When is the Best Time to Redesign an Economic Development Website?

When is the Best Time to Redesign an Economic Development Website? Main Photo

2 Aug 2021


News, Website Development

Do most of your leads come from your website? If your site is outdated, you may be losing leads every day while your competition is busy converting those leads into revenue. Needless to say, if you're already looking to give your economic development organization (EDO) a general rebrand, a new website should be part of the initiative. However, if you have no upcoming rebrand in the works, yet feel unsure about the effectiveness of your online presence, these 20 questions can help you. These points are particularly important to address if you have stakeholders who express reluctance about allocating funds for a new site.

20 Questions to Help Determine the Best Time to Redesign an Economic Development Website

1. Have you done a current overview of other EDO sites? If so, does your site hold up well next to the competition?

2. Does your website look good and work quickly across various desktop browsers? (Most notably Chrome, Firefox, & Safari)

3. Does your site look good and perform well on mobile devices?

4. Is your site security-robust enough to protect from malware and hackers?

5. Can you easily update your site content in-house?

6. Does your team have easy access to analytics that provide you with meaningful insights about website traffic including:

  • How visitors found the site
  • What geographic location do visitors come from
  • What type of device site visitors are on
  • What does each site visitors' behavior flow looks like

7. Is your website interface easy to understand intuitively?

8. Are menu items clear and well organized?

9. Are your key facts presented in a manner that would be reasonably clear, should site visitors scan the pages instead of reading them?

10. Is your content fresh, useful, and crafted for SEO effectiveness?

11. Are your incentives clearly explained and given high-profile placement?

12. Are your key message points and calls to action (CTAs) compelling, convincing, and strategically prioritized?

13. Does your site provide clear and current data in a meaningful, contextual, and visuall-pleasing manner that is easy to understand?

14. Is it easy for site visitors to share key information from your site via email and social media?

15. Does your site reflect the unique character and opportunities in the region by way of great photos and/or a virtual tour?

16. Does your site provide the interactive tools site selectors need such as maps, real estate listings, and infrastructure and workforce development information?

17. Is your contact information personalized in a way that allows site selectors to feel confident they know you'll be helping them before they reach out?

18. Is the local community proud of your website?

19. Are there website functions you want, but feel you can't afford?

20. Do discussions about how to determine the best time to redesign our Economic Development website keep coming up in meetings?

Why miss out on leads and the revenue that goes with them when Golden Shovel is poised to help you? Contact us about our scalable, budget-friendly plans. EDO websites are what we do. They're all we do. We've been doing them for years.

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