By: Deborah Johnson Wood
The Grand Rapids Downtown Alliance launched its revamped web site http://www.downtowngr.org/ last May, and while it still gives cyber visitors loads of information on shopping, dining, entertainment, and what’s happening downtown every day, it’s fast becoming a resource for entrepreneurs and others who want to start a business or live in the core city.
The original site launched 18 months ago. A comparison of April 2007 traffic statistics with April 2008 numbers showed a 45 percent increase in usage (some 20,000 visitors in 2008) before the changeover to the colorful new look and graphics that incorporate the let’s go. downtown. campaign.
“We expect our new traffic numbers to be even higher,” says Sharon Evoy, alliance executive director, “but it’s too soon to tell.”
The site represents businesses and events in the core city, east of the Grand River, and shares an online events calendar with the Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Businesses can enter their events on either site and they’ll appear on both, doubling the marketing opportunity at no extra cost.
There is a guide for locating downtown’s fab array of outdoor sculpture, places to live, museums, galleries and theaters. There is also a business directory and even a comprehensive collection of business resources—including marketing analyses, building reuse incentives, and commercial and residential real estate listings.
“We want to make it easy for people to get around downtown,” Evoy says. “The web site is the cornerstone of our downtown marketing and a great way to put out lots of information we can’t get out any other way. Businesses can use the tools to market themselves.
“Downtown is where you go to live life more fully, especially with the depth and variety of experiences that you can have in downtown Grand Rapids.”
Source: Sharon Evoy, Grand Rapids Downtown Alliance
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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