MARKETING YOUR WEBSITE

July 2014 Main Street Matters

Article written by Rebekka Adams, Assistant State Coordinator, Texas Main Street Program

In last month’s issue of Main Street Matters, we spoke of the importance of having a website dedicated to your Main Street program. As they say, if you build it, they will come. Is this really true for a website? Just build a website, and customers, volunteers, and investors will come flocking into your downtown, right? The thing about a website is that it is never finished. You will always be making updates. A website is not static; it always needs fresh, new content. Additionally, you need to spend just as much effort marketing the website as you did creating it.  

Build SEO
What exactly does that mean? Isn’t a website marketing itself? A website is only good if people know how to find it. The first thing to do is to increase your search engine optimization (SEO) ranking. There are many articles out there to help you increase your SEO. Let Google be your guide in improving SEO. 

Create Backlinks
One key place to market your website is online. You want your website to be linked to as many credible websites that are relevant in your community as possible. Backlinks help build credibility to your website and increases your standing with search engines. A backlink is an incoming link to your website from another website. Here is a list of suggested local organizations to approach to help you build backlinks to your website. The great thing is that you can approach each of these organizations and start a conversation around your program, why they should link to your website, and ultimately, work on building a stronger partnership for your Main Street program. 

• Local newspaper
• Local radio station(s)
• Your area CVB
• Local Chamber of Commerce
• Small business development centers
• Volunteer organizations that work in your community
• Your area merchants’ websites (and their social media)
• Tourism websites that serve your region 
• Other websites that cater to your community
• Local business directories
• Local bloggers

If your Main Street community is a tourist destination, think bigger than your local community for building partnerships and backlinks. Think regionally, statewide, nationally, and internationally. Work with your organization and promotion committees to build a list of potential places to reach out to and partner with. Utilize your board and volunteers to help you approach these organizations to ask for backlinks. Asking for something as simple as a backlink is a great conversation starter. 

Also, remember common courtesy, and link back to websites of organizations with whom you are partnering.

Market Online
In addition to building partnerships and securing backlinks, you should be doing your own online marketing of your website. Here are some suggestions for places to market your website online:

• Your email signature
• All of your social media — all platforms have a place to link back to your website
• Google+ page. This is also the number one way to help increase your website standing in search rankings. 
• E-newsletter
• Local business directories
• Guest blogging or writing articles for local publications. Make sure to link back to your website in your byline. 

Market in Print    
Finally, promote your website in EVERY possible place that you can think of offline. This means writing the URL on every printed piece that your Main Street program creates. Note that current practice in printing your website names no longer means that you have to include the “www.” in front of your url. Just make sure that your website can be accesses with and without the www. If you include the .com/.org at the end, it is understood that it is a website. The following list should be used to market your social media sites as well as your website.  
• Organization letterhead
• Business cards
• Printed newsletter
• Grant applications
• Printed maps
• Customer receipts (work with your local merchants)
• Outdoor advertising (wayfinding maps/signs)
• Posters/flyers/etc.
• Any promotional items that you may print — t-Shirts, koozies, pens, etc.
• Window clings in merchant windows in your downtown

Update Constantly
Now that you are working hard to promote your website, make sure that you are constantly updating it. Make sure that you remove past events and make the home page current to reflect what is happening right now and the immediate future in your downtown. Events happening in the upcoming month should be prominently featured on your homepage with links to more information. 

This all may seem like a ton of work, but it is worth it to help engage your community, promote your downtown, and attract investors to your Main Street. Remember to have fun with all of it and utilize your volunteers to help with the work. Once you get into a routine of updating and promoting, it will become second nature to you.