Economic Development Now

Below is an exerpt from "Snaring Site Selectors in Your Web: Forget Pretty Pictures - Feed Them the Right Facts", By Katie Burns, International Economic Development Council

We wanted to know which media work best if you’re trying to get site selectors’ attention. We asked several nationally known consultants. The general consensus: A good Web site.
Robert DeRocker, executive vice president at Development Counsellors International in New York City, talked with his colleagues and produced a list of “What’s In” and “What’s Out” for us. Heading the “In” list were “knowledge Web sites,” which should be light on graphics and long on content. Gene DePrez, national director for global location strategies at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and Dennis Donovan, senior managing director of the Wadely-Donovan Group Inc. in Morristown, N.J., noted that they often check out Web sites to try and get a feel for a potential location. Generally, however, most Web sites come up wanting in site selectors’ eyes.

“I would probably rank Web sites as most effective [among marketing media] if they are kept current (which they typically are not) and if they contain relevant information (which they typically do not),” Robert Ady, president of Ady International Co., wrote to us. “Too many sites contain all kinds of stuff on the community, i.e., tourist data, pretty pictures, etc., which slow the information process down and contribute nothing to the information gathering process.”

Donovan agreed. “Only about a third of Web sites are really effective,” he said. It turns out a homely but easy-to-navigate collection of statistics will get you much further with site selectors than dazzling photo galleries and cutting-edge animation. Offering online access to a well-designed database is even better.

Focus on facts, not flash.

The complete article originally appeared in the Jan. 15, 2002 issue of Economic Development Now, published by the International Economic Development Council, 734 15th St. NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20005. This is reprinted with the permission of the publisher.

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