Have you checked your own website out?
In the last few months, my team and I have looked at a ton of Improvement District Websites. Ok that might be slightly exaggerated, but we have looked at a lot of websites. We came to an interesting conclusion.
Most Improvement Districts don’t view their website from an outside perspective.
Many of the websites did not make it easy for us to find out what city or state the district was actually in! It seems that most districts take for granted that people automatically know where they are located. Your district name may include the name of your city, but it may not include your state.
For example, one of the districts in Sacramento California is called Downtown Sacramento Partnership. Now their website is super pretty and I love the layout. It seems pretty straight forward right? Guess what? According to a website called us.geotargit.com, there is a city named Sacramento in 7 different states! On that same website I looked up the city of Arlington, which I have only ever heard of being in the great state of Texas. We came to find out there are no less than 34 cities in the US called Arlington!
It does make a difference!
You are probably asking why is this important. Well, for starters, one of the goals of your Improvement District is to bring in commerce. You know – fill vacancies and promote the district for outside companies to come in and do business. You also want visitors from outside your state to come into the area and shop, dine, visit, etc. If a prospective property owner or tenant or a possible customer wants to do business in your district, it makes sense to make it easier for them to find out what city and state you are in.
Here are 3 things to you ask yourself about your website that might make it a little easier for people to find you:
1. Does my website tell people right away which city AND state my district is located?
Again, the goal is to make it obvious for people to know where you are located. Don’t assume that visitors to your website live in your state. Look at your website from someone who lives out of your state and is looking to relocate their business or find a new home for their family.
2. Does my website let people know what the current time and weather is in my city and state right way?
Seems kind of silly right? Well, it’s not – little things like this make your website warm and fuzzy. It tells people that you actually care enough to let them know if it might be raining a just in case their are making a visit to your district that day. It also lets them know the best time to call into a business if they had an questions about possibly renting a space in your district.
3. Does my website make it easy to contact our office either by phone or email?
Many of your websites did have a “contact us” section, however it wasn’t in obvious places. Again, look at your website from someone who doesn’t live in your state. How easy is it for them to send you an email with a quick question or give you a call? I know that phone calls may seem old school, but the truth is that people lean more toward a personal touch, or voice rather than a cold contact form that may or may not get responded to right away.
Small adjustments
These are just three simple questions that, if you would take the time to ask your self , will help you see your website from an outside perspective. They are simply primers to get you thinking about what your online presence looks like to people who are checking you out and maybe thinking about doing business in your district. I hope this helps!