Unlocking the best-kept secrets of your Chamber membership
So you've joined the Chamber as your first step towards making business connections. But what turns connections into business growth? Relationships, of course. But there's more to our Chamber benefits than might meet the eye.
“We want to make sure our members are using their membership benefits to their fullest,” said Jennifer Verscha, Senior Director of Marketing. “That means understanding how to leverage Chamber benefits like using our website to help you drive traffic to your own business,” she said. "For Google and SEO rankings, it’s important to leverage your business with other reputable organizations to strengthen brand visibility and generate referral traffic,” she added.
We asked attendees from our recent Membership 101 session what they learned during this Chamber orientation event that walks new members and new staff at Chamber-member businesses through tools like the Chamber’s Member Portal, which helps them learn how to optimize their business directory listing, post news and events and use built-in promotional tools to increase visibility.
“My biggest takeaway from Membership 101 was definitely the utilization of the Chamber’s online directory," said Jasmine Kline of the Quad City Animal Welfare Center. “To be able to put my business information there, my website information there and to use your Member News section, will really help the Animal Welfare Center,” she said.
Bill Dykema of DataTenant agreed. “We really need to keep our information up-to-date on your site, so people can potentially find us that way and also add our business events to the Chamber site as well,” he said.
“One of our best-kept secrets is that the Chamber has 3,000+ unique visitors per week to our website,” said Verscha. “When members cross-link to our site, it allows search engines to better index, discover and understand that member website, which in turn improves user engagement and SEO over time. That means more visitors, more traffic and more opportunity for business growth for their organization,” she said.
“My ah-ha moment is that I can utilize the Chamber website to showcase my own website, plus post job postings and news releases to your site,” said Rachel Stevens, owner of Double D Diner in Davenport. “I’m hoping to drive more people to my website.”
“There is just unlimited capacity on the Chamber’s website to support events, to support your website – just to get your name out there,” said Kim Brackemyer, Skyline Center Inc.
“Being a member of the Quad Cities Chamber is like having a stamp of approval that builds trust with potential customers," explained Verscha. “The Chamber team adds value through advocating for our region, facilitating connections and mentors, plus providing free resources - many of which help drive traffic back to your business from our job listing page, news and directory. Our team is here to help you gain more visibility, so connect with us any time."
