Why Gillett Needs a Better Online Business Directory

EDITORIAL: Why our local Businesses & Organizations deserve a better Online Directory and how to get us there

One of the main goals the Gillett Community Team (GC Team) has had since the beginning was to develop a detailed Online Directory of all Gillett Area Businesses, Organizations, and Services.

In early 2018 the GC Team released it’s first version of the Gillett Community Directory which can be accessed Online or downloaded here.

[PLEASE NOTE: The above version has not been updated since March 2018]

Benefits of an Online Directory

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Having all of our local business information in one Online Directory increases the chance for local businesses to get “organic visitors” via search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc). You can learn more about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) here

Sharing

Directory Listings can be shared through many platforms and services such as; Social Media, Email, Text, etc. This can be especially helpful to businesses that do not have a website.

FREE Advertising

The Directory provides FREE Advertising for local business and organizations. Each listing will contain all relevant information about each individual business (biography, pictures, links, products & services, etc).

Downfalls of the current Directory

• Every listing needs to be manually entered via HTML markup. This process takes a lot of time and makes it harder to keep the listings up to date. This is why the Online Version is currently only organized by category (Shopping, Food & Drink, etc.) and the “Details” pages are not complete
• The current Directory is NOT Optimized for Search Engines
• No Internal Search

What we need to do

Simply put, to develop a Directory that would truly benefit the Gillett Community, we need to create an entirely new one. Luckily we don’t have to start from scratch. We have most Gillett Area businesses & organizations information already indexed and www.gillettcommunity.com provides the perfect platform to host the Directory.

If you’ve read this far then you know the basics so I’ll get right down to it. To develop, or rather redevelop, the Online Directory it will cost about $395.

Cost Breakdown

Data Integration

The cost to have someone sit down and enter all of the information for over 160 local businesses & organizations - $190

Directory Design

Make sure the Directory “looks good” and is responsive on all platforms and devices - $90

Optimization

Optimize Directory Listings metadata, keywords, images, etc. Link the Directory to multiple other platforms, such as websites and social media pages, to increase traffic to the site and improve search engine ranking - $75

Plugins

There’s a lot going on in the background! Plugins help run the Directory - $40

Advertising (optional)

If we’re going to build this fancy directory we should get the word out! Advertising the Directory also helps advertise our local businesses! - $50

Total = $395

Total with Advertising = $445

If you don’t know anything about Web Design and/or Digital Media Services that’s about as affordable as it gets! Keep in mind that is a one-time cost and once the listings are uploaded they will be online for a minimum of 5 years. Thats 5 years of advertising for local businesses at a cost of roughly $0.56/per business per year! ($445.00 / 160 businesses / 5 years = $0.056)

Funding Suggestion: The Gillett Tourism & Marketing Commission and the Gillett Business Association should split the cost ($197.50 each w/o advertising - $222.50 each with advertising)

We’ve been hearing this a lot…

“You’ve already made one version for free.. why cant you make this one for free?”

We, the Gillett Community Team, have worked hard to develop many tools, resources and services for the Gillett Community at no cost and, more often then not, funding them out of our own pockets. Please don’t gloss over the fact that we are a small team of people volunteering our time and money to develop resources for the Gillett Community simply because we want to make it better!

“Do we really need an Online Business Directory?”

YES!! It’s 2018! The internet is only becoming more and more integrated into our daily lives. Do you really think people are going to go back to using the phone book?

Most of all we need your input and support!

Let us know what you think! Do you think Gillett businesses & organizations would benefit from an Online Directory? Leave us your thoughts, questions, and suggestions in the comments below or contact us anytime!

Help this article reach as many people in our community as possible by sharing it!

Learn more about the Gillett Community Directory here