A municipal website is a place to showcase the most important elements of your city or town in a way that is easily accessible for everyone. It’s the place where new events can be announced, an online community can be built, and where residents can stay informed about their city.
Citizens have high expectations for digital experiences, and governments are no exception. The private sector has set a high bar for customer service and user experience. To exceed the expectations of citizens, the public sector must be at the forefront of the digital landscape.
Federal, state, provincial and municipal governments are grappling with the demands of today's digital world. Citizens expect rapid delivery of services and the ability to manage their information online. Creating an engaging platform that gives residents a streamlined experience takes time and effort.
This article shares our top 3 tips to keep in mind when building a municipal website.
Tip 1: Provide Quick Access to Information
An eye-catching menu can go a long way in helping people easily navigate to the services they need. In the photo below, West Orange county created a Citizen Help Center with convenient access to information for reporting important issues in the community and signing up for more news about the county.
This is a good example of quick access link that can be added to your municipal website to easily direct citizens to frequently searched-fo web pages. All the necessary information may be available on your website, but if it isn’t easily accessible, it won’t be effective for users if they cannot locate their desired content.
Make the colours pop and choose an attractive, responsize layout across on all devices, including mobile. Below is another sample layout that New Jersey uses for its municipal website:
With this layout, people looking for government assistance can easily find the information they need from these clearly organized, graphic icons. The symbols catch and direct attention in a much simpler and more effective way than publishing a long list of service links users must scroll through.
Tip 2: Display Upcoming Events to Increase Engagement
Highlighting how much is going on within your municipality gets people excited about being part of a healthy and vibrant community. By increasing their participation in local events, citizens become more engaged and feel they have a stake in improving their community for everyone. This can also go a long way in increasing trust levels in local government, giving citizens more touch-points with municipal leaders and administrators so that they feel like their needs and concerns are being addressed.
There are many different ways to approach this. Upcoming events can be displayed in a calendar or by creating a slideshow on the website's landing page showcasing participants at successful past events.
Whatever you choose, it's essential the design is informative and clearly communicates relevant details in a way that will grab attention and make citizens want to click to learn more.
Make sure upcoming event links are also shareable via social media platforms, as this will also increase engagement and help expand reach, communicating news of your community events to a wider audience. Here is an example:
Tip 3: Create an Eye-catching Landing Page
Most people won't click deeper into a website page if their initial impression from the home page don't appear well-designed or informative. Make sure that your landing page doesn't turn visitors off but instead invites them to learn more about your city and what you have to offer.
This will help you reduce high bounce rates and increase traffic to your municipality's website, as users explore and engage with more of your content.
These are just a few of the tips that will help set your municipal website apart, designed with intent and a focus on optimal user experience.
For assistance in building your municipality’s website, contact PortageCyberTech’s team of digital experts now.