Onboarding

Business Directory Onboarding

Activation of the business directory requires some careful thinking and preparation.

Configuration needs

  1. Decide what you're going to call it ("Business Directory" is a good choice)

  2. Prepare a hero banner image @ 1900x150

  3. Prepare landing page content

  4. Decide on your subscription types and subscription model. All terms are 1 year.

  5. Design your initial taxonomy

  6. Decide on flair (if any)

Subscription Types

We've seen a few different models with unique subscription types for students vs. alumni vs. members. Will any features and functions be selectively offered or does everyone get the same privileges?

Will you charge? Are these fees one time or annual?

All subscription terms are one year. At the end of the year the profile will revert to draft mode until the applicant reviews and republishes it.

Taxonomy

The bizdir is based on a set of Communities of Practice (communities for short). Communities group similar businesses together. You don't want too many communities (4-6 is probably about right) so think high level bundling, not super industry specificity. The more generic you are the easier time your applicants will have of selecting a good home for their business.

Any one business can exist in exactly one community.

Within a community you'll be responsible for defining and managing the set of keywords that applicants will attach to their business listings. These keywords help with search and discovery, facilitating a more granular definition of the type of business they're presenting.

What we need from you

  • your communities

  • your keywords for each community

Aim for 4-6 communities and 10-15 keywords for each to start. You can update the keywords at any time once you're up and running.

Flair

This service also includes the ability for your participating businesses to identify with groupings that are relevant to your broader community. Examples would include LGBTQ+, woman-owned, veteran-owned, and similar. If there are opt-in qualifiers that you'd like to have included on business profiles (and surface in search results), please tell us what they are so we can refine the language with you.

What we need from you

  • your additional opt-in qualifiers and associated label language

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