The technology community in Roanoke and Blacksburg is a dynamic ecosystem bursting with world-changing innovation. And no one knows that better than the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council (RBTC). As a member-driven association, the RBTC is working to build a community that is a catalyst for innovation, inspiration, success, and leadership within the Roanoke-Blacksburg region.
In 2022, the RBTC came under new leadership. To reflect this change, they wanted an updated website and a digital strategy to communicate their vision and reengage with their membership. They turned to LeadPoint Digital for help in leveraging digital communication to add value to the tech community through high-quality information and meaningful opportunities for collaboration.
Phase One: Research
LeadPoint Digital did a deep-dive into website content and analytics to better understand RBTC and develop a digital strategy to help them rebuild membership, event attendance, and connection to talent under new leadership. LeadPoint Digital conducted a discovery meeting with RBTC to identify goals and objectives for the technology-based organization moving forward and dove into past website analytics to see what was and was not working on the current website.
As a member-based nonprofit, RBTC engages with the entire technology community from CEOs, to entrepreneurs to up-and-coming talent. A critical component of the website and overall strategy was identifying key audiences so RBTC could communicate clearly and directly. LeadPoint identified established members, prospective members, and anyone with a connection to the tech community as major audience segments.
Finally, LeadPoint established an approachable visual feel and tone for the website that was inclusive of all segments of the technology community, industry news, and key members/sponsors.
Phase Two: Implementation
The website redesign was a 6-month process that started with development of a sitemap and navigation structure. LeadPoint collected assets and wrote new content in keeping with the accessible branding and created a new visual design to better showcase the RBTC.
A major strategy was to include calls-to-action and registration as primary design elements in the website. This created a highly usable website that guided the user to important information and action. Other important planning and implementation milestones included:
- Creating audience/user paths to direct action and website conversions
- Connectivity with analytics tools to keep track of user paths
- Create a design that would appeal to a technology audience
- Development of a robust calendar system for event registrations
- Link to membership login portal/CRM and tools
Finally, LeadPoint helped develop new content that would add value to the technology community. Content was branded consistently with the new RBTC design and was easily shareable across channels for maximum impact.
Phase Three: Results
The new website launched in February 2022 and the results were cause for celebration! RBTC’s new website created a direct line of communication with its core audience which resulted in a significant increase in traffic.
- In the first two months following launch, the website averaged more than 3,000 unique visitors (the prior year average was 500 unique visitors per month)
- Year over year (ending Sept. 30, 2022), website unique visitors increased 69%, total visitors increased 58%, and direct traffic (typing in rbtc.tech) leapt 300%
- Traffic data shows high user flows on key pages: Events, News, and Membership
- A year after the website launch in February 2023, website visits were up 400% year-over-year while search engine traffic jumped 700%
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