Recently, the Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village Regional Chamber of Commerce changed is name to the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce to create broader appeal for the region it serves.  Read a brief article about this change here.

While the new name is certainly a bit easier to type and say, I was curious as to how those various place names could potentially drive traffic to the chamber's website.

Using Google's Keyword Tool, I looked for the monthly search volume for each of the areas covered by the chamber. Here are the results:

Area Name	Monthly Search Volume
Conejo Valley	27,100
Agoura Hills	246,000
Westlake Village	368,000
Thousand Oaks	1,000,000

Conejo Valley is the least-used search term of the four and may result in referring less traffic than the other keywords.   So in theory, to take advantage of higher search volume, the chamber may have wanted to leave "Thousand Oaks" in their name.

I understand that the chamber needed to be more inclusive for the region it serves and their name gets used in far more places that just search engines. I'm not really suggesting that the chamber should have kept the name "Thousand Oaks."

But, it does bring up a good point regarding keyword content for chambers of commerce.   I recently wrote another post about how chambers can leverage their members' contact information and descriptions for increased search engine optimization.

When you're creating new programs, securing additional domain names or just adding text to your website or blog, be aware of the keywords you're using.  If you need (or hope) to reach a certain audience, be sure to include those keywords in your text.  Also, make sure you use your organization's full name and city in articles.  (Instead of saying "the chamber," be sure to use "Yourtown Chamber of Commerce.") 

If you're lucky (or have planned accordingly), your organization's name, your programs and/or your events will match more things that people are searching for.

Since WebLink International works exclusively with chambers of commerce, business associations and membership organizations, I get to see and use chamber websites every day.  And, since I managed the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce website for eight years, I remember all the challenges of keeping a chamber website up to date and relevant.

Recently, I was asked what things most chambers of commerce could do to improve their sites. I thought this topic would make a great "top 10" list for the WebLink blog. Here are the first 5 ways I came up with.


10.  Leverage your analytics – Stop worrying about page views and visitor sessions without understanding how the design of your site influences your visitors’ behavior.  Rather, focus on the outcomes you want from your site. Do you want 10 new members to join online each month?  Would you like to get 500 new people to sign up for your e-newsletter?  Do you want visitors to order something or register for an event?  Once you set such goals and review your analytics, you can determine how you can change your site to help create your desired outcomes.

9.  Streamline navigation & overall design – Streamline your navigation into as few main items as possible.  Try to view your site through your typical visitors’ eyes.  What are the main reasons people visit your site?  What information are they viewing most often? Create main navigation buttons or links that reflect the major areas of your site and use sub-navigation for everything else.  Don’t design navigation or critical information so it looks like advertising.  Keep the site as open and easy to view as possible.  Look to some of your favorite web 2.0 or social media sites for inspiration.

8.  Make it shareable – Sharing information via social media is hot right now, so why not make it easy for site visitors to share your content?  Services such as AddThis and ShareThis (see example at the bottom of this post) give you code to embed on your website that make it easy to share your site’s content via multiple popular social media services such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs.  Including such tools on your site shows that your chamber is progressive and understands the current media trends.

7.  (Don’t ) click here – The words “click here” don’t add anything to the usability of your site and they certainly don’t help you with any search engine optimization (SEO).  Instead, use strong anchor text (the text that’s actually linked), such as “Download the Chamber’s annual report” or “Watch our latest State of the City video.”  Where you can, use both a graphic (such as the cover of your annual report) AND a text link to help guide readers to your content.

6.  Use internal links – Linking from within your text to other relevant areas of your site does two things.  First, it improves the usability for visitors since they can now easily move on to additional content on your site. Second, it helps improve your rankings in search engines and can get more of your content indexed.  Usually 3-5 internal links per page is good.  More than that can become distracting to your readers.


Part 2 of this list will be coming soon. What other items do you think should be on the list?

WebLink is proud to announce the winners of our big contest conducted at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Convention in Raleigh, NC.   Please read on to see if any of your peers were winners.

iPod touchGarmin Nuvi GPS system
Flip Digital Video CameraiPod Shuffle
$50 Amazon gift cardIt was great to meet so many of the chamber of commerce staff I've connected with on Twitter and other social media.  Thanks for stopping by the booth so we can now match a face with the avatar. :-)   That's one of the great things about social media - ultimately connecting face-to-face with someone you've been following for a while.  The online connection leads to an offline action.

WebLink received tremendous response and interest in our membership management software, website design and development, and non-dues revenue programs for chambers of commerce while at ACCE.  From all of the chambers we talked to it appears that now is the time most of you are seeking to make a change for the better.  Whether it's creating more functional websites, better utilizing your member database or jumping into using social media, chambers of commerce are eager to keep pushing forward.

Thanks again to those who stopped by the booth.  And congratulations to all of our winners!

Times are tough, money is tight, and No One is spending money right now.   Well the first two points are certainly true, but the latter is not.  The truth is; everyone is more selective in how and where they spend their money, but they ARE spending money.  Your members are looking to make the most of their dollars and get a clear Return on Investment (ROI) from your chamber.  You are in the right place at exactly the right time to make money with your website and provide tremendous value AND results to your members.

Why chambers exist
Now is an opportune time to revisit why you exist in the first place, or at least why members belong to your organization.  Chamber initiatives are diverse and you do so many important things for the local economy you serve, but members join to grow their business. 

It bears repeating.  Members join primarily to grow their business.  If you are helping them grow their business, you are VERY valuable to them. Most especially in tough economic times. 
                                                                                              
The chamber brand = Credibility
Chambers of commerce have a “brand name” advantage over other local directory sites as most consumers know each community has a chamber and they will seek out a chamber’s website to search before the site of a local newspaper, TV station or radio station.   And chambers have a physical presence to support their efforts – something most directory websites do not.  Local means physically local and that still matters to buyers.

In the 2007 Schapiro Study, a key takeaway is that when consumers know that a small business is a member of the chamber of commerce, they are 44% more likely to think favorably of them and 63% more likely to purchase goods or services from that company in the future.  This translates directly into credibility.  Why does that matter?  People do business with businesses they trust.  They can’t afford to take risks with their money and a chamber membership is an implied seal of approval by the local business community when people search for local businesses online.

So what is the potential?  Let’s look at some important trends.

Internet advertising trends
In 2008, $100 Billion was projected to be spent on local advertising across all mediums (Insiders Report – Universal McCann Dec. 07).  Local online advertising was expected to reach $13.1 Billion in 2008 according to Borrell and Associates.   What was your share of the $13.1 Billion spent in 2008 and are you positioned to take advantage of the $100 Billion already spent locally that is migrating online?

Online usage trends and directories
According to a recent Pew Internet and American Life Study – 49% of people use online search at least once a day.  More importantly to you, a study conducted by Piper Jaffrey & Co. in 2007 determined that 58% of online activities are searches for local information!  People are already searching online for local businesses in your community EVERY DAY.

New sites with interactive directories are popping up continually and other sites are adding them to compete for advertising dollars.  Traditional local media websites such as TV, radio, newspaper and yellow page sites are moving to designs and features that blur the lines regarding their media type.  In essence, everyone is going online and you have a fantastic resource in your online business directory that is under-promoted and under-monetized as a profit center. 

Results matter and conversion is king
A client of WebLink is generating a 2.9% click through rate on ads on their website. As a point of reference, industry-wide average click through rates for web advertising (impressions delivered / clicks) are typically 0.1% to 0.2%.  This means that ads on chamber sites can 14x to 28x more productive than other websites.  Conversion rates are high on chamber sites because you are trusted by visitors.   Greater credibility AND greater results.  Now that will get members’ attention.  And their dollars.
  
History shows that the greatest opportunities often come during the times of greatest adversity.  Your chamber IS the most valuable cost effective advertising medium there is.   Your chamber website provides targeted, immediate, affordable, and measurable results.  Remember that members join primarily to grow their business and you can help them do exactly that with your website. 

To summarize: people are searching for local business information, your website has high credibility, and businesses are already purchasing local online advertising.    

NOW is the time to take action and make money from your website. 

Our clients and prospects continue to ask about blogging.  Should we blog? How do we blog? What would we blog about?  How will it benefit us and our members?    I’ll get into more detail below, but first let me say “YES,” chambers should blog. 

1.    Communication that engages your members.   Just a few years ago, we were saying “every chamber needs a website.”  Now it’s “every chamber needs blog.”   Your current members are becoming more tech savvy every day.  And, the young professionals you hope to attract as members are already using new methods of communicating.  To stay relevant to your audience and to expand your influence moving forward, you need to engage them with media in which they can also participate.  Instead of “talking at them,” make them a part of the conversation with blogs and other social media.  Yes, that does mean you lose a bit of control, but in the long run you have more meaningful conversations and engage your audience. 

2.    Positioning you as an expert.   You shouldn’t just be following the business trends; you should be helping to create them.  By blogging about relevant business issues, you can strengthen your position as an expert and the voice of business for your community.  By “breaking” news on your blog or by providing frequent updates, your chamber can be viewed as an insider, a news generator and an organization that has influence.  Businesses will recognize that your chamber is an organization they should be aligned with (and hopefully a member of) if they want to stay connected to local business community.

3.     More immediate delivery.  Blogs make it very easy for you to publish content in an instant.  Your print and even email newsletters have such a lead time that information may be outdated before it reaches your members.   You can blog from the city council meeting, state legislature, your own events or anywhere to create a sense of urgency to your communications.   Your blog can become the portal to your chamber, make your chamber easier to find and provide a reason to visit your site more often. (Or even subscribe to your feed).   

4.    Your members are blogging, you should too.   Many of your members already have blogs for their businesses or they are commenting on other business blogs in your community.   You need to join the conversation and tell your story!  And, you can become a good case study for your small business members who aren’t yet blogging. It can be a powerful demonstration when you’ve actually used the tools you suggest to your members.

5.    Focus on member benefits.  Yes, all of your communications should do this, but blogging keeps your chamber focused on what is important to your members (and prospects). It forces you talk to their benefit instead of talking about your chamber.  Blogs allow you to easily create lots of content, giving you many chances to demonstrate the benefits of your organization.  Talk about your government affairs efforts, specific benefit programs, events, economic development items, etc., but always demonstrate how these items can benefit (or protect) your members.  Weave in posts about exclusive benefits, too, so that non-members learn why they should join your chamber.

Several of our clients are blogging with good results, including the Boston Chamber of Commerce,  Eugene Chamber of Commerce and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, who I’ve mentioned before.

Check out these chamber blogs and see how they are using blogging technology to engage their members, help to improve retention and even generate new member sales.  I’ll have more posts soon about specific blog post topics for chamber, too.