5 Reasons to get BBB Accredited

he BBB has always been a sign of trust for consumers in local brick and mortar stores. In today's online marketplace, is the BBB accreditation a necessity or just a waste of money? Here's five reasons why your small business should look into BBB accreditation.

#1 The Trust Factor

As mentioned above, the BBB has been around for over a hundred years and has always been a symbol of trust for consumers. When your small business gets BBB accredited, you're given a BBB logo that you can put on your website to give it more credibility. The logo tells the consumer your business is trustworthy. This is especially important if you're in the e-commerce industry and you're in the business of selling things online. It's important that consumers know they can trust where they are spending their money online

#2 You get a Followed Link to your Site

The best part of getting BBB accredited is that they will list you in their online directory and give you a followed link to their site. Followed links are the backbone of SEO and the BBB is a high quality link that is easily obtainable for any small business. Additionally, it's possible you could receive some referral traffic from the listing in their directory.

#3 Get an A Rating out of the Gate

Once your business is BBB accredited it will automatically receive an A rating right out of the gate. This rating will change depending upon reviews, but for the beginning if you're trying to establish a reputation for your business it's good to have an immediate A rating. This also helps build your credibility online when your business might be lacking reviews from other notable review sites.

#4 Your Business Name Will Show up when People Search for it

This is especially important if your business or website is fresh or extremely new. It's an extremely high priority for your business to show up when people search it's name online. Getting accredited with the BBB at least give you a high authority link and directory listing that will appear when people search for your business in search engines.

#5 Network with Other Businesses

Lastly, once your small business is BBB accredited it opens some door for networking with other BBB listed businesses. Whether you need to trade some services or you're in need of some consulting, the BBB network is a good place to look for advice from other businesses.

The only drawback is that in order to get a BBB accreditation it can cost a bit of money - between $400 and $1000 - but in the end you receive a high authority link and lots of other perks that justify the cost for your small business.