How to Keep your Website Fresh

BETTER WEBSITE SERIES:CREATING A CITIZEN-FOCUSED WEBSITE THAT MAKES GOVERNMENT EASIER

PHASE 3: IMPLEMENTATIONPHASE 4: GOVERNANCE AND MAINTENANCE

CONNECTING PEOPLE

About CivicPlus

Our mission at CivicPlus is to help make local government work better. Connecting people—connecting communities—is at the core of everything we do. Since 2001, we’ve been building custom websites for city and county governments in the United States, Canada and Australia. In recent years, our role has expanded to forming partnerships with local governments and their communities. We help improve communication, workflow process, and the citizen experience.

www.gulfshoresal.gov www.cityofbrevard.com www.ci.manhattan.ks.us

About the Speaker

Deb currently oversees the implementation team at CivicPlus. Her web-development insight stems from consulting with hundreds of local governments to understand and address their online issues.

Deb McNewVP of Professional Servicesmcnew@civicplus.com888.228.2233 x225

Objectives

Objective 1

Explore Methods to Implement Plans from Phase 2

Objective 2

Keeping the Website Fresh and Up-To-Date and Keep Staff Engaged

Objective 3Implementing Governance and Continuing to Improve the Function of the Website

What Citizens Are Saying

of surveyed citizens say their government website is less than easy, difficult, or very difficult to use*.

*Digital Disconnect: The Gaps Between Government-to-Citizen Online Interactionsvisit www.digitalcommunityengagement.com for more info

67%

Benefits of Good Web Project Planning

Citizen SatisfactionBetter CommunicationConvenience of Online Service

Cost SavingsDigital interactions cost 80% less than non-digital interactions*Allows citizens and government staff alike to be more productive because they can conduct their government business more conveniently

Compliance and Revenue More convenient methods of payment encourage higher compliance and increased revenue collection

*Accenture’s Digital Citizen Pulse Survey

Visit www.accenture.com/us-en/Pages/insight-digital-pulse-survey-summary.aspx for more information

Phase 1 Results

A Community Needs AssessmentOrganizational goals clearly defined

A Complete Marketing PlanThe data to make planning your website navigation and content a no-brainer

Phase 2 Review

The Best Leaders and Organizations Start with Why*

*Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

Organizational Goals

You should have 1-3 high level goals for the site.

If you were building a new city hall would you tell the contractor “I want a prettier building than I had before?”Increase Citizen Satisfaction as measured by X by EOYIncrease Website Transactions by X% by Q2

Define what is a transaction and how measured

Increase Website Traffic as measured by x by EOYOur top x services will be available on the web by x date

Set Departmental Goals

Base them on the organizational goals

Parks and Rec activities will have x% online registrations by dateCode Enforcement will have x% of violations reported online by datePhone calls for General Services will reduce by x by date

Results from Phase 2

Navigation PlanContent Plans for each DepartmentApproved DesignCommunication Plan

Implementation

Implement Your Approved Navigation and DesignCreate a Plan for Permissions and Access

May require a “hidden” navigation piece where content is arranged by department or function

Work With Necessary Departments to Implement the Communication Plan

Implementation

Review Content Plans with the Departments

Gather the Documentation Required to Create the Content from DepartmentsHave the Bulk of the Content Created Outside the Organization

Train all Approved Users Have Multiple Workshops Scheduled After Training to Review and Tweak Content

Train All Staff

Beginning the Accountability Cycle

Implement the Method You Identified in Phase 2 to Track Progress on Goals

Train staff on how to keep up their progressProvide departments with regular web statistics reportsCreate a dashboard for transparency

Governance

Set a Regular Web Committee Meeting to Review Progress

We suggest quarterlyDecide who owns this and handles accountability

Governance

Topics for the Regular MeetingAddress progress on goalsKeeping best practices and guidelines up-to-date and accessible to staffScheduling regular training for staffWhat is the next step in the adventure

Maintenance

Set a Regular Schedule for RetrainingMake sure sessions are available to handle turnoverRefresher training

Make sure to offer training on new features or features you are not using or new methods Have meetings to discuss progress on goals with departments, what problems they are having, what successes they have seenHave a regular training reviewing the guidelines and best practices put in place by the governance board (website committee)

All Staff Training

Maintenance

Set a Schedule and Owner for Website Maintenance

Check the site for misspellings and broken linksCheck for outdated content

One method would be to review a department/month

Check statistics for unused contentCheck search terms for new items that should be added

Review

ImplementDetermine GovernanceConduct Regular MaintenanceDon’t Forget – Keep Marketing

How to Evaluate Your Site

CivicLink www.civicplus.com/civiclink

Personalized report based on citizen and staff perspectives of your communication efforts

Want help?

CivicPlus has partnered with over 1,700 municipalities to improve efficiencies and overall communication with citizens. We can help you establish metrics, set goals and develop a custom website that citizens will use – we guarantee it

www.leaguecity.com www.nantucket-ma.gov

Download the Presentation

This presentation is available for download

Visit www.civicplus.com/BetterWebsiteSeries for this presentation and several others resources.

CivicPlus.com

CONNECTING PEOPLE

Deb McNewmcnew@civicplus.com888.228.2233 x225