APA Open Community

Hi,

So, I wanted to chime in here because I have a different perspective. To be transparent, I sit on the Board of Directors for The Better Business Bureau of Northwest Florida.

Here's my opinion as a business owner.

• Do not underestimate the power of the BBB. (Good or Bad). I attached a photo of one of our local reports. As you can see there are over 52K inquiries a month in our small market. My shop gets dozens of inquiries per month.
• Besides my award shop, I own a large digital marketing agency. I can directly prove an authority boost for SEO from the link you get from BBB.org (accredited businesses get multiple backlinks, especially our business: Plaques, trophies, corporate awards, promotional products, engraving, etc.)
• A study done by Digital Marketer shows an average increase in conversions of 14% if you have the BBB logo on your website. It's considered a "Trust" badge.

Based off these reasons I would recommend accreditation.  CAVEAT: Some markets are insanely expensive. If I was going to put a "not worth it" price on it, I would not buy it if it's over $750 a year. Most markets should be way under that.

Things you should know about the BBB.

• No, you can't buy a good rating. Like Google, the ratings are based off a complex algorithm of 16 different factors (reviews are NOT one of the factors). Everyone has a rating, even if you are not accredited. (I would look up your business listing and make sure everything is correct. If not, you can get a hold of your local BBB and update it, even if you are not accredited.)
• The BBB is actually pretty strict on who gets accreditation. There are eight BBB Standards for Trust that BBB expects its accredited businesses to adhere to: build trust: maintain a positive track record in the marketplace, advertise honestly, tell the truth, be transparent, honor promises, be responsive (address marketplace disputes), safeguard privacy (protect consumer data) and embody integrity.
• We have several revocations of accreditation every month for businesses being shady, several, we get the FTC involved.
• Complaints and reviews on BBB.org are two very different things.
• The BBB has been around for 110 years. They have a new Council that is getting very aggressive on becoming the best source for legitimate reviews. All reviews are validated and checked by the local BBB staff. I think you'll see a big push in the coming year.

Hi,

So, I wanted to chime in here because I have a different perspective. To be transparent, I sit on the Board of Directors for The Better Business Bureau of Northwest Florida.

Here's my opinion as a business owner.

• Do not underestimate the power of the BBB. (Good or Bad). I attached a photo of one of our local reports. As you can see there are over 52K inquiries a month in our small market. My shop gets dozens of inquiries per month.
• Besides my award shop, I own a large digital marketing agency. I can directly prove an authority boost for SEO from the link you get from BBB.org (accredited businesses get multiple backlinks, especially our business: Plaques, trophies, corporate awards, promotional products, engraving, etc.)
• A study done by Digital Marketer shows an average increase in conversions of 14% if you have the BBB logo on your website. It's considered a "Trust" badge.

Based off these reasons I would recommend accreditation.  CAVEAT: Some markets are insanely expensive. If I was going to put a "not worth it" price on it, I would not buy it if it's over $750 a year. Most markets should be way under that.

Things you should know about the BBB.

• No, you can't buy a good rating. Like Google, the ratings are based off a complex algorithm of 16 different factors (reviews are NOT one of the factors). Everyone has a rating, even if you are not accredited. (I would look up your business listing and make sure everything is correct. If not, you can get a hold of your local BBB and update it, even if you are not accredited.)
• The BBB is actually pretty strict on who gets accreditation. There are eight BBB Standards for Trust that BBB expects its accredited businesses to adhere to: build trust: maintain a positive track record in the marketplace, advertise honestly, tell the truth, be transparent, honor promises, be responsive (address marketplace disputes), safeguard privacy (protect consumer data) and embody integrity.
• We have several revocations of accreditation every month for businesses being shady, several, we get the FTC involved.
• Complaints and reviews on BBB.org are two very different things.
• The BBB has been around for 110 years. They have a new Council that is getting very aggressive on becoming the best source for legitimate reviews. All reviews are validated and checked by the local BBB staff. I think you'll see a big push in the coming year.

Hi,

So, I wanted to chime in here because I have a different perspective. To be transparent, I sit on the Board of Directors for The Better Business Bureau of Northwest Florida.

Here's my opinion as a business owner.

• Do not underestimate the power of the BBB. (Good or Bad). I attached a photo of one of our local reports. As you can see there are over 52K inquiries a month in our small market. My shop gets dozens of inquiries per month.
• Besides my award shop, I own a large digital marketing agency. I can directly prove an authority boost for SEO from the link you get from BBB.org (accredited businesses get multiple backlinks, especially our business: Plaques, trophies, corporate awards, promotional products, engraving, etc.)
• A study done by Digital Marketer shows an average increase in conversions of 14% if you have the BBB logo on your website. It's considered a "Trust" badge.

Based off these reasons I would recommend accreditation.  CAVEAT: Some markets are insanely expensive. If I was going to put a "not worth it" price on it, I would not buy it if it's over $750 a year. Most markets should be way under that.

Things you should know about the BBB.

• No, you can't buy a good rating. Like Google, the ratings are based off a complex algorithm of 16 different factors (reviews are NOT one of the factors). Everyone has a rating, even if you are not accredited. (I would look up your business listing and make sure everything is correct. If not, you can get a hold of your local BBB and update it, even if you are not accredited.)
• The BBB is actually pretty strict on who gets accreditation. There are eight BBB Standards for Trust that BBB expects its accredited businesses to adhere to: build trust: maintain a positive track record in the marketplace, advertise honestly, tell the truth, be transparent, honor promises, be responsive (address marketplace disputes), safeguard privacy (protect consumer data) and embody integrity.
• We have several revocations of accreditation every month for businesses being shady, several, we get the FTC involved.
• Complaints and reviews on BBB.org are two very different things.
• The BBB has been around for 110 years. They have a new Council that is getting very aggressive on becoming the best source for legitimate reviews. All reviews are validated and checked by the local BBB staff. I think you'll see a big push in the coming year.