Fairfax County Economic Development Authority Website Redesign

About the Project

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) promotes Fairfax County, Virginia, as a world-class center of commerce and trade and the technology hub of the East Coast. The organization’s website is a critical component to the agency’s effort to reach out to businesses across the country and around the world. In 2008, FCEDA realized its outdated web design and web technology needed a boost. FCEDA turned to Balance Interactive for a much needed website redesign and redevelopment.

The Balance Interactive solution included:

Website Strategy

After researching competitor sites, analyzing audiences and current content and researching site statistics, Balance Interactive developed a custom website strategy for FCEDA. The strategy centered on three key recommendations:

• Use the website to develop relationships with core audiences. Set the tone for two-way interaction as a core strategy to cultivate more qualified prospects.
• Develop an engaging design that highlights key calls to action and is flexible enough to change over time.
• Write terrific copy that provides calls to action and targets key messages.

A social media strategy was delivered in tandem with the website strategy. This plan offered social networking strategies that complemented the website strategy.

Design that Engages

Balance Interactive created and implemented a website design that creates a positive emotion about doing business in Fairfax County. Components include strong imagery from around the county and design elements that build on offline advertising and marketing initiatives. The design includes three “calls to action” that highlight the three main activities of FCEDA: supporting new businesses, business expansion and business relocation.

Content Management with Drupal

The FCEDA website leverages the Drupal content management system to streamline site maintenance. All of the site content is management through Drupal. Optional page components can be added and removed with the click of a mouse. Many content pieces are dynamically added to several areas of the site as soon as they are created. Content tagging allows for additional grouping of content beyond the formal navigation structure. The site is completely scalable to allow for and seamlessly manage additional content.

International Focus

The FCEDA website offers content in seven languages. In addition, micro sites provide information specific to international business interests in the Middle East, India, Korea, Europe and the United Kingdom. The site design allows for these areas to have unique content, page elements, images and presentation. The micro sites can be expanded with ease within the content management system.