What site selectors check first

Elimination comes before attraction

Agencies put a lot of energy into reasons to choose them: the incentives, the location story, the success cases. Those arguments decide the final round, between 2 or 3 places.

In the early rounds, a site selector is looking for reasons to drop you, because they have too many options and limited time. Your goal in those rounds is simple: give them no easy reason.

1. Can the land physically fit the project?

Size comes first, with room to expand. A project that needs 6 ha today often asks for an option on 4 more. Then shape and slope: a long thin plot or a steep one can rule out a factory layout even when the area is right.

Answer it with plot boundaries on a map, areas, and an elevation profile or 3D view. If neighbouring plots can be joined, say so.

2. Is there enough power and water, and when?

For many industrial projects this is the hardest filter. The question has two parts: how much capacity exists at the plot today, and when more can be delivered if needed.

A dated, plot-level answer ("12 MW available now, a further 20 MW when the new substation opens") is worth more than a zone-wide figure. If you only know the zone total, publish it and say it is a total.

3. Can goods get in and out?

Distances to the highway, rail terminal, port and airport, measured by road. For export projects, add the port and how containers usually move there. For anything time sensitive, travel times beat distances.

4. What is the land allowed to be used for?

Zoning is a quick filter that people often get wrong from outside. A chemicals project won't look twice at a plot zoned for business services. Publish permitted uses per plot, in plain language, plus any limits on height or floor area.

5. Is the risk visible?

Flood zones, ground conditions, protected areas nearby. Lenders and insurers will ask, so the site selector asks first. Showing the flood layer on your own map tells them you have nothing to hide.

6. How long until we can build?

Investors ask about the steps between "we like this plot" and "we can start building": land allocation, permits, utility connections. You don't need to promise a date. A clear list of steps, with the usual duration of each, already puts you ahead.

Make your data easy to put in a table

At the end of the long list stage, the consultant builds a comparison table for the client. Your zone becomes one row. If your figures come in the same units and the same order as everyone else's, that row is easy to fill and hard to get wrong.

A printable plot report or a simple export helps here. So does consistency: if your website says "approx. 10 MW" and your brochure says "8 to 12 MW", expect a cautious number in the table.

Test yourself with last year's brief

Take a real enquiry from last year, one you lost if you have it. Run it through these 6 filters using only what is public on your website. Note where you had to guess.

Those guesses are the questions the next site selector will ask, if they get that far.

What comes after the filters

Workforce, costs and incentives usually decide between the 3 finalists. They are where your agency's story and your aftercare team earn their keep.

But you only get to tell that story if you make the short list. Pass the filters in public and the first call starts at question 7.

In Business Builder Map, Site Selection asks an investor for their sector, size, needs and timing, then ranks every available plot and explains each score in these same terms. You can try it in the Demo Zone.