What makes a website “business-friendly”?
In a way, the question answers itself. Any website that’s “friendly” to your business in some fashion, be that driving traffic to your corporate website or generating new leads for your sales team, qualifies as “business-friendly.”
Some websites are “business-friendlier” than others, to be sure. These six are especially popular with decision-makers across industries and geographies. How many are you using right now?
1. LinkedIn
Surely, you know that LinkedIn is important to your company’s branding and marketing strategies. But maybe you’re not aware quite how important this business-first social media platform is for the average SME.
Want to see for yourself? Google your company’s name. Odds are, your company’s LinkedIn profile appears on the first results page, perhaps right at the top.
That’s visibility you can’t buy. Although there’s a strong case to be made for paying for LinkedIn Premium, which is especially valuable for leaders in client-facing roles.
2. Crunchbase
Crunchbase lacks the name recognition of LinkedIn, but its search visibility is impressive nonetheless. And optimizing a Crunchbase profile is way easier than one might think.
Don’t believe it? Provider InsureOne’s Crunchbase profile demonstrates the utility and ease-of-use of this platform. It’s succinct yet detail-rich, accessible yet professional — the perfect balance to strike when your aim is to inform potential customers.
3. Inc.com
Inc.com is the digital version of a venerable business magazine. Despite its reputation as an outlet for sponsored content from industry influencers, Inc also performs a more basic role in the marketplace for ideas by creating high-visibility directory-style listings for businesses large and small. If you’ve yet to create a business profile on Inc.com, do it today. It’ll take you 15 minutes.
4. BBB.org
The Better Business Bureau remains a vital resource for local and national businesses alike. However, it’s important to know what you’re getting into; BBB.org listings require regular monitoring and maintenance to control and neutralize content that could, potentially, damage your company’s reputation.
5. Instagram
Instagram? Business-friendly?
Absolutely. You’re aware that Instagram has hundreds of millions of unique users, yes? And that’s a conservative estimate. No bones about it, your company needs an active Instagram account.
6. Yellow Pages
The digital version, obviously, not the gigantic volumes you stopped using two decades ago. Today’s Yellow Pages (YP.com, in shorthand) is a no-nonsense directory that typically ranks well in organic search and delivers relevant, factual information about listed companies. Unlike some other directory-type sites, it offers very little room for user-generated content, which is reassuring for business owners with limited resources to monitor and moderate content on websites they don’t directly control.
Is Your Web Presence Friendly To Your Business?
The hope is that these six websites get you closer to “yes.” But don’t assume you can sit back and let the traffic flow in after optimizing your presence on these properties. There’s much more work to be done, unfortunately, and on a rolling basis too. The work of managing a business-friendly web presence of which you can be proud is never really over.
