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BBB HOT TOPICS
Better Business Bureau® Serving Metropolitan New York, Long Island, and Mid-Hudson Region
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Winter 2021 Accredited Business Newsletter |
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Web Traffic for BBB.org Soars to All-Time Highs
BBB Profile Visits Increased for BBB Accredited Businesses
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Our BBB website numbers are in: online traffic to BBB Business Profiles, articles, and other valuable content is increasing strongly. Business Profiles received 17.6 million visits in January 2021 alone, a year-over-year increase of 14% for that month. In fact, this was the highest-traffic January we’ve ever recorded. That's great news for you as a BBB Accredited Business! It means that more consumers than ever are coming to bbb.org to check out trustworthy businesses like yours.
What’s behind this growth? Our IT team has been hard at work to take our web presence to the next level, setting sights on enhanced mobile performance and SEO. We greeted the new year with our highest site speed ever, even higher on mobile. In fact, this was our highest month of mobile traffic ever, with an increase of 30% compared to the prior year.
We’re seeing steady, amazing growth in organic users—those who visit our site without a boost from a marketing campaign. January 2021 was our tenth month in a row of double-digit growth in organic visits to bbb.org, up 22% from this time last year.
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Robust results from our social media and search engine presence reflect BBB's status as a trusted online resource. Social traffic is up a healthy 33% from last year, and our Google presence hit an all-time high last month with 856 million impressions and 13.7 million clicks.
On top of drawing visitors’ eyes to our Accredited Businesses’ BBB Profiles, our growth in traffic has brought BBB consumer education resources to more people than ever, with article page views growing by more than 50%.
These rewarding trends will help shape our digital strategy going forward. We will continue to enhance BBB's online presence, helping even more potential customers to find BBB Accredited businesses like yours.
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Dear Accredited Business Leader,
Thank you for your continued participation as a BBB Accredited Business during what was such an incredibly difficult year. BBB helps consumers identify businesses they can trust—so being BBB Accredited helps potential customers find you.
Our focus for 2021 is on growth and encouraging a healthy marketplace in which all our BBB Accredited Businesses can thrive. To that end, the Better Business Bureau system has adopted an updated Mission and Vision statement, which you can find here. It includes this new statement: "BBB sees trust as a function of two primary factors—integrity and performance. Integrity includes respect, ethics, intent, and working towards a diverse, inclusive and equitable marketplace."
February is Black History Month. It's a good time to renew our commitment to DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) and consider how increasing inclusivity can help our businesses be relevant to more customers and grow. We will continue providing educational programs about DEI and other issues that are relevant to business success.
Networking within our community of Accredited Businesses is also important for growth. It was wonderful to welcome so many attendees to our online networking session in January! We look forward to providing additional opportunities to meet and get to know fellow Accredited Business leaders each quarter during the year.
We encourage you to take full advantage of the benefits of your accreditation. Display the BBB Seal everywhere, online and offline, in permitted uses. You are invited to contact our BBB team members at membership@newyork.bbb.org to learn more about how to build visibility as a trustworthy business through BBB.
Sincerely,
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Claire Rosenzweig, CAE
President & CEO
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We'd like to hear our Accredited Business leaders' input on what topics would most interest you for upcoming virtual programs in a quick, two-question survey. Please respond by March 15. |
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WEBINARS: UPCOMING EVENTS & RECORDINGS |
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How to Become Certified as a Minority-Owned Business Enterprise (MBE)
No-Cost Webinars from NY NJ Minority Supplier Development Council
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Learn about the benefits of MBE certification, see a step-by-step review of the online certification portal and application process, and join a discussion of the required documentation and timeline for becoming certified with The Council.
To register for one of the webinar sessions, click here for March 2 or here for March 23. For more details, contact Dora Reddick at dreddick@nynjmsdc.org or (212) 502-5663.
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Hearing All Voices: Small Business Workshop and Listening Session
No-Cost IRS Webinar
Wednesday, March 24, 2:00PM - 4:00PM EST
For multicultural business owners and other interested parties: hear from IRS on estimated taxes, self-employment tax, withholding tools for employers and much more; and share your feedback. See details here. Signup by email: CL.SL.Area.4@irs.gov
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PPP Updates and Loan Forgiveness Information
No-Cost SBA Webinar Recording
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Missed our Small Business Administration webinar with an update on PPP loans and loan forgiveness? It's not too late to catch it! Just sign in at the link below to watch the recording FREE. |
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Nonprofit Board Service: An Introduction for Business Leaders
No-Cost Webinar Recording
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Held on February 3, this free webcast about key elements of nonprofit board service is now available to view anytime. Hear Luana Lewis, Senior Vice President-Programs and Services of BBB Serving Metro NY and Barbara D. Paxton, Chief Program Officer at Governance Matters, give an overview of the nonprofit sector, core board duties, and info about how to match up with a nonprofit board.
To learn more about what it means to serve on the Board of Directors of a nonprofit organization, and what you should know before you join one, watch the webinar here.
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How Can I Help Consumers Find My BBB Profile? |
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As an Accredited Business, you can easily make updates to your Business Profile page through accessing your online portal. In 2020, your business could have made changes that may now need to be noted in your Profile. For example: some companies have added new lines of business to serve customer needs during the ongoing pandemic.
We recommend that you regularly review and update the Type of Business section of your BBB Profile. That section indicates the Type of Business areas where your company offers products or services. This is an important way for consumers to find your Business Profile. Consumers come to the BBB website to search for trustworthy businesses, and often search by category. To show up in as many searches as possible, put yourself in as many categories as appropriate to help consumers find you.
Please take a look at the categories your business is currently listed under and ask: does this current list of Business Categories represent the full scope of our products and services? Can broader and/or more specific categories can be added? What products or services are most important for potential consumers to know about? Do we have any new lines of businesses that need to be added?
To edit your Type of Business Categories, please go to the Accredited Business Only section of our website here, login, click “Update Your Business” and click through the tabs. Please feel free to contact Hailey Reczka at hreczka@newyork.bbb.org or 212-358-2816 if you have any questions.
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This BBB Accredited Business newsletter is generously sponsored by
EY
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