At SpinWeb, we have a particular interest in helping local communities thrive and flourish using the Internet.  For this reason, we love working with municipalities and agencies within, which includes chambers and economic development alliances. I have been researching both chambers and economic development alliances recently in preparation for an upcoming project and I've noticed that though they have different objectives, the two entities can often co-exist in the same website and be very complementary. So what are some ways a web site for a chamber and economic development alliance can serve the community?

1. Publish a user-friendly sites and buildings database. Make sure it is easy for interested businesses to research locations in your community. You want to attract new business, so be easy to work with by giving businesses the tools they need to get information fast and allow them to search on detailed attributes.

2. Invest in a high-quality image. Your web site represents your community and should be attractive and modern. Chambers and economic development alliances with beautiful web sites make the community look like an attractive place to live and do business.

3. Offer educational and networking events with online registration. By offering events and classes, you not only promote networking in your community, but also increase the skill level of your local work force. Be sure your web site clearly lists your calendar of events and offers online registration, which increases attendance.

4. Offer an online Chamber Marketplace to promote commerce. Allow chamber members to create online profiles and place projects out for bit to other chamber members. Then, allow members to submit bids on those projects via your web site. This encourages commerce between chamber members, as well as increases the value of a chamber membership.

5. Include social media links to make information sharing easy. Make sure that your sites and buildings, jobs, news, projects for bid, and events all include a "share" option to make it easy for site visitors to post your web site information to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social networks. The easier it is to distribute your content, the more likely it is to be seen.

6. Publish an online employment database. Stimulating employment in the community sh0uld be a strong objective for your web site and one great way to do this is to offer an online employment database. Allow chamber and/or community members to post job openings on your employment database and offer candidates the ability to apply online for those jobs. This creates an easier way to connect jobs with candidates and increases the value of your site. Don't forget to include a "share" button to make it easier for site visitors to post jobs to their social networks.

7. Invest in search engine marketing to attract businesses. A great chamber and/or economic development alliance web site is only useful when someone finds it. Be sure your community is found by creating targeted keyword campaigns that attract the right visitors to your site.

8. Promote notable local businesses via an active press room. Recognize your local businesses via your web site by publishing regular articles that feature local businesses. This keeps your web site full of fresh content which has a positive impact on your search engine rankings and helps your local businesses get more visibility.

9. Publish a video podcast featuring local businesses. A podcast is easy and inexpensive to set up and is a great way to promote members of your community. Send an intern from your local university out with a video camera once a week to a local business to do a 5-minute "spotlight". This gives local businesses a chance to get exposure when they might not otherwise be able to afford advertising. It's also a recruiting tool to help attract businesses to your community since it shows that you are committed to supporting them once they arrive.

10. Sell products online. Many businesses in your community would like to sell their products online but don't have the resources to do so. Help them out by offering to sell their products online for them via your web site. Additionally, you can also sell city/community-branded merchandise online, such as clothing and other items. Build your community's brand while adding revenue!

Whether your chamber and economic development alliances are using separate web sites or integrated into one site, these tips will help add value to your online presence, attract new businesses to the community, and help local businesses grow and flourish.