the digital world. Where you and your business are featured online (or even visible) is a common source of assumptions — good and bad — for your peers, competitors, and potential buyers.
Naturally, you want your business and the people behind it to be featured on the sorts of high-ranking websites that convey authority, credibility, and most importantly visibility. Among the dozens of websites that fit this description are these six, which just about every small or midsize business should target.
- Inc.
Inc is known to readers of a certain age as perhaps the foremost print magazine for entrepreneurs, the predecessor to Entrepreneur and all the rest. (Forbes is a different thing altogether.) Today, Inc. is known as a purveyor of fresh, original content for serious doers — and also for curating short profiles for said doers. A 100-word Inc profile about you or your company (or both) could do wonders for your brand and your web properties’ SEO too.
- Crunchbase
Think of Crunchbase as a sort of “vital stats” database for companies and entrepreneurs. It’s nothing flashy or fancy, just the brass tacks people want to know about you and your enterprise. The Crunchbase profile for Paul Esterhuizen, a Johannesburg-based philanthropist and entrepreneur, is a good example of a well-done page — filled with useful data without being braggy or repetitive.
- Yelp
Yelp is a wildly popular business directory for businesses that directly serve customers. If you’re engaged in any sort of B2C activity with a local market focus, you need an active Yelp page — at minimum in your hometown and preferably anywhere you have a business presence.
- Everybodywiki
Everybodywiki is Wikipedia for the masses. It’s easier to create a presence here (no pesky “notability” standards) and nearly as visible in the organic search engine results pages. In short: worth the effort.
- LinkedIn Company Directory
The LinkedIn Company Directory is a little-known feature of the world’s most popular digital networking site. Think of it as a location-independent Yellow Pages (remember those?) for companies of all sizes. To get started, create a LinkedIn company page.
- Google My Business
Aside from Yelp, Google My Business is one of the few remaining online business directories that remain relevant for local businesses, according to Search Engine Journal. And given Google’s prominence in the organic search game, it’s probably the only online business directory you can’t afford to neglect. Enough said.
Rank with the Best of Them
Getting listed on these six websites and directories is only the first step in what’s sure to be a long struggle to gain visibility and credibility for your organization.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t celebrate when your job here is done. You deserve to mark the little victories that add up to big things for your business. Get listed on Yelp and Google My Business and the rest and you’ll be a bit closer to ranking with the best of them — that is, on the first page of those all-important search engine results pages.
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