You’re unique. You really are. But how many people outside your family and circle of close friends know that? Or care?
You won’t convince everyone in your life — past, present, or future — to stand up and take notice. However, you can do more than you think to set yourself apart from the great mass of people who do basically the same thing as you.
One really easy way to stand out is to boost your online visibility. It’s cheap, too — many high-authority professional and business directory sites are totally free to use.
There are some catches, like the rules for getting a Wikipedia listing. (Spoiler alert: Most people don’t qualify.) All in all, though, this is a pretty straightforward personal and professional promotion strategy.
So what are you waiting for? Dive in and get listed (or claim your listing) on these seven high-visibility websites.
- Bloomberg Profiles
You know Bloomberg as a source for financial data and business news you can’t find anywhere else. If you work in the business, it’s virtually indispensable. Your not-very-cheap subscription is proof positive of that.
You might not be as familiar with Bloomberg’s people and company directories. Its business intelligence operation supports a vast archive of facts and figures related to consequential people and firms, from finance executives and compliance officers to superstar lawyers and product managers — along with thousands upon thousands of the private and public companies that employ them.
- Crunchbase
Crunchbase is another massive database of business leaders and firms. Although it has a slight tech bias — you’ll find well-known and obscure technology leaders in spades here — Crunchbase is really an all-purpose resource. If you have a position of responsibility in a recognizable business enterprise, chances are you qualify for a Crunchbase profile.
- Angel.co
Formerly known as AngelList, Angel.co is a digital meeting place for company founders and funders. A presence here isn’t guaranteed to help you close your next funding round, but it might just get you your next star engineer. And Angel.co’s impressive domain authority all but ensures a high rank in the organic search results for your name or your company’s.
- Best of the Web
If you’ve been online long enough — like 20 years long enough — you know of Best of the Web. And it’s fair if your next question is: Really? They’re still around?
They are, and they’ve changed with the times without reinventing the wheel. They’re an old-fashioned digital business directory, one of the few remaining after the Web 2.0 (and now Web 3.0) shakeouts.
- Instagram for Business
Don’t fight the ‘gram. Instagram for Business is an immensely valuable marketing aid, even for companies that haven’t yet invested in social selling. And while it won’t be a huge lift for your SERPs, it’ll absolutely attract more followers — and more potential customers or clients — to your brand.
- Bing Places for Business
Bing Places for Business is no Google My Business — more on that below — but it’s still important if you’re trying to reach the small but consequential cohort of consumers that prefer Bing to the, uh, other guys. It’s worth the effort to list and claim your business, and the still-relatively-uncrowded playing field could help juice your return on investment.
- Google My Business
If you don’t already have a Google My Business listing, create one — even if you don’t have a physical storefront. It’s the easiest way to boost your visibility on Google Maps and in traditional Google search results.
Just mind your reviews. You’ll want to keep your star rating up once you start attracting public feedback, or you could find yourself in a vicious cycle.
You Deserve a Higher Profile
Expanding your online presence is an important step in your professional development. And if you’re an entrepreneur or plan to start a business of your own in the near future, developing a digital brand is absolutely critical.
This work won’t stop when you’re listed on these seven high-authority directory sites — or on any number of other digital directories you see fit to target. A digital brand is much more than a set of positive Google search results.
Still, this is a key early item to cross off your to-do list. The sooner you get it done, the sooner you can focus on refining your brand and creating real value for others in your professional circle. That’s the sort of investment that really pays off in time — and one worth making as soon as you can.