Savvy businesses have a plan to manage their online reputation. This includes paying attention to reviews and profiles on various websites, including the Better Business Bureau (BBB). In this article, you’ll learn how to manage, update, and edit reviews on the BBB website, as well as how to manage your BBB profile.
What Is the Better Business Bureau?
The Better Business Bureau has been around for more than 100 years. It was founded in 1912 as a private nonprofit organization. The BBB helps people find businesses, charities, and brands they can trust. It also accepts complaints and reviews of businesses.
Importance of Managing Your BBB Profile
Having and managing a BBB profile is a crucial part of maintaining your business’s reputation. The BBB is viewed as a highly reputable source thanks to its independent nature. As such, it is one of the most common places that potential customers will check before visiting your business.
If you choose to get BBB accreditation (which is highly recommended), you should promote it. You can also access online events from the BBB and get access to advertising. This includes official images that show your BBB accreditation, which are perfect for your website or social media pages.
BBB Accreditation Standards
The BBB charges a small fee for accreditation. This fee goes toward helping the BBB maintain its goals. Remember that the BBB is a nonprofit organization. Additionally, the fee varies by the size of the business and other factors. As such, it is not expensive for small businesses and is well worth the small cost.
To be accredited, a business must affirm its dedication to several crucial standards, including the following:
- Building trust
- Advertising honestly
- Telling the truth
- Honoring promises
- Being responsive
The BBB monitors every accredited business to confirm that it continues to meet those standards.
BBB Ratings
Whether or not you are a BBB-accredited business, you will have a BBB rating. These ratings do not include customer reviews. The ratings are letter grades, with A+ being the highest and F being the lowest. The higher your rating, the better able you will be to attract customers.
Some businesses will have “No Rating,” listed as “NR.” This can be the case if there isn’t enough information about the business or it is undergoing a review or update.
The following factors affect BBB ratings:
- Complaint history
- Type of business
- Time of business
- Transparent business practices
- Honoring commitments to the BBB
- Licensing and government actions the BBB knows about
- Advertising issues the BBB knows about
Managing a BBB Business Profile
The most important part of managing your BBB profile is making sure that you have up-to-date information. You should also add videos and images to your page.
The BBB lets you add a complimentary profile video. It only takes about ten minutes to log in and complete the relevant form. Use this video to highlight your value proposition.
In terms of images, you can upload .png, .gif, or .jpg images. The BBB recommends a 1:1 ratio or 400 x 400 pixels for logos. It also recommends a 16:9 ratio or 640 x 360 pixels for other images.
When you first create your BBB Business Profile, you will want to fill out each of the following categories of information:
- Company logo
- Business overview
- Category
- Contact information
- Services or products
- Hours of operation
- Service area
- Pictures and videos
- Links to social media pages
How to Create a BBB Profile for Your Business
Creating a BBB profile is simple. Start by confirming that your business doesn’t already have a profile that you would need to claim. To do so, search for your business using your name and city, state, or ZIP. If you see a profile for business, go ahead and claim it.
If you don’t, you can click on the link to “Submit a request for a new BBB Business Profile.” The process will start by having you confirm there is no profile for your business, and from there, you can request the profile’s creation and claim it.
Tips for Maintaining Accurate and Up-to-Date Information on Your BBB Profile
The best way to maintain up-to-date information on your BBB profile is to make sure to update your profile anytime the information changes. You should have a list of directories and websites, from the BBB to Google, where you update information as needed.
For reference, you will be able to update all of the following information:
- Business name
- Business address
- Business phone number
- Business fax number
- Email address
- Employee or contact information
- Website address
- Social media URLs
- Hours of operation
- Licensing
- Business categories
- Products and services
