“Free ice water and Nickel coffee, next exit!”

If you’ve been through South Dakota, you’ve definitely seen those famous Wall Drug signs.

In the 1930’s, South Dakota’s most famous drug store was on the brink of collapse. It was the idea of the business owners’ wife to install hand-painted billboards along the primitive roadways to draw attention to their small business. This was done when the United States was still recovering from one of the world’s most terrible economic collapses in modern history. People were doing everything they could just to get by.

Today, Wall Drug is one of South Dakota’s most famous drug stores. People get excited when they see the “Free ice water and Nickel coffee, next exit” signs. These signs helped make Wall Drug what it is today and it’s all because someone decided to put billboards up in front of where their customers travel.

Fast forward to 2020, and think about how people learn about new areas and where to travel next. 5.6 billion searches are performed everyday just on Google alone. Can you image having a billboard in front of 5.6 billion people? Your community name, up in lights, for all 5.6 billion to see.

Granted, not all 5.6 billion people are searching for places to travel or reside. They might not even be interested in leaving their own community but would love for people to come see what they see in their own town.

The benefits of having a community website are exponential.

• Communicate who you are, what you do, and why you do it with your community residents and those who visit your community.
• Inform new members of your community about community regulations, town meetings, parks and recreation, town history, FAQs, who to contact with questions, services such as emergency providers, police, electric, gas, cable, sewage, water, and trash removal. (This list can go on.)
• Use your website for tourism and tell residents and guests about how amazing your community is and why people should come check it out. Tell them about events coming up and how to get involved. Create an event calendar that explains your events and how others may get involved.
• Create forms for residents to fill out when there are problems or even better when residents have suggestions to improve the community.

This list is endless and can help residents and visitors feel more at home in your community. It creates a one-stop hub for everything community related and provides the necessary information people are looking for.

Whether it is to increase social interest in a community event, provide the community at large with the latest town council meeting minutes, or grow tourism, a website is a valuable asset that must not be overlooked.

Once you do create your community website, please make sure to implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies that will drive tourists to your website. A website without SEO is very limited.

Think you have a solid website and your SEO is already implemented? Move onto our next digital marketing challenge of tackling social media for your community.