State Spotlight: Kansas Department of Commerce

No matter the size or location of a company, its website is an important business tool. Especially for rural businesses, a good website opens a world of opportunity by acting as a 24-hour sales and marketing presence. A Website Globalization Review (WGR) is an evaluation conducted by the U.S. Commercial Service to make a company’s website more appealing and searchable for international audiences based on their SEO, domain authority, keyword value, metadata descriptions, backlinks, and more. Originally developed by the CS eCommerce Innovation Lab, Website Globalization Reviews are available through the Rural Export Center for companies in rural areas. The REC has completed 16 WGRs since it opened in May 2020, and five of those have been for Kansas companies. 

The Kansas Department of Commerce’s (KDC) International Division was an early adopter of Rural Export Center programs, with four companies using the RAISE (Rural America’s Intel Service for Exporters) in-depth market research service. When the KDC learned about the WGR service, they saw it as a way to advance their mission of empowering Kansas exporters. In April of 2021, the International Division invited Joshua Erickson, Program Manager of the Rural Export Center to explain the WGR service to Kansas companies in a webinar, including website globalization strategy, translation, domain considerations, and simple enhancements companies can make to improve their international friendliness. Since the webinar, the KDC and the Rural Export Center have collaborated on their Virtual International Marketing (VIM), and five Kansas companies have completed WGRs with the REC. Kansas companies are finding that the service is helpful. Bergkamp, Inc., a pavement maintenance company in Salina, is one of the participating companies. “The Website Globalization Review has been extremely helpful in determining what we need to improve on our website to communicate more effectively to international customers and distributors,” said Ron Arredondo, Marketing Manager of Bergkamp, Inc. “The review process was very thorough and highlighted what we were doing well and what specifically we could do better, and we are already in the process of implementing some of the advice that was presented to us.” Dragon-Line, LLC, located in Ulysses, manufactures irrigation equipment and expects their WGR to help them grow even more internationally. “A major percentage of our business comes from international markets, and every one of the Distributors found our company through the website”, said Monty Teeter, owner.  He continued, “As a small, rural business, receiving a Website Globalization Review will help us reach even more potential overseas partners.”

WGRs have been of particular benefit to Kansas’s rural companies during the pandemic. “We believe that WGRs offer companies analytical insight on how exactly their website gets visibility/activity and provides them with the information and tools to increase that activity in order to generate international sales,” said Jeff Willis, Director of the International Division for the KDC. “The information WGRs offer companies are the first and most basic step in addressing a company’s virtual international marketing strategy and attracting potential customers to their website through the improvement of their web-based activities.” Kansas exporters have been able to take advantage of RAISE and WGRs using Small Business Administration’s State Trade Expansion Program. The KDC is the manager of SBA’s STEP funds for the state of Kansas.