Economic development alliance website design: 9 tips for adding value
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 economic development alliances. So what are some ways a website for an 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 website represents your
community and should be attractive and modern. Economic
development alliances with beautiful websites 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. 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.
5. Publish an online employment database. Stimulating employment
in the community should be a strong objective for your website and one
great way to do this is to offer an online employment database. Allow 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.
6. Invest in search engine marketing to attract businesses. A
great economic development alliance website 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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 website. 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 you already have a strong online presence or you are considering making a change, these tips will help add value to your online presence, attract new businesses to the community, and help local businesses grow and flourish.
Tags
blog comments powered by Disqus
Register for our Next Webinar
Strategic Content Marketing
Free On-demand Webinar
Tags
"SpinWeb support ninjas strike again! Ridiculously amazing customer and technical support. Seriously. Thanks!"- Amanda Cook, CHPA (view original tweet)
"I have worked on several web and digital projects in my career, and this one was one of the best."- Jeffrey W. Owen, Full-Fill Industries
"Superb design plus great processes give SpinWeb the ability to deliver websites on time and on budget. These guys are great, highly recommended!"- Mark Zeitler, Accrisoft Corporation
"The SpinWeb Team has performed at an exceptional level and I continue to boast of our success is due to the creativity of SpinWeb."- Fred Nichols, Astbury Environmental Engineering
"SpinWeb makes my job SO EASY! Love them!"- Teresa Russel, Church Brothers Collision Repair
"Thank you so much for our new website! Your team has been incredible and very impressive to work with. You answer questions quickly and your team of experts solves problems or issues in a way that I have never experienced before. I have been part of another company that launched a new website, and it was such a headache, but this process has been seamless with you!"- Rachel Kimmell, WestPoint Financial Group
"SpinWeb is the essence of talent and professionalism."- Megan Hoover, Hillcroft Services
"I'm glad I had the foresight to choose SpinWeb. I say that because I'm older and consider myself a dinosaur with this new technology. With the help of SpinWeb, I now have a better way to market myself. I'm more effective at attracting new patients and I'm able to educate people via our website."- Stephen J. Gant, DDS, Yorktown Family Dentistry
"SpinWeb simply makes managing your own website easy. Not only is the management software user-friendly, but it provides real time access to data which is vital to our sports business. We’ve been able to increase our sales, further strengthen the image of our brand, and grow other online resources through the website created by SpinWeb. SpinWeb provides a simple and affordable option to website development and management. With user-friendly software, real time access, archive libraries, and immediate execution, SpinWeb has provided us with a key component to our sport business that generates revenue."- Justin Hart, Indiana Ice
"Nap Gladu contacted SpinWeb seeking help in updating our existing website. Our website was very stale and did not reflect the image that we wanted for our company. We met with SpinWeb, laid out a plan and SpinWeb took it from there. We now have a website that is the most impressive in our industry with the image that our company wants. We have the ability to update our site on demand and have the tools to track the visitors to our site. The team at SpinWeb was great to work with...very professional!"- Holly Mundy, Nap Gladu
"I cannot thank you enough for the quick turn around time in getting back to me when I have a question or concern. That service is invaluable to me - along with so many other services you provide."- Amy Kitchen, Johnson County Public Library
"Since redesigning our web presence with SpinWeb, we have noticed an increase in our online contributions."- Jean Crosby, The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County
"Since we have launched our newly designed website, we have been receiving more feedback from clients, potential clients and community members. Thanks again Spinweb for all of your great ideas, hard work and wonderful partnership!"- Courtney Anderson, Fishers Pediatric Dentistry
"On behalf of the AMTA-WI Chapter Board of Directors I would like to thank you for a most informative and entertaining presentation. I learned much more than I expected and your presentation far exceeded my expectations. It is my hope we can have you back another time once we get things rolling."- Kay Peterson, AMTA-WI Chapter
"FYI, Chris Antoine from SpinWeb is pretty awesome."- Allissa Haines, AMTA-Massachusetts Chapter (view original tweet)
"All of you have done a tremendous job on the design/layout of the site... I can't even imagine using any other team for this project... you guys knocked it out of the park!"- Chris Dellen, MBA, Communications Products, Inc.
"Since we have launched our newly designed website, we have been receiving more feedback from clients, potential clients and community members. Thanks again Spinweb for all of your great ideas, hard work and wonderful partnership!"- Brittani Richards, Horizon Convention Center
"Thank you for the great experience with the Silver Companies website development. Your team was efficient, helpful, and a pleasure to work with. I will definitely pass your company on to prospective businesses in need of website development/work."- Justin Steill, Silver Companies
"We finally found someone who took our business as seriously as we do. Thank you, SpinWeb!"- June Kramer, Midwest Metal Fabrication and Custom Rolling
""There is no company out there like SpinWeb. I'm loving the blueprint process with them and so excited about the new site. Great people.""- Sara Romanowski, Muncie Public Library (view original tweet)
"We had a customer come in today for an estimate. Her comment to me was… 'Wow, whoever designed your website did an outstanding job!' She then told me that was a deciding factor on where to get her car repaired."- Ted McClintic, Church Brothers Collision Repair