Key ingredients to creating a portal - local, regional or industry focused

I have added this to the topic below as well

I am in the process of creating a regional portal. To make it work, strategy is critical.

The revenue model will be subscription. To make it attractive to all businesses and organisations I believe the following has to be present...

1. The site has to have the right theme. Does the theme of the site excite the potential subscribers/adveertisers to say I want to be part of this?

2. Does the site generate the right type and amount of traffic that will benefit the various type of businesses and organisations that will subscribe to be present on it?

3. Do the tools of the site allow for the subscribers to manage their content therefore eliminating or substantially reducing the admin overhead?

4. are these site tools easy and intuitive to use?

5. Is the site full of quality and informative content that is going to benefit the visitors?

6. Are the site tools easy enough to use for the average content provider to be given authorisation to make regular updates?

www.edgeNZ.com is my attempt at the above. We have only just launched but the response has been positive, with lots of support to get the content together. We are just about to begin a sales campaign for business subscribers... check out the "Where to stay" and "luxury" area to see our first customer or click on site of the week.

This site comes out of a passion of mine to brand our region "The Worlds Edge" and help turn what has for some time a depressed economy into one of countries most vibrant.

love to hear some feedback
Ross




e-cluster - Knowledge Management Systems