Best  Prac*ces  to    Showcase  Your  Community    

Online  

RED SAGE IN ALABAMA Economic Development & Community Marketing Experience

• Economic Development Groups • Chambers of Commerce • Tourism • Downtown Redevelopment • Main Street Programs • Local Governments • National Heritage Area

> 28 Counties

Lauderdale

Colbert

Franklin Lawrence

Limestone Madison Jackson

DeKalbMarshall

Morgan

CullmanWinstonMarion

FayetteLamar

PickensTuscaloosa

Walker

Jefferson

Blount

Etowah

Cherokee

Calhoun

Cleburne

RandolphClay

St. Clair

Talladega

Shelby

Bibb

Sumter

Hale

Greene

Perry

Chilton

Coosa TallapoosaChambers

Lee

RussellMacon

ElmoreAutauga

Dallas

Wilcox

MarengoChoctaw

Washington

ClarkeMonroe

Lowndes

Montgomery

Bullock

Barbour

Henry

Houston

Pike

DaleCoffee

GenevaCovington

Crenshaw

Butler

Conecuh

Excambia

Baldwin

Mobile

Our Services for Communities   Website Design

•  Content Mgmt System •  Mobile Friendly Sites •  Google Analytics •  Chambermaster •  TravelHero

  Community Branding   Retail Recruitment Guides   Wayfinding Signage   Social Media Marketing   Content Development

  PowerPoint Presentations   E-Newsletters   Blogs   Graphic Design

•  Logos •  Community Print Ads •  Flyers •  Brochures •  Rack Cards •  Folders •  Tradeshow Banners

Current Partnership with PowerSouth

  An external analyst reviewed economic development websites in Alabama and identified communities that had potential to improve their online presence

  PowerSouth is partnering with these communities and Red Sage to develop new websites for their economic development initiatives

Our Goals Today   Your Community’s Brand   Economic Development Websites

•  Your Domain Name •  Home Page Use •  Content – what to include •  Navigation Structure •  Search Engine Optimization

  Social Media   Other Online Communication

? Why is having a strong online presence for your

community important?

The vast majority of research to narrow down a list of potential sites is done online.

Your Target Audiences

Site Selectors Industry Reps

Retailers Industry Sectors Existing Industry Stakeholders

We’re Different!

Branding Your Community

  Your community brand captures both tangible and intangible qualities that create a community personality and make your community truly unique

  Your brand is your reputation and your promise of distinct value

Showcasing your community with your economic development

website

www.???.org   BaldwinEDA.com   DorchesterForBusiness.com   OzarkAlabama.us   PlatteCountyEDC.com   ChesapeakeVA.biz   BuildWebsterCity.com

At a minimum, spell out your

County name for Search Engine

Optimization and usability

Develop Your Site Map   Plan the pages of your site   Establish a structure that is logical   Keep all content within three clicks   This also establishes your main navigation

button choices – keep consistent!   Look at how other groups have set their

sites up – look at IEDC winning sites or www.communityresults.com

Site Map Example 1

Home   Business  Climate  

Cost  of  Doing  Business  

Tax  Incen6ves  

Exis6ng  Industries  

Transporta6on  

U6li6es  

Workforce  

Demographics  

Workforce  Stats  

Workforce  Training  

Technology  Center  

Job  Seeker  Resources  

Available  Sites  and  Buildings  

Available  Sites  

Available  Buildings  

Maps   Quality  of  Life  

K-­‐12  Educa6on  

Post-­‐Secondary  Educa6on  

Healthcare  

Recrea6on  and  ANrac6ons  

About  Us  

Staff  

Board  

Contact  Us  

Site Map Example 2 Home   Doing  

Business  

Incen6ves  

Taxes  

Licenses  &  Permits  

Transporta6on  

U6li6es  

Area  Industries  

Exis6ng  Industry  Resources  

Workforce  

Workforce  Stats  

Workforce  Training  

Retail  

Retail  Demographics  

Exis6ng  Retail  

Available  Sites  and  Buildings  

Available  Sites  

Available  Buildings  

Industrial  Parks  

Community  Profile  

Demographics  

Maps  

Educa6on  

Healthcare  

Recrea6on  and  

ANrac6ons  

About  Us  

News  

Contact  

Site Map Example 3 Home   About  Us  

Staff  

Board  

Contact  Us  

News   Local  Business  Services  

Workforce  Development  

Incen6ves  &  Financing  

Professional  Development  &  

Training  

Small  Business  &  Entrepreneurs  

Job  Search  Resources  

Site  Selec6on  Services  

Available  Proper6es  

Incen6ves  &  Financing  

Workforce  Development  

Industry  Concentra6ons  

Cost  of  Doing  Business  

Leading  Employers  

Data  &  Demographics  

Demographics  &  Trends  

Transporta6on  

Regulatory  &  Environmental  

Workforce  

Taxa6on  

Government  

U6li6es  

Living  Here  

Housing  

Educa6on  

Cost  of  Living  

Recrea6on  

Climate  

Healthcare  

Designing an Effective Home Page

  Your brand   Your location – with a map   Unique selling points   Recent news   Contact information   Graphics heavy but no flash

What types of content?   Maps   Demographics   Available Property

listings   Quality of life   Staff and contact   Existing Industries   Workforce Information

  Taxes & Incentives   Transportation   Utilities   Business Assistance   News   Social Media links and

feeds

How to Write and Program Content

  VERY data heavy   People don’t read – avoid paragraphs   Break pages up visually with sub-heads,

sections or graphics   Build your sitemap in Word format

•  Sitemap stays on page 1 •  Each page gets its own page in Word •  Write the content, add notes for graphics, related

downloads, external links, and internal links

What to include in News   New industry announcements   Local industry news   New Hires   Awards   Job creation announcements   Report releases   Either write your own or link to local coverage   Ability to share articles on social media

GIS Powered Sites

  More robust searching   More extensive property data fields   Radius-based demographics   Exportable reports   Still pricey for small communities

Showing up in Search Engines   “county name” economic development   Your organization name

How to increase your odds of showing up

  Before you write your content, write down a list of key phrases you want to show up for:

County name

Organization Name

County + economic development

Region name + economic development

Existing industry name (Mercedes)

City name

City/county/region name + maps

City/county/region name + available

property

How to increase your odds of showing up

  Then make sure these words are heavily used throughout your content, page titles

  Consider using Pay Per Click to expand visibility on broader search terms such as “Alabama Industrial Property” or “Automotive Manufacturers”

  Use Blogs and Social Media   Make sure other sites link back to yours

Mobile-­‐Friendly  Sites  

•  Everything  works  •  Full  site  but  loads  fast  

•  Full  site  but  shows  up  in  screen  and  can  pinch  to  resize  

• MANDATORY  

Mobile  Websites  

• Usually  smaller  subsec6on  of  site  

• Geotagged  loca6ons  

• WORTH  CONSIDERING  

Mobile  Apps  

• More  robust  func6onality  

•  Requires  download  from  iTunes  store  or  Google  Play  

•  Requires  installa6on  on  phone  

•  BETTER  HAVE  A  GOOD  REASON  

Mobile Options

Social Media Options   Make sure your website news (at least) is

sharing enabled   It is about RELATIONSHIPS   Linked In

•  Most potential for external prospecting and networking

  Twitter •  Share information as it happens

  Facebook •  Opportunity for dialogue with community

Linked In:   If nothing else, participate here   Make sure your key employees listed on

your website have link to Linked In profile   Participate in groups   Communicate with site selectors active on

Linked In – respond to posts etc.   Recruit employees   Learn from other communities

Twitter   Communicate news or share ideas

  Search key phrases to tune into news and conversations (automotive supplier, economic development)

  Expect a small group of active followers

Blogging

  Personal thoughts about current news or situation

  Keep short – 1 paragraph is fine

  Best is at least once a week, but even a well maintained once a month blog is better than most communities

Blog Topics   New business announcements   Career tech education locally   Expansions – and why   Entrepreneurship   Local business resources   New regulations   Top jobs locally   Etc.

Blogs to check out:   http://blog.buildwebstercity.com/   http://www.economicdevelopmenthq.com/blog   http://owensboroedc.blogspot.com   http://blog.indypartnership.com/

Thank you! Learn more at

CommunityResults.com RedSageOnline.com