Get the highest online visibility for Economic Development Offices and Visitor Bureaus and YOUR MEMBERS using the FoundLocally.com free listings. Your goal is to create the highest traffic and visibility for members and community businesses, and needs to promote not only the organization but the various stores and services that create economic opportunity in the community.
FoundLocally is a great way for communities and business districts to raise their own visibility, not just by adding themselves to the high-traffic community directory, but by posting news, jobs, events, and savings to increase the number of pages on their FoundLocally listing, and therefore the number of link-backs to their website. This is especially handy for those hosting events and festivals, or those taking a lead in community business advocacy.This approach is very effective for SEO (search engine optimization): the more pages on FoundLocally the more link-backs you have, and the higher your ranking and findability! Many Economic Development and Tourism Offices overlook the business opportunity for member businesses, who SHOULD ALSO increase their online footprint by participating in as many directories as possible (and especially the free ones!) With a little bit of effort, they can enhance their online marketing to support their operations: posting jobs, promoting events, promoting sales, discounts and coupons, posting news announcements. Help your member businesses reach an ever-increasing online customer base, save money [on traditional media], increase revenues and become more profitable,
FoundLocally provides additional opportunities for editorial promotion of your communities.”
Economic Development Offices & Visitor Bureaus are organizations that support and promote businesses in a district, helping with advertising and helping individual businesses and tourism operators to create jobs, and in turn collect either membership fees or levies by municipal agencies from area businesses and property owners. These levies cover the cost of marketing & advertising, the costs of hosting year-round festivals and events, as well as the annual administration costs (salaries, rents, office costs) of the organization.
While businesses are considered “members” by virtue of their location, and by virtue of the fact they are levied for the Economic Development & Tourism Offices, but the degree of accountability depends on the specific district and their governance rules. Some organizations have their executive and board of directors elected by member businesses (which is good) while other appear to be self-running fiefdoms for the benefit of their executive directors and office staff, or the politicians which appoint those people (which is not good).
Good Economic Development & Tourism Offices websites not only promote the organization itself, but also have a directory of area businesses, with links to their web sites (if there are no links, insist they add this, its not “rocket science” technology!), typically organized by category.
More proactive Economic Development Offices & Visitor Bureaus help their area businesses grow by hosting educational seminars, either over breakfast (before stores or offices open), at lunchtime (for office-type businesses), or in the evening (after business hours). These seminars educate area businesses on a variety of issues including staffing, benefits plans, advertising and web marketing, handling credit cards and payment alternatives.
Web Marketing Tips & Links
- Web Marketing 101
- Have your members add themselves to the community’s FoundLocally directory (click on “Free Lisitngs”)
- Directories of local online directories
- http://marketing.foundlocally.com/chains/Topics for chains & franchises
Important Content & Promotional Opportunity!
SPECIAL IP: Web Marketing Opportunity for Economic Development Offices: MovingInCanada.com
We invite Economic Development offices to provide us appropriate content about their communities for our MovingInCanada.com website, which helps people select neighbourhoods/communities to live or do business. Each community should have an Introduction including key features, industries and amenities, and details of Schools (# and type, libraries, post-secondary access), Shopping overview (in-town and nearby), Recreation opportunities in terms of cultural, historical, sports & fitness, and Houses with an ov erview of types, percentages and pricing of housing stock in the community.
We welcome information about communities across the country.
Please contact FoundLocally if you have any questions and for submission e-mail address. Submissions become the property & copyright of FoundLocally.com Media Inc, but appropriate writer’s credit (and web link) will be provided.
Make the Most of Your PROFILE
Add an organizational listing to promote the Economic Development Office & Visitor Bureau:
- Use the Description field to state your key branding message (and describe the community and its unique qualities
- Use the Products/Brands to identify key groups of businesses and industries your district focuses on.
- Link to the organization’s website, and upload a photo or organizational/community logo
- In the Contact field, enter website’s Contact Us webpage instead of an e-mail address, to reduce spam e-mails.
TIP #1: Have your members add themselves to the Free Listings as well, not just for the mention of their name in FoundLocally’s directory (which you, the Economic Development Offices & Visitor Bureaus , might do), but enable them to post their own News, Events, Jobs, and Savings items
TIP #2: When advising your members to add themselves, remind them that they should insert the Economic Development & Tourism Offices name in theAddress2 field, so that users searching by area name (just like with a mall name) can find all local businesses.
Multiple CONTACTS mayUpdate Listing(s)
- Set up multiple contacts per listing using the Add/update CONTACTS tab in the red What To Do? menu, so each can post items to your listing, or login and ad additional clients and their websites & locations.
- Add Marketing, HR, and Operations persons to update the operational components of their FoundLocally listings, letting you focus on web marketing and website design.
Post NEWS and Announcements
- Post announcements o FoundLocally listings at the same time as it is sent out to other media outlets.
- Dramatically improve your findability by using good keywords in the story with your/your association’s web site and name. In addition this can improve your/your organization’s credibility as an industry information resource.
- Announcements stay posted until you take them down. On FoundLocally, news has a long shelf life. FoundLocally news is not thrown out or recycled the next day, like with a newspaper!
Post EVENTS
- Use the EVENTS tab to post any special events, open houses, festivals, or “live remotes” with a local TV or radio station. EVENTS postings can link to their own web page if you have an event that people need to RSVP for or buy tickets.
- See special tips for Festivals & Community Events
TIP: Link to pages on your site, or a third party (like, say, TicketMaster)
Post JOBS to fill staffing needs
- Use these listings to recruit people for internal or client needs using the JOBS tab.
- Non-profit organizations can use the JOBS tab to post volunteer opportunities, either under their FoundLocally listing or yours.
For Visitors Bureaus: TransCanadaHighway.com
We invite Visitor Bureaus to provide us appropriate content about their communoties for our TransCanadaHighway.com website. Please include information about this history & location of the community, annual events & festivals, main attractions
We welcome information about communities within 20 km of the Trans-Canada Highway. We welcome information about communities across the country.
Please contact FoundLocally if you have any questions and for submission e-mail address. Submissions become the property & copyright of FoundLocally.com Media Inc, but appropriate writer’s credit (and weblink) will be provided.
Add your Organization/Facility’s Free Listing to FoundLocally.com
DON’T FORGET to also post any News, Events, Jobs, and Savings to promote all aspects of your organization/facility and its operations, (using the respective tabs in your listing). Don’t forget to tell your members and constituents that they should also take advantage of FoundLocally’s significant audience & traffic to promote themselves!
ALSO, please let your organizational members and stakeholders know they MAY ALSO submit their businesses and organizations to the FoundLocally.com directory for your community. Please see the Industry Tip Sheets page for tips for their respective businesses.