Round Rock Chamber of Commerce
Redesigned Chamber Web Site Means Business
The Challenge
The Round Rock Chamber of Commerce, which represents hundreds of business and professional companies in this fast-growing central Texas town, has a face. It’s the Chamber’s Web site, where potential customers find out more about area businesses and Chamber members (called investors) access resources to help them enhance their business.
The Chamber face, however, was looking a little old and unfriendly. The Web site had several limitations, chief among them a member directory that was hard to find and hard to use. The directory was buried in the site and – because investor companies could only be listed under one category – site visitors didn’t always find the companies they were looking for. Another key challenge was keeping the site up-to-date. Chamber staff members couldn’t update the site themselves – every change to an event, news item or listing had to be sent to an outsourced Web designer. This unwieldy process forced the Chamber to send e-mails with breaking news items. The Chamber also relied on a printed monthly newsletter to disseminate news, but this was expensive, and the news was often outdated by the time members received it.
The Solution
Live Oak 360 designed a new Internet engine to help the Round Rock Chamber Web site better serve its members and the community. After consulting with Chamber staff and investor companies, Live Oak rebuilt the member directory to maximize ease of use and better connect area visitors with member companies. For starters, Live Oak moved the directory search tool to the top of the home page, where it’s easier to find. Visitor can search by company name or category, and now, companies can be listed under more than one category. Live Oak also added “Where to Eat,” “What to Do” and “Where to Stay” links on the home page. Investor companies automatically pop up when they are categorized as a restaurant, hotel or entertainment venue.
Live Oak added another useful feature: Both the Chamber staff and member companies can track how many daily hits each member listing receives.
The new site architecture now lets Chamber staff make changes to the Web site themselves, so the site stays current. There is a real-time news section on the home page, and an XML news feed from News8 Austin lists gives links to the top five news headlines.
Other new capabilities include a place for members to post job openings and the ability to sell banner advertising.
The Benefits
“The new directory format has been received very well by our members and is now being used much more often,” says Charley Ayres, VP of programs for the Round Rock Chamber. In fact, use of the directory went way up, from 500 views the month before the Live Oak launch to 6000 views two months later – a 1200-percent increase.
The self-administrating feature means that the site is also more up-to-date. The Chamber has also been able to eliminate the time and expense of a printed newsletter.
Banner advertising has introduced new revenue streams for the Chamber, and the site tracking statistics has help the Chamber prove its worth to members.
In short, Live Oak has helped make the Round Rock Chamber Web site a better resource for Chamber members and potential customers alike.
