Atlas Creative Director Peter Brown's presentation on everything you need to know about building a best in class economic development website.

1. Northland Connection Website Review and Agency Capabilities Building a Best-in-Class Economic Development Website

2. About Atlas Advertising We help economic developers reach national and international prospect and site selection audiences We deliver branding, website development, GIS mapping, research, social media, and creative services Our agency is led by a former economic development practitioner and has worked with 50+ different economic development clients in 30 states Our campaigns generate an average of three to ten times the response of other campaigns

4. Indy Partnership

5. City of San Francisco

6. Greater Phoenix Economic Council

8. Overview Taking on a website redevelopment project is a huge commitment – today you’ll take away the knowledge to: Understand and avoid the potential pitfalls of a web development project Understand the importance of “good” design and how it can effect the performance of your website Know what tools, content and features are key to a successful site Keep your site updated and engaged, giving it a successful, long lifespan

10. Today, there is very little in economic development that can’t be facilitated or made more efficient by treating your website as a platform for most of your media delivery

11. Think of it as the starting point for your new, online community: It’s about connections--connecting people to each other, to ideas, to communities and to possibilities.So, how do you do it?

12. Web development process Phases: Discovery Design and Content Development Technical Development Launch Maintenance

13. Discovery PhaseYour website starts with a purpose and a design, but it is powered by the content you create.

14. Discovery Goal: Setting the tone for a successful, on-time, on-budget delivery Audience identification and hierarchy Only one audience at the top of the hierarchy – don’t muddle Positioning Positioning statements help establish and differentiate your product and service in the eyes of your customers. What is the service/product? Who is it for? How is it different from the competition? What makes it unique? Project Purpose – creating a common guideline for everyone to follow A reference point for all design and IA decisions as we move forward Effective Information Architecture What are the needs and wants of your main audiences? How are their needs translated into a hierarchy of information?

16. We’re concerned with creating an architecture and hierarchy that gets users to their content more efficiently – ideally within 3 clicks

17. Intuitive navigation doesn't happen by chance and it must reflect the way people think in order for it to be effective

19. Design PhasePeople don’t just visit your website; they experience and interact with it.

20. Design Goal: design an original, intuitive website that attracts and retains users until they find the information they need. Create a resource to entice return visits. 10 second rule “Am I in the right place?” “Do they have what I am looking for?” And sometimes, “Does better content exist elsewhere?” How to engage? Emotion, Differentiation and Authenticity Help users make decisions – guide them Eye tracking studies Calls to action (purpose of the site) Clarity of navigation in design

22. the speed at which your pages load

23. the ease of navigation

24. the tone of your content

26. A well-designed homepage The Right Place Bold imagery, vibrant campaign language Marketing speak backed up with facts and figures on home page Balanced design pushes below the fold elegantly Provides map for quick locational reference Homepage caters to existing businesses as well

27. Design Tips and Takeaways OK to design below the fold Limit your use of Flash Understand typical eye-tracking patterns Contact information on the top of every page Present maps on the homepage Understand that your brand is more than your design

28. Writing Effective Content for Your Website"If your target audience isn't listening, it's not their fault, it's yours.”Seth Godin, Small is the New Big

29. Online content Once you have your sitemap and your agency is beginning the design phase, it’s time for your biggest task in the process. Most users scan instead of read Your content writers need to be trained in online content writing Write in “usable content formats” Scannable, written and designed in chunks Update often to keep it relevant If you write it well, your users will return to the resource you’ve created

30. Online content – pre-launch In order for this phase to be successful, you can count on: Spending up to 2 months full time getting the copy written, edited and uploaded to your new website (approx 3 hours/page) Creating an effective editorial calendar, because when you launch, you’ll be: Reviewing and updating various portions of your site weekly Posting to social media outlets daily

31. Online Content – Post Launch Periodically review your content

33. 2007: 8,340,000

34. 2008: 137,000,000

36. Eight components of a world-class ED website Authenticity of place branding and messaging Clarity of navigation Depth and quality of content Use of search marketing approaches Use of email marketing and news sections Frequent performance tracking Use of maps and GIS technology Use of social media

37. Authenticity in place branding Communicating a true positioning of the region Utilizing recognizable national elements Capturing users’ attention--inspiring them to use the site

38. Outstanding branding

40. Utilizing IEDC data standards

41. Providing the top ten most requested pages

43. Great content strategy Scannable - bullets and chunks Using a content management system that enables publishing of pages, downloadable documents, and data Weekly updates Devoting half of your budget to content Offering prominent contact info

44. Great content strategy

45. Effective search marketing Ranking #1 organically for “your city/region economic development” Ranking #1 organically for “your organization name” Utilizing paid search (PPC) to drive additional traffic

46. Top 10 search terms that drive traffic to ED websites Your organization name Your city/region name “economic development” Incentive type offered in your region (depends on community) Resident company name (i.e., Boeing) Region name (if different from city) Organizational url (without .com/.net/.org) Campaign name (initiative or fundraising) City/region name “maps” City/region name “counties” City/region name “industries”

47. Effective search marketing

49. Use PPC to broaden search terms “Georgia Demographics”

50. Over half of their traffic comes from search engines

51. 500% traffic increase by using effective search marketingwww.locationgeorgia.com

52. Effective use of an email newsletter Monthly email newsletter to investors, prospects Tracking performance of those newsletters Posting newsletters and news items to your website weekly or monthly

53. Outstanding email marketing

54. Effective performance tracking Review report once per month Track unique visits, referrers and downloads Benchmark your performance against other EDs Integrate tracking of advertising, web and PR effectiveness

55. Effective performance tracking

57. Use integrated real estate searches/GIS mapping software

60. Fully integrated property and business GIS search

61. Geospatial reporting

62. 1 property search and 1 business search per web visit, on averagewww.indypartnership.com

64. Keep an active Twitter account

65. Create a blog and update it four times per week

67. 2006: 41,600,000

68. 2007: 165,000,000

69. 2008: 359,000,000

72. “Insider” tone

73. Outstanding use of Twitter – 2,700 followers

74. Tweeting 4-6 times a daywww.metrodenver.org/blog

76. Your executive should be involved

77. Your blog should be open and honest

78. Use a tone that is personal and connects you to your stakeholders

80. The Atlas Report: Social Media Use by Site Selectors

82. Sherwin-Williams Co., Georgia

83. Trione & Gordon/ONCOR Intl., Texas

84. Colliers International, Toronto CANADA

85. Little & Associates Architects, North Carolina

86. Palm Inc – Sunnyvale, California

87. Visa – San Francisco, California

89. How frequently do you use each? 72 % use some form of Social Media at least weekly.

90. What is the applicability of Twitter to your profession? 63.6% say Twitter has no/very little applicability to the site selection profession.

91. What is the applicability of LinkedIn to your profession? 52.6% say LinkedIn has good application to the site selection profession.

93. You should have control of your page, data, file, and photographic content

95. It will deliver more than 10x the experiences of any other marketing you do

96. Search engine marketing is the most cost effective, targeted way to harvest new leads

97. It can increase traffic by as much as 1000% within targeted groups

98. Social media is a vast, untapped opportunity

100. Your site is not static, it’s living and breathing—it takes incredible attention and detail, but it will deliver incredible results

102. Contact Atlas Contact information: 2601 Blake Street, Suite 301 Denver, CO 80205 Contact: Ben Wright t: 303.292.3300 x 210 benw@Atlas-Advertising.com www.Atlas-Advertising.com