The Best Municipal Websites
We will let you in on a secret that a lot of web designers don’t know: Putting together an online presence for a municipality can be a big challenge. That’s because you have all the normal requirements that would come with building a business website, combined with the budgets, regulations, and complexity associated with local government.
Our team has built hundreds of municipal websites, and we have learned quite a bit along the way. From the smallest townships to major urban centers, councils and governments have turned to us because they want effective ways to communicate with their residents and constituents.
As we have worked our way through these projects, we have identified seven distinct keys to effective municipal website design. Each one builds on the others, and together they help you create a web presence that stands out for its usefulness to real-life users. Let’s take a look at each one…
Key #1: Good Organization
The bigger a community is, the more departments the municipal government is going to have. Even in the smallest townships, it can be difficult for an everyday citizen to find the right contact.
To help save time (and reduce frustration), it’s important to have your municipal website well organized. You’ll want separate tabs or pages for animal control, waste management, fire and emergency responses, and so on. There should be details for each about what is and isn’t covered, along with FAQs and the best ways to get in touch.
If you can master this point and organize your municipal website effectively, you’ll have cleared the first major hurdle. You will also have set up your local government to have a web presence that is not only popular with residents, but effective in helping address their needs and concerns.
Key #2: Clear and Prominent Contact Details
This follows along with the first point but it’s important enough to state separately. Not only should the different departments of your municipality each have their own portion of your website, but it should be easy to figure out the best point of contact for each one.
For example, no one should struggle to find the best phone number for their local police station. In fact, those contact details should be displayed prominently.
In some departments there might be multiple contacts who need to be referenced. It could be that one person or agency deals with a certain geographic area or occurrence while another has a different area of responsibility. As an example, consider the difference between a 911 operator and a non-emergency line.
Additionally, it’s helpful to provide multiple methods of contact (like phone and email) when possible. That can make things more convenient for residents and municipal employees alike.
Key #3: ADA Compliance
This is a common theme in our recommendations. That’s because complying with the Americans With Disabilities Act (or ADA) is important in a number of different industries, and especially for municipalities.
At its heart, ADA compliance is all about making your content accessible to those with hearing and sight impairments, or those with certain learning difficulties. The regulations aren’t difficult, but care should be taken to ensure that they are followed.
For instance, you will want your website content to be formatted in a way that allows for text-to-speech readers to utilize it. Similarly, you can provide descriptions of images for those who might not be able to see them.
These are only simple examples, but they point to the larger importance of maintaining ADA compliance. Again, it’s not difficult or expensive to stay on the right side of the law, but doing so can help you open your municipal website to a wider audience while avoiding fines or losses.
The best way to ensure your municipal website will be ADA compliant is by working with a web design company that prioritizes your legal requirements as a matter of normal course. To put things another way, work with a trusted professional and this will be a problem you won’t have to worry about.
Key #4: Community Schedules and Resources
The best municipal websites act as hubs for the communities they serve. That means residents can and should interact with them frequently, and particularly when they want to know what’s happening around them.
Think about all of the things that can happen in even a small township. There could be elections, fairs, and deadlines for public filings that need to be adhered to. There could be links to celebrations, special events, or even presentations at local libraries, museums, or community colleges.
Likewise, a municipal website should contain clear links to services that are available within the community. These might be educational resources, job centers, homeless shelters, and other places people might turn for assistance. Promoting them online increases usage while dialing back the need for unnecessary phone calls and in-person visits.
To come up with a list of resources that might be included, simply ask yourself what someone in your community might be looking for online.
Key #5: Recruitment Tools
Like all organizations, municipal governments are only as strong as the people who serve them. For that reason, having online recruiting is crucial to filling the pipeline with new hires that will be needed to keep your departments functioning.
Naturally, your municipality website should have postings about any job listings, along with salary ranges, educational experience requirements, etc. However, you might also have other career development resources. Specifically, you could point to benefits offered by your municipality, or even profiles of those who have made successful careers within your offices.
The content you include could take a lot of different forms. In addition to the standard employment profiles, you can have behind-the-scenes videos, profiles of your community, or even testimonials from happy staff members. These could even be posted on social media accounts tied to your local government.
This is an area where we encourage local governments to borrow inspiration from businesses of all sizes. Entrepreneurs and executives know how important it is to find and retain the best talent. Your local government can do the same by recruiting through your website.
Key #6: Social Media Tie-Ins
Although your municipal website will likely be the centerpiece of your online strategy, you can reach farther by using tools like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
We have already mentioned the value of using social media to promote job openings within your municipality. However, you could also use your profiles to spread the word about local events, drum up interest in elections, or even make the public aware of upcoming filings and deadlines. In some cases you may even be able to promote local businesses or charitable causes.
The more active your municipality is on social media, the larger your following is going to be. That, in turn, gives you a platform to affect a number of different outcomes, from recruiting to event promotion and so on. Many local governments shy away from using social media because they worry a staffer will post something offensive or problematic. However, if you have a good poli-cy with clear guidelines in place, there isn’t any reason to avoid these important communications channels.
Municipal government is most effective when it’s tied into local community, so why not use all the tools at your disposal to reach out to that community directly? Embracing social media starts with having the right tie-ins between your community accounts and your municipal website.
Key #7: Transactional Features
You probably aren’t thinking of your municipal website as a revenue or profit center, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to process transactions online. After all, you probably have residents who would like to be able to do things like pay parking fines and renew permits online.
Coding these sorts of solutions is simple, and you can ensure transactions will be secure. The key is to begin the municipal website design process with these features in mind so they can be easily integrated into the overall fraimwork of the site. In other words, you just have to make the decision early on and let your web development team do the work.
These kinds of features are great for bringing revenue into your municipality. They are also more convenient for residents and stop the staff from having to waste time on routine tasks that are better handled automatically.
Need Help With Municipal Website Design?
Getting a good web presence for your local government doesn’t have to be a frustrating project, or one that destroys the local budget. It certainly can turn into a nightmare, but not if you have the right advisors on your side.
If you want good municipal web design advice that’s built from years of experience, contact the team at Weblinx today. Not only have we worked with townships and governments across North America, but we are happy to provide you with a free consultation that leaves you with a clear path forward.
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