You may have been contacted by many business directory websites that are offering to list your business on their website. They may want to provide a script code that you add to your website so it links to your page to their website. You may wonder if this is a good option for your business.
We absolutely do not recommend putting this code on your website. These codes add completely no value to your website. In fact, they can actually harm your business in multiple ways:
- This code does not help bring more visitors to your site
In fact, if a new lead visits your site through an organic search and clicks on the “search” option of the badge, they will be directed to another website that recommends other similar businesses in your area, stealing business from you.
- It does not improve your website rankings
These codes improve their rankings by redirecting your visitors to their website (where they have the option to search for your competitors). In most cases, the script codes they provide you to add to your website can slightly de-rank your website in major search engines including Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
- You may get charged for leads that are already yours
When a new lead visits your site, they already have the option of calling you for a consultation via the phone number listed on the website. When visitors click on this badge, it shows a different virtual number (provided by the badge company) which, yes, redirects to your number, but that they consider a lead and can additionally charge you for. If this customer was already on your website without the help from the badge, you should not be charged for that.
