Business.com
Advertising Center

Editorial Guidelines

These guidelines are a reflection of Business.com’s efforts to build, maintain and promote a quality directory and search engine for business professionals and advertisers.

Advertiser's submissions to the Business.com site or network partner sites will be subject to Business.com editorial review, modification and/or removal in Business.com's sole discretion. Business.com reserves the right, but not the obligation, to review Advertiser submissions.

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Web Sites

Minimum requirements for inclusion:

  • Sites must serve as a resource for businesses or business professionals.
  • Sites must have contextually relevant landing pages.
  • Sites must be in English or contain an English language version.

You may not submit:

  • Online gambling sites.
  • Pornography/adult content sites.
  • Online pharmacy sites.
  • Retail tobacco sites.
  • Payday loan sites.
  • Multi Level Marketing (MLM) sites.
  • "Get Rich Quick" sites.
  • High Yield Investment Program sites.
  • File sharing or peer-to-peer networking sites.
  • DUI attorneys, personal injury attorneys, liability lawyers.
  • Consumer focused nutritional supplements/vitamins/diet sites.
  • Link-only sites or third party CPC ad resellers.
  • Retail coupon sites.
  • Plastic surgery sites.
  • Sites that are under construction.

Keywords

Business.com does not allow advertisers to bid on keywords that include destination URL components of third-party websites, i.e. "www", ".com", ".net", etc.

Multiple Listings per Category

Business.com does not permit and you may not submit multiple Featured Listings from the same or affiliated company to appear within the same category/on the same directory page. Categories/pages with multiple ads from the same company provide a lower quality user experience and will be removed.

Each Featured Listing within a category/directory page must be for a unique web site and contain unique ad copy. Mirror, framed or redirect sites that have different urls but the same design layout do not qualify as unique web sites.

Multilinks

Multilinks are a good way to feature specific pages of your site in your listing. For instance, you can create a "Contact Us" multilink that goes directly to your contact information page. (Multilinks are available for Featured Listings only.)

Additionally, multilinks:

  • Must be 17 characters or less.
  • Cannot contain contact information.
  • Should go to unique pages on your web site, not the home page.

Business.com Title and Description Guidelines

Titles

Your listing title should promote your site and inform the user what they will find when they click on the link. The title must address a specific category, keyword, product or service offering.

Abbreviations
No improper or unnecessary abbreviations. Industry-standard abbreviations are acceptable.

Unacceptable abbreviations:

  • Get Unlimited Email Accts
  • Don't be L8 - Start a Blog Today
  • Strategic Mgmt Consulting

Acceptable abbreviations:

  • Find CRM Software
  • Get Forex Quotes
  • Contact Our M&A Advisors

Calls to Action
Do not use immediate calls to action such as "click here," "click now" or "buy now."

Capitalization
Use standard title casing. Do not capitalize entire words.

Example of unacceptable title capitalization:

  • Compare ONLINE ADVERTISING Programs

Acceptable capitalization:

  • Compare Online Advertising Programs

Character Count
Titles cannot exceed 60 characters in length (including spaces).

Company Name
We highly recommend that unless your company is a well-known brand, you do not include your company name in your listing title. Research has shown that such listings underperform compared to listings that do not include a company name.

Contact Information
Do not include an email address in the title. Do not use phone numbers unless they are part of your trademarked or official company name.

Free Claims
We highly recommend you do not use the term "free" in your listing title. Research has shown that listings with "free" in the title underperform compared to listings that do not. Users also find such claims to be less relevant. Any "free" claim must be verified on the landing page or it will be removed from the title.

Keywords
Include keywords that reflect your site. Ideally, your title should include a Category Keyword. These keywords will be bolded when a user searches for them and provide visibility on the top-level directory pages.

For example, this listing would appear on the Online Advertising directory page as follows:

Online Advertising Plans for Business
Choose the right online advertising program for your business and drive qualified leads to your site!
www.business.com

Punctuation
Do not use superfluous punctuation:

  • No exclamation points or question marks !?
  • No quotation marks " "
  • No parentheses ()
  • No brackets []
  • No ellipsis …
  • No superfluous use of commas. Commas can be used if part of a company name, but not to list products or services. For instance:

Repetition
Each listing should have a unique title, keyword targeted to a particular product or service. Duplicate titles that are irrelevant to their listing will be changed.

Slang
Do not use slang or phrases that could be misconstrued. Titles that have potentially sexually charged words will be changed. For example:

  • "Lick your Cash Flow Problems"
  • "Take a Bite out of the Competition"

Spacing
Your title must be in logical sentence or phrase form and contain grammatically correct spacing.

Spelling
Correct spelling must be used.

Superlatives
Do not use superlatives, such as “best”, “cheap”, “#1”, “lowest”, “cheapest”, etc.

Symbols
Avoid gratuitous use of symbols and characters. Symbols may only be used as they appear on your website. Ampersands (&) should only be used for commonly accepted terms.

Additionally:

  • No "at" sign @
  • No asterisks *

Unacceptable Use of Symbols:

  • Make More $$$$$
  • Work @ Home
  • Toll-free #s for your business

Acceptable Use of Symbols:

  • Deloitte M&A Advisors
  • Get 40% Off Software

Web Site Address
Do not include any url in the title.

Descriptions

Descriptions are meant to detail the company's primary function and provide an accurate account of material found on the landing page of the web site.

Capitalization
Follow standard capitalization rules for sentences. Category keywords, proper nouns and product names may remain capitalized. Do not capitalize entire words.

Example of unacceptable capitalization in a description:

  • Find and compare ONLINE ADVERTISING programs at Business.com.

Example of acceptable capitalization in a description:

  • Find and compare Online Advertising programs at Business.com.

Character Count
Descriptions cannot exceed 150 characters (including spaces). However, we highly recommend keeping your ad copy at around 100 characters for optimal performance

Contact Information
Do not include an email address or full URL in the description. Do not use phone numbers unless they are part of your trademarked or official company name.

Free Claims
We highly recommend you do not use the term "free" in your listing copy. Research has shown that listings with "free" in the copy underperform compared to listings that do not. Users also find such claims to be less relevant. Any "free" claim must be verified on the landing page or it will be removed from the title.

Grammar
Use standard English spelling and grammar. Use one space only between sentences.

Punctuation
Do not use superfluous punctuation. You may use only one exclamation point or question mark per sentence. Furthermore:

  • Do not use quotation marks " "
  • Do not use parentheses ()
  • Do not use brackets []
  • Do not use ellipsis …

Superlatives
Avoid superlatives - "leading," "best," "top-rated," etc.

Symbols
Avoid gratuitous use of symbols and characters. Symbols may only be used as they appear on your web site. Ampersands (&) should only be used for commonly accepted terms.

Web Site Address
Do not include your URL in the description. Your web address will be visible in the display URL below the listing.

Listing Ad Copy Examples

Incorrect Ad #1:
Get Your SITE LISTED!
Adds @ BDC Turn leads into $$$$ Hurry!!!! Visit www.business.com today.

What's wrong with the title:

  • Improper capitalization - SITE LISTED
  • Improper punctuation - !

What's wrong with the description:

  • Incorrect spelling - Adds
  • Improper use of symbol - @
  • Improper use of symbol - $$$$
  • Improper punctuation - !!!!
  • URL in the description.

Correct Ad #1:
Web Site Listings
Advertise at Business.com and turn leads into customers!

Incorrect Ad #2:
Cheap Best Hosting! Call 1-800-FRE-HOST
75 GB Transfer Free Domain & Blogs Unlimited #email acct Make it EZ Why pay more????

What's wrong with the title:

  • Improper grammar, superlatives - Cheap Best
  • Improper punctuation - !
  • Contact information in the title

What's wrong with the description:

  • Improper abbreviations - EZ, acct
  • Improper grammar - Transfer Free Domain
  • Improper use of symbols - #
  • Improper punctuation - ????

Correct Ad #2:
Web Hosting
Offers 75 GB data transfer, free domains, blog space and unlimited email accounts. Make it easy. Why pay more?