Optimizing Your Website for Economic DevelopmentPresented by
Leah Hill
The importance of websites
Choosing your content
How to write copy people will read
Tips for improving navigation
How to increase web traffic
The importance of websites
Why should you have a website?
•In 2012, nearly 80% of American adults said they were internet users.
http://pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data-%28Adults%29/Whos-Online.aspx
The importance of websites
Internet users as percentage of populationhttp://www.google.com/publicdata
The importance of websites
The importance of websites
How site selectors use your website
According to a survey by Atlas Advertising, the average ED website receives 161 visits per actual inquiry to an EDO.
Choosing your content
How do you decide what content to include on your website? Ask yourself:
Why do you want people to go to your website?
Choosing your content
How do you decide what content to include on your website? Ask yourself:
Why do you want people to go to your website? Tofindoutmoreaboutyou.
Choosing your content
How do you decide what content to include on your website? Ask yourself:
Why do you want people to go to your website? Tofindoutmoreaboutyou.
What do you want them to do when they get there?
Choosing your content
How do you decide what content to include on your website? Ask yourself:
Why do you want people to go to your website? Tofindoutmoreaboutyou.
What do you want them to do when they get there?To call you.
Choosing your content
How do you decide what content to include on your website? Ask yourself:
Why do you want people to go to your website? Tofindoutmoreaboutyou.
What do you want them to do when they get there?To call you.
Is it easy for them to get to their goal and yours?
Choosing your content
Elements of a website
•City or organization name
•Contact Information
•Easy to use Navigation
•Maps
•Branding
•Professionalism and Accessibility
•Downloads
•Links
Choosing your content
The most important element is descriptive, detailed content
•Demographics/Workforce
•Utility and telecommunications costs and providers
•Transportation access
•Tax rates & incentives
•Quality of life
•Leading employers and unionization
•Recent expansions/relocations in the area
•Educational institutions and research centers
Choosing your content
(continued)
•Sites & buildings database (LocationOne)
•Business related news/events
•Links to social media accountsFor more information on good Economic Development content, see IEDC Site Selection Data Standards website: http://www.iedconline.org/?p=data_standards
How to write copy people will read
•concise text — half the word count (or less) than writing for print
•shorter sentences and paragraphs
•one idea per paragraph
•the inverted pyramid style, putting the most importantpointortheconclusionfirst
How to write copy people will read
•bulleted lists
•highlighted text (bold or color, also hyperlinked text) for scannability
•meaningful headlines and subheads
•writecopythatsellsbenefitratherthanfeature
Tips for improving navigation
Put most important information “above the fold”
Tips for improving navigation
The 3-click rule
Main menuclick “About Missouri Partnership”
Sub-menuclick “Mission”
Content pageMission statement page displayed
Tips for improving navigation
Track website traffic using Google Analyticshttp://www.google.com/analytics
How to increase web traffic
Be included in the first page of search engine results for appropriate keywords
•Your organization’s name
•The name of your region
•The name of your region + economic development (example: missouri economic development)
•Your url (example: www.missouripartnership.com)
How to increase web traffic
Improve your search engine ranking
•Usetherelevantkeywordsyou’veidentifiedinyourwebsite meta tags (descriptive tags within links, pictures, page headers, etc.)
Meta Tag Analyzerhttp://www.seocentro.com/tools/search-engines/metatag-analyzer.html
How to increase web traffic
Have a simple web design
•Don’tusetoomuchflash
•Don’t use graphics for headers and buttons, use text
•Don’t use too many frames
•Have a site map
How to increase web traffic
Get people to link to your website
•Get people to link to your website using anchor text that contains your keywords.
•Ex: <a href=”www.missouripartnership.com”> ”Missouri Economic Development”</a>
How to increase web traffic
Use Google Adwordsadwords.google.com
How to increase web traffic
Advertising
We’ll make sure the grass is always greener.
Visit us at www.business.missouripartnership.com or scan here* to watch our new Missouri video.
Relocating your company only makes sense if you can count on the grass being greener
on the other side of the fence - year in and year out.
Missouri’s business climate is not only comfortable, it’s consistent, allowing companies to plan for growth over a long period of time.
Missouri also keeps the green in your bank account with perennially low costs for business and energy.
(They can’t always promise that on the other side of the fence.)
for lowbusiness
energy costs2
for low businesscosts, including
the cost of labor1
Pro-Businessstate for 2 years
in a row3
1 CNBC2 Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council3 Pollina Corporate Real Estate* Use any QR tag reader to scan.
We’ll make sure the grass is always greener.
Visit us at www.business.missouripartnership.com or scan here* to watch our new Missouri video.
Relocating your company only makes sense if you can count on the grass being greener
on the other side of the fence - year in and year out.
Missouri’s business climate is not only comfortable, it’s consistent, allowing companies to plan for growth over a long period of time.
Missouri also keeps the green in your bank account with perennially low costs for business and energy.
(They can’t always promise that on the other side of the fence.)
for lowbusiness
energy costs2
for low businesscosts, including
the cost of labor1
Pro-Businessstate for 2 years
in a row3
1 CNBC2 Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council3 Pollina Corporate Real Estate* Use any QR tag reader to scan.
How to increase web traffic
Email marketing
How to increase web traffic
Use social media
How to increase web traffic
Mobile site
How to increase web traffic
Update frequently!
Leah Hill
Missouri Partnership 120 S. Central Ave. Suite 1150 Saint Louis, MO 63105
T: +1.314.725.0949 Ext: 202 F: +1.314.725.0743 C: +1.314.954.9252
More ways to connect with Missouri Partnership
•Twitter http://twitter.com/MOPartnership
•Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MissouriPartnership
•LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/missouri-partnership
•Industry Insight Blog www.missouripartnership.com/Data/Industry-Insight-Blog
Upcoming webinars (all are 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
•Friday, September 7th: Branding
•Friday, September 21st: Advertising and messaging
•Friday, October 5th: Pitching and media relations
•To register for the webinar(s) of your choice, please contact Erin Pettit of the Missouri Partnership’s staff via e-mail at [email protected] or call 314.725.0949.
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