+38 votes
by (1.1k points)
Any thoughts on BBB accreditation for local business SEO? $510/ year? Worth it or don't bother.  
Any thoughts on BBB accreditation for local business SEO?

27 Answers

+60 votes
by (910 points)
 
Best answer
Totally worth it. It’s one of those things that if you get suspended, they look at for a trusted verification of your address.  
by (290 points)
Jason. How do you know that for sure? If true, I will start buying BBB's.  
by (590 points)
Any proof or source on this? Never heard of this being true.  
by (910 points)
@sawyor640 Mova - the BBB sales rep told me. Just kidding, we have a weekly call with one of the Google my Business product experts, on retainer, to gain these type of insights.  
by (2.9k points)
@jecho Product Experts =/= Google Employees and that information is at best questionable and at worse completely false. I do believe that the escalations team looks at a variety of sources to determine the legitimacy of a business and in that regard having a good BBB profile appear for your brand name could help, but it is not required. For example a recent issue we had the escalations team was typing in the address and seeing a coworking space appear on Loopnet, a commercial real estate website. This kept the listing getting suspended and/or having the suspension confirmed, even though there was no coworking space. It required getting Loopnet to change their classification, which was harder than it sounds.  
by (6.4k points)
@clearcut is on it. ANYTHING that can be bought IS NOT trusted by @whirlybird They are going to State treasure license verifications now people. Hammer time.  
+39 votes
by (1.3k points)
In my experience it is not worth it because there are many other credible ways to verify a business. We have used the BBB and did not see an increase in anyway from it (traffic, conversions, etc). Maybe years ago but not now unfortunately.  
+39 votes
by (8.3k points)
Worth it
+42 votes
by (11.4k points)
It's a nice trust factor. But not as nice as a bunch of good reviews. You can also buy 20 good backlinks for that much. Per year. With that you can rank #1 for personal trainer in NYC.  
by (2.2k points)
@malefaction wirh 20 backlinks?  
by (2.2k points)
@malefaction Not sarcastic, where do you like to purchase backlinks?  
by (11.4k points)
20 good back links per year. DM me.  
by (730 points)
@malefaction I’ll also dm you
+35 votes
by (2.6k points)
It's a scam but the general population thinks it's a respectable service and part of the government. So worth doing.  
+41 votes
by (2k points)
You don’t have to pay lol - just have a customer leave a review and that triggers a Profile being created on the BBBs end. Saved you $500 lol
by (1.1k points)
I'm not seeing that option.  
by (6.4k points)
/\ THIS- Once you get a free profile, you get put BBB on your site and link to it. Dont pay for accreditation
+39 votes
by (2.7k points)
Do it at your own risk. BBB isn't what it use to be. People have lost confidence in them. Most people look at Facebook, google, DNB, and others to learn about your company.  
+48 votes
by (2.5k points)
Hell to the no. Google Reviews or Yelp are more important to consumers nowadays and they're free
+29 votes
by (3.3k points)
Now worth it.  
+25 votes
by (1.5k points)
It's a scam. Yes, the BBB is a scam.  
+35 votes
by (680 points)
The BBB is just proto-Yelp, it's legal extortion at best. People don't care about it at all.  
by (400 points)
@mcnew McCombie FWIW I was dealing with a problem from Comcast for 18 months which they wouldn't resolve. I threatened to complain to the BBB and they resolved it the next day.  
+54 votes
by (2.6k points)
BBB maybe i scam but backlink is crazy good and boost a website quickly
+30 votes
by (520 points)
My experience says it's worth the money, if you are here for the long run.  
+14 votes
by (510 points)
What is the DA of bbb. org? Considering the website link is rel="nofollow", how much SEO value can it really be?  
by (510 points)
@observer right, it how much? $500 worth? I doubt it.  
+55 votes
by (1.6k points)
Depends on the scale/age of your business/your ability to gain trust factors and reviews in other areas/your overall marketing spend/your industry. It is not what it claims to be, but a business with a BBB and no reviews is better than a business without a BBB and no reviews. But a business with lots of reviews is more legitimate than a business with a BBB. Also if the $500 is minimal to your overall marketing budget then do it. If that is less than your spend on adwords for the month then probably not worth it. If you are in an industry with a high scam rate then it means more. There are lots of factors and can really only be decided by you. For SEO it will get a backlink, it probably won't get leads, your local Chamber of Commerce is likely more valuable from a link perspective at the same cost (and can get leads and some local rep), though those are also hit and miss and depend on your industry.  
+43 votes
by (4.1k points)
The BBB made the links nofollow links several years ago after talking with Google--they were advised to make those nofollow links. But, you can get a 'free' listing and a link just by signing up, you don't need to pay them. Google may be ignoring the nofollow, it's tough to tell.  
+39 votes
by (2.9k points)
Whatever you do, do not link to your BBB profile if you do not pay them (they create profiles for non-member businesses all the time). If you do that they will claim you are violating their TOS and drop your score to an F rating and then demand that you pay them to remove it. It's practically extortion.  
by (1.1k points)
@clearcut  Took a gamble, did you?  
by (2.9k points)
@petro Lol. Naw, a clients design agency did this years ago. BBB claimed trademark infringement and forced the host to take the website offline under DMCA then gave them an F rating after they refused to pay a membership fee.  
+35 votes
by (1.8k points)
Waste of $
+56 votes
by (3.2k points)
Worthy because it will give you trust factor to audiences and as well as to search engine. It will help in site rank as well because high quality link and improve local citation + ETA. Totally worthy. Thanks
+50 votes
by (1.6k points)
Get a chamber of commerce link instead
+35 votes
by (1.1k points)
There is an SEO benefit, a small one. There is a trust benefit, perhaps larger. It depends on what industry you are in.  
+29 votes
by (1.1k points)
Yes Do it. They have fleshed it out more now so you get a lin k plus you can post images and some text. Plus is 3rd party social proof that you are a viable business.  
+38 votes
by (930 points)
How about you go for the more effective and affordable one like this  
http://bit.ly/39jjPKD
by (910 points)
@blossom1166 nice! Is that an affiliate link?  
by (760 points)
I use semrush and am killing it, they have a listing extra that’s $10 month and does it all for u, crazy not to use it
+41 votes
by (3.8k points)
<iframe src=". " width="500" height="549" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe>
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/po...t.php
+51 votes
by (5.9k points)
BBB is an extortion racket. They buy google ads to get people to complain about your business so that you can buy your way out of a bad situation.  
+48 votes
by (2.5k points)
BBB is a scam just like Yelp.  
+34 votes
by (6.4k points)
I ONLY work in Local, and there are SO MANY better places to spend $500. There are probably only a handful of service guys where BBB can be worth it. Bottomline: it just doesnt have the clout like it use to;however, different parts of the country it might be better, but not out West or in smarter consumer markets.  
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