Best Practices for Economic Development

Industry Pages

The importance of an EDO’s website can’t be underestimated.

In fact, 47% of executives said they planned to

visit an EDOs website in their

next search.

Now that’s a BIG deal

With that in mind, we’d like to share with you 10 best

practices for making sure your industry pages are

on target.

1 Create a Landing Page

As the entry portal into your target industry profiles, this is a page that should really pop

with simple, dynamic visuals or icons and straight forward copy.

1 Create a Landing Page

2 Consider Navigation

2 Consider Navigation

In terms of navigation, there’s no right or wrong way to get visitors from your entry portal to your other landing pages. As long as visitors don’t get

lost on their way there, that’s all that matters.

3 Keep it Simple

3 Keep it Simple

There’s value in knowing that less is more. This theory is especially true in how you describe

your industry. Keep it simple with a 90-100 word paragraph description.

4 Block it Out

4 Block it Out

Calling out an industry's key stats and facts including the number of employed workers in

the sector, GDP, etc., is a great way for visitors to easily make a judgment about the industry.

5 Let Others Tell Your Story

5 Let Others Tell Your Story

According to Winning Strategies, word of mouth marketing is still one of the most effective

tactics in convincing corporate executives to move to a place. Add in quotes from your

companies about why they do business with you for that extra boost of credibility.

6 Show Your Face

6 Show Your Face

Our industry is about relationship building. It’s imperative that these landing pages include

contact information for the person responsible for maintaining the data and insights for your

organization.

7 Give a Gift

7 Give a Gift

Of more content that is. Include downloadable reports and fact sheets and be sure to track the activity in Google Analytics for when you report

to your board.

8 Be Responsive

8 Be Responsive

Not only should you respond quickly to all request for information, but ensuring that your website is responsive design will help ensure a

more friendly user experience.

9 Know the Content

9 Know the Content

At minimum a Target Industry Profile page should include: an overview of the industry, key companies, workforce data, contact information

and an industry download.

Brief Industry Overview

Companies Contact Info

Workforce Data

Downloadable Reports

10 Emulate the Best

Emulate the Best

Review the website’s of the EDOs that are following these best practices and emulate the

tactics that make the most sense for your organization.

10

Emulate the Best

A.