Web Marketing Tips for First Nations, Agencies and Businesses

Get the highest online visibility for First Nations, and their Economic Development Offices and Visitor Bureaus and band-owned businesses using the FoundLocally.com free listings. Your goal is to create the highest traffic and visibility for your First Nation and its members to increase economic opportunities.
Native Dancer at Calgary Stampede's Indian VIllage

Note: FoundLocally recognizes the status and roles of First Nations can be a combination of federal, provincial, and municipal governments, so we have always had several distinct First Nations categories in our Government and Public Service categories.

 FoundLocally is a great way for First Nations 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.

FoundLocally.com has two sister sites of great interest to First Nations: MovingInCanada.com for those developing residential or recreational properties on their lands, and TransCanadaHighway.com for those promoting tourism with attractions, accommodation, and activities centered around the culture, history, and resources of the First Nations. A listing in the FoundLocally directory is automatically included in the sister site’s information when appropriate.

 

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 are seeing 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 effort, First Nations can have effective 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.
Good websites for First Nations, Economic Development & Tourism Offices 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.

Make the Most of Your PROFILE

  • Add an organizational listing to promote the First Nations, Economic Development Offices & Visitor Bureaus
  • Use the Name fields to list yourselves as you wish to be known
  • Use the Name2 field to list all alternative spellings (misspellings?) so they are searchable, but are not displayed in the search results
  • Use the two Address lines to use one for a mailing address, and one for driving directions
  • Use the Description field to talk about your First Nation, its history, population, and what makes it unique
  • Use the Products/Brands to identify key groups of businesses and industries your First Nation focuses on.
  • Link to the organization’s website, and include the organizational/community logo (or a photo)
  • In the Contact field, using the website’s Contact Us webpage instead of an e-mail address reduces spam e-mails.

TIP #1: Have your various agencies, departments, and member businesses add themselves to the Free Listings as well. They can be found in FoundLocally’s directory and maps,  and they can post their own News, Events, Jobs, and Savings items.

TIP #2: When advising your members to add themselves, remind members to insert the First Nations name in the Address2 field, so that users searching by area name (just like with a mall name) can find all local businesses. If your First Nation is recognized as a community by Canada Post, then use the City field instead for this purpose.

Select CATEGORIES for your organization

  • See First Nation specific categories in our Government & Public Service categories
  • Add other functional categories that relate to your organization’s activities and facilities:
    •      Visitor Accommodation: ACCOMMODATION
    •      Tourist Attractions: TRAVEL – Attractions
    •      Festivals: TRAVEL – Attractions
    •      Recreational Facilities: CONSUMER SHOPPING – Sports
    •      Social Agencies: HEALTH – Counselling
    •      Retail Stores: CONSUMER SHOPPING (various)
    •      Real Estate Development: HOMES & GARDENS – Buy/Sell/Rent
    •      Business Parks: BUSINESS – Space

Multiple CONTACTS mayUpdate Listing(s)

  • Set up multiple contacts per listing using the Add/Update CONTACTS  in the red What To Do? menu. Add additional staff people in your organization, so each can login and post items to your listing.
  • Add Marketing, HR, and Operations persons to  login and update the operational components of their FoundLocally listings, letting you focus on web marketing and website design.

Post NEWS and Announcements

  • Post announcements to FoundLocally listings at the same time as it is sent out to other media outlets.
  • Announcements posted to FoundLocally listings are not filtered editorially, like they may be with other media outlets. You get to tell your story, your way, and in your words.
  • 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!
  • Dramatically improve your findability by using strong keywords in the news story with your/your association’s web site and name. This can improve your/your organization’s credibility as an industry information resource.

Posting EVENTS

Posting JOBS to fill staffing needs

  • Recruit people for a variety of job types using the JOBS tab.
  • Use the JOBS tab to post volunteer opportunities

Add your LOCAL Free Listing to FoundLocally.com

Don’t forget to also post any News, Events, Jobs, and Savings to promote all aspects of your organization and operations, (using the respective tabs in your listing).

 

ALSO: create individual listings for EACH of your attractions, festivals, and band-owned corporations

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