You have a LinkedIn profile. You know how important in terms of recognition, networking, business opportunities and SEO a LinkedIn profile is for your business. But what about CrunchBase?

CrunchBase offers a wide range of tools for the entrepreneur and business owner that enhance SEO strategies and strengthen branding. Follow these six tips to get the most out of your CrunchBase profile.

1. Do the Prep Work:

Familiarize yourself with CrunchBase. Unlike LinkedIn, CrunchBase is essentially a database that covers industry trends, investment dollars and news about thousands of global companies, both public and private.

CrunchBase is the source of information about businesses from startup to Fortune 500. CrunchBase is more than a numbers site, however, because it allows business owners the opportunity to fully flesh out who they are and what they do.

As you explore the site, look at fleshed-out company profiles, such as this one for Talus Payments, to see what goes into a professional profile and get ideas for building yours. Make a list of keywords and phrases you want to emphasize as well. Relevant keywords and phrases throughout your CrunchBase profile is another building block in your company SEO plan.

2. Register and Verify:

Click the Register link on the CrunchBase homepage. Enter your name or your company’s name, a valid email address and choose a password. Click “Register” and you’re all set.

Because CrunchBase is crowd sourced, registered members can add or edit any profile. To verify identity, members are required to authenticate with one of three social media channels. In other words, to verify your identity, connect your CrunchBase profile to your company LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter page.

To connect a social media account, sign in to your CrunchBase account and click on the image or name in the upper-right. Select “My Account.” Click on the “Social Authentication” link and choose one of the three options. Slide the appropriate button to the right and enter login information for your chosen platform. Once authenticated, the icon turns green. Click “Done” when finished. Change authentication accounts if necessary using the same process.

3. Consistent – Yes. Copy and Paste – No.

If you’ve put a lot of work into your LinkedIn profile, you might be tempted to use the same summary and overall wording in your CrunchBase account. Don’t do it. If you post the same information with the same wording on all of your social media and online accounts, you’ll run into problems associated with duplicate content.

Copying the same text does your business a disservice in other ways as well. Each site has a different purpose and different audience. Content must be presented in a way that appeals to the specific users of each platform.

What you do need, however, is branding consistency. Use the same logo throughout your online presence. If you have a motto or slogan, make sure it’s the same everywhere. Contact numbers and emails should be the same. Consistently emphasize your main business categories. But, your content, while it may cover the same ground, should be original.

4. Use CrunchBase Best Practices.

CrunchBase is a free database where companies, people and investors come together. To put your best foot forward, follow these best practices for content in your CrunchBase profile:

• Overview: Use third person in the overview section. In other words, don’t say “Our Company” or “My Company”, but “Company Name.” Open with a strong sentence that describes the business. Add details, but avoid marketing language, such as “best” or “most effective.” Use exact dates in place of descriptions like “new.”
• General Information: Upload your logo, enter the date of founding, headquarters location, social media links and three to five industry categories.
• Email Address: An “[email protected]” or [email protected]” address is preferable to a “[email protected]” email address.
• Founding Date: Don’t overlook the founding date section, even if you added the date in the overview. Founding date searches are popular among CrunchBase users.
• Headquarter Location: If you cannot add a street address, at least add the city and country.
• Categories: Again, highlight three to five categories to describe your company.
• People: Include the name of founders, executives, managers and any other significant team members.
• Competitors: Every company has them. Add yours.
• Funding: CrunchBase is a prime source for investors. If your company has been involved in raising funds, add as much information as possible about investors, amounts and rounds. Include a source URL article or press release which describes specifics about previous funding.
• Acquisitions: If your company has acquired other companies, link to the acquired company’s profile. The profile will automatically appear in your company’s profile.
• News: Add links to important news and press releases in the News section. Update often to keep people coming back.

5. Add High-Quality Content.

Anyone can add edit or add content to CrunchBase. That doesn’t mean content you publish is beyond scrutiny. CrunchBase requires content be of high quality and provide unique information about a person, product or company.

Marketing or selling content, personal information with no business ties, inflammatory content and illegal services are strictly prohibited.

Avoid large blocks of text with no breaks. Optimal text content for online users should be broken up into paragraphs of four to five sentences, include at least three subheadings and utilize bulleted lists where applicable. Include keywords and phrases in a natural unforced manner. You have a matter of seconds to catch an online viewer’s attention so make sure the headline is catchy and commands consideration.

6. Add Visuals.

Add relevant industry-related images and videos to your profile. Most people —  particularly online viewers — gravitate toward images and videos. Use graphics to provide authenticity, infographics to relate statistics and videos to show the company behind the profile. Balance visuals and text to attract both human viewers and optimize effectively for SEO.

Ingrid Maldine

Ingrid Maldine is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Ingrid’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Ingrid has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Ingrid has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.