This presentation to Economic Developers who attended TVA's 2014 Economic Developer's Forum, provides detailed instructions on how to build a great website for economic development. This was presented by Ellen Didier, president of Red Sage Communications, Inc.

1. Making
your
way
around
the
board
Landing
a
GREAT
Website
9th Annual TVA Economic Developer’s Forum
February 27 & 28, 2014

2. RED SAGE:
Experts in Economic Development &
Community Marketing
• Economic Development Groups
• Chambers of Commerce
• Tourism
• Downtown Redevelopment
• Main Street Programs
• Local Governments
• National Heritage Area
Awards from:
- Southern Economic
Development Council (SEDC)
- American Chamber of
Commerce Executives
(ACCE)

3. Our Services for Communities
 Website Design
•
•
•
•
•





Content Mgmt System
Responsive Sites
Google Analytics
Chambermaster
TravelHero
Community Branding
Retail Recruitment Guides
Wayfinding Signage
Social Media Marketing
Content Development
 E-Newsletters
 Blogs
 Graphic Design
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Logos
Community Print Ads
Flyers
Brochures
Rack Cards
Folders
Tradeshow Banners

4. ?
Why is having a strong
online presence for your
community important?

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

6. Let’s talk BRANDING

7. 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
 Captures who you are and
where you want to go
We’re
Different!

8. Examples of Branding

13. Showcasing your
community
through your
website

14. Your Primary Target Markets
Site Selectors
Industry Reps
Retailers
Industry Sectors
Stakeholders &
Partners:
City, County, Utility,
Tourism, Chamber, etc.
Related secondary markets include residents and tourists

15. ???.org
www.
At a minimum,
spell out your
County name for
Search Engine
Optimization and
usability
 BaldwinEDA.com
 DorchesterForBusiness.com
 OzarkAlabama.us
 PlatteCountyEDC.com
 ChesapeakeVA.biz
 BuildWebsterCity.com

16. 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

17. Site Map Example 1
Home
Business
Climate
Workforce
Available
Sites
and
Buildings
Maps
Quality
of
Life
About
Us
Cost
of
Doing
Business
Demographics
Available
Sites
K-­‐12
Educa6on
Staff
Tax
Incen6ves
Workforce
Stats
Available
Buildings
Post-­‐Secondary
Educa6on
Board
Exis6ng
Industries
Workforce
Training
Healthcare
Contact
Us
Transporta6on
Technology
Center
Recrea6on
and
ANrac6ons
U6li6es
Job
Seeker
Resources

18. Site Map Example 2
Home
Doing
Business
Workforce
Retail
Available
Sites
and
Buildings
Community
Profile
About
Us
Incen6ves
Workforce
Stats
Retail
Demographics
Available
Sites
Demographics
News
Taxes
Workforce
Training
Exis6ng
Retail
Available
Buildings
Maps
Contact
Industrial
Parks
Educa6on
Licenses
&
Permits
Transporta6on
Healthcare
U6li6es
Recrea6on
and
ANrac6ons
Area
Industries
Exis6ng
Industry
Resources

19. Site Map Example 3
Home
About
Us
News
Local
Business
Services
Site
Selec6on
Services
Data
&
Demographics
Living
Here
Staff
Workforce
Development
Available
Proper6es
Demographics
&
Trends
Housing
Board
Incen6ves
&
Financing
Incen6ves
&
Financing
Transporta6on
Educa6on
Contact
Us
Professional
Development
&
Training
Workforce
Development
Regulatory
&
Environmental
Cost
of
Living
Small
Business
&
Entrepreneurs
Industry
Concentra6ons
Workforce
Recrea6on
Job
Search
Resources
Cost
of
Doing
Business
Taxa6on
Climate
Leading
Employers
Government
Healthcare
U6li6es

20. 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

21. Designing an
Effective Home Page
 Your brand
 Your location – with a map
 Unique selling points
 Recent news
 Contact information
 Graphics heavy but no flash

29. 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
 Make sure you are including brand messaging
and covering all strengths

35. 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

38. GIS Powered Sites
 More robust searching
 More extensive property data fields
 Radius-based demographics
 Exportable reports
 TVA makes it affordable for small
communities with Local InSite!

40. Make
it
Responsive
to
all
Devices

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

43. 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
City name
Organization Name
City/county/region name + maps
County + economic development
City/county/region name + available
Region name + economic development
property
Existing industry name (Mercedes)

44. How to increase your
odds of showing up
 Then make sure these words are heavily
used throughout your content, page titles
 Use Pay Per Click to expand visibility on
broader search terms such as “Alabama
Industrial Property” or “Automotive
Manufacturers” or “Automotive Megasite”
 Use Blogs and Social Media actively
 Make sure other sites link back to yours

46. Main Rules for Websites
 KEEP IT UPDATED
 Make it useful and informative for all
audiences
 Make contact info easy to find
 Be sure all elements work on mobile
devices

47. Use Google Analytics

50. Drive online visibility with
Social Media
Best
for
local
community
engagement
Best
for
broader
communica6on,
or
crisis
communica6on
Best
for
online
networking,
prospec6ng,
and
professional
development
Best
for
video
marke6ng
–
hos6ng
videos
that
can
be
embedded
on
your
website

51. 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.
 Link to news articles on your website
(drive traffic)

52. Make sure all key employees have
profiles and actively build connections

53. Search for and actively participate in
industry groups locally, nationally,
internationally

55. LinkedIn groups are a great way to
monitor buzz and trends

56. Communicate and engage with site
selectors online

57. Make status updates of your own to
show up in feeds

58. Twitter
 Communicate news or share ideas
 Search key phrases to tune into news and
conversations (#EconDev)
 Expect a small group of active followers
 Good for announcements, crisis
communication and for monitoring trends

59. Using # and @
 Use @ to mention an organization or individual
by name – this shows up in their feed (and is
very desirable) @RedSageAL
 Use # to highlight topics to show up in searches
such as #EconDev #SiteSelection #Branding
 Create your own #hashtag for an event or
campaign such as #TVAforum2014 or
#SageAdvice – use to create buzz at an event

60. Search for topics to monitor trends
(#hashtags)

65. Facebook
 Engagement and relationship building
with your local market primarily
 More personal, informal and friendly
 Know your goals for using this:
 Top of mind in local market
 Sharing local business news, or building
support for a local issue
 Cross sharing/SEO opportunity

66. Promote action on community issue

67. Share local economic
development news

68. YouTube
 Highly recommend starting to
incorporate video into your
efforts, if you are not already
doing this

69. Greenville, SC
http://www.youtube.com/gogadc
 About GADC video
 Industry profiles
 Testimonial videos from young
professionals

71. Jacksonville-Onslow, NC

72. Growing your audience:
Follow to be followed
 Follow industry leaders on social media and
on their blogs
 Promote those already championing for you
 Be an active follower by retweeting, sharing,
and commenting
 Actively participate in LinkedIn Groups
 Continuously find and add LinkedIn
connections

73. Know what is being said
 Whether you use social media or not,
people will still be talking about your
organization and your community online
 Monitor all social media platforms for
comments and respond to comments as
quickly as you can

74. www.Google.com/Alerts
 Set up alerts for your company name,
products, and other identifying keywords
 Set up alerts associated with your
competitors
 Set up alerts for terms associated with
your industry

76. Trackur.com – starts at $325/year to find
out any time your community is
mentioned in social media

77. Respond quickly to any
negative posts
 If at all possible, respond to negative posts
rather than deleting them from your feeds
 Do not get into a “he said she said”
argument if the post was negative –
respond professionally and move it offline

78. Don’t forget to promote social
media engagement
 Links and feeds on your website
 Icons on your business cards and print
materials
 Actively promote and link to from enewsletters
 Anywhere you market yourself – make
sure you are promoting social media

79. Download this presentation at
www.slideshare.net/ellendid4
Please connect with me!
www.RedSageOnline.com
facebook.com/redsage
twitter.com/ellendidier
twitter.com/RedSageAL
linkedin.com/in/
ellendidier