New County Website Focuses on You
In July 2017, the County launched a brand-new website to make it easier than ever for people to access public services and information online. The new design went live after more than 100 County employees worked for a full year to create more than 2,700 webpages and upload more than 6,500 public documents.
The site has many new features and showcases the County’s new logo, color scheme, photos submitted by the public, and a layout that works well on any device. But perhaps more importantly, the new website now showcases more than 700 public services offered by the County of San Luis Obispo government.
On average, more than 12,000 people visit the site every week and the pages on the site have been viewed more than 1.7 million times since it launched in late-July 2017.
Global recognition
In October 2017, the County earned international recognition by winning a Gold MarCom Award for the new website.
The MarCom Awards competition receives about 6,000 entries from dozens of countries around the world each year. It honors excellence in marketing and communication while recognizing the creativity, hard work and generosity of industry professionals. MarCom is administered by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, an international organization that was founded in 1995 and consists of several thousand marketing and design professionals.
Entries are judged at random and all work is evaluated solely on its own quality, creativity and resourcefulness. Because there is no lengthy essay accompanying the entry, judges base their decisions on learned perceptions of creative excellence rather than an entrant’s imaginative explanation of an entry’s value.
The County first launched its original website in 2006 and the design won several awards at that time. Since then, the site has become outdated and difficult for the public to use and staff to maintain. The new design promotes self-service, citizen engagement, and transparency while also enhancing County operations.
In May 2016, the Board of Supervisors approved the public website renovation project and the County, as part of such project, hired its first full time Web Administrator and contracted with a local design agency. The citizens of San Luis Obispo County, through multiple focus groups, made it very clear that they wanted to access public information and conduct business with the County online in a simple and intuitive way. From this directive, the project’s primary focus was to put the needs and interests of the people of SLO County. The new website includes effective ways to find information about the County’s more than 700 public services as well as the latest County news, documents, and public meetings.
Improved features include:
At your service
Many public services offered by the County is described in detail, including information on what the service is, who can use it, what the fees are—if any, what the process is to use the service, and when/where it is available. A completely “service-oriented” architecture was built by the County’s web team so that services can be quickly found by topic and sub-topic. The County is the first public agency in California to use this faceted search capability to organize its website content. It’s now easier for County staff to maintain the pages Standardized templates made maintenance by departmental staff and ensure that content always stays current and valuable for the public.
The new County website helps people intuitively find what they’re looking for in a variety of ways. By using the “How can we help you?” section on the home page, people can find the most commonly used public services in just a few clicks. The top of every page also includes quick links to other commonly used areas of the site.
Before the website went live, the County invited members of the public to voluntarily test the new website design and provide feedback. These volunteers came from all industries and all walks of life. Based on their input, the County refined the design and created a better, easier way for people to connect citizens to the services and information they need.
Not Done Yet
Since launching the site in July 2017, the County has identified many ways to improve the site. Some of these changes have been made and many more are scheduled for the coming year. The goal is to always improve the website, so that it becomes more useful to the people of SLO County over time. Recent and future improvements include:
The County is very proud of its new website and looks forward to ongoing public feedback and suggestions to keep it a winner for many years to come. If you would like to provide feedback, please contact the County's IT Department. Your feedback will be reviewed by County staff and may be included as a future enhancement or change.
The site has many new features and showcases the County’s new logo, color scheme, photos submitted by the public, and a layout that works well on any device. But perhaps more importantly, the new website now showcases more than 700 public services offered by the County of San Luis Obispo government.
On average, more than 12,000 people visit the site every week and the pages on the site have been viewed more than 1.7 million times since it launched in late-July 2017.
Global recognition
In October 2017, the County earned international recognition by winning a Gold MarCom Award for the new website.
The MarCom Awards competition receives about 6,000 entries from dozens of countries around the world each year. It honors excellence in marketing and communication while recognizing the creativity, hard work and generosity of industry professionals. MarCom is administered by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, an international organization that was founded in 1995 and consists of several thousand marketing and design professionals.
Entries are judged at random and all work is evaluated solely on its own quality, creativity and resourcefulness. Because there is no lengthy essay accompanying the entry, judges base their decisions on learned perceptions of creative excellence rather than an entrant’s imaginative explanation of an entry’s value.
The County first launched its original website in 2006 and the design won several awards at that time. Since then, the site has become outdated and difficult for the public to use and staff to maintain. The new design promotes self-service, citizen engagement, and transparency while also enhancing County operations.
In May 2016, the Board of Supervisors approved the public website renovation project and the County, as part of such project, hired its first full time Web Administrator and contracted with a local design agency. The citizens of San Luis Obispo County, through multiple focus groups, made it very clear that they wanted to access public information and conduct business with the County online in a simple and intuitive way. From this directive, the project’s primary focus was to put the needs and interests of the people of SLO County. The new website includes effective ways to find information about the County’s more than 700 public services as well as the latest County news, documents, and public meetings.
Improved features include:
- Smart search feature to quickly connect users and County information
- Easy navigation to more than 700 services
- Portable design for desktops, laptops, mobile devices and tablets
- ADA compliance
- Improved tools to ease site maintenance and update content
- News pages
- Over 600 photos contributed from local photographers
- Language translation
At your service
Many public services offered by the County is described in detail, including information on what the service is, who can use it, what the fees are—if any, what the process is to use the service, and when/where it is available. A completely “service-oriented” architecture was built by the County’s web team so that services can be quickly found by topic and sub-topic. The County is the first public agency in California to use this faceted search capability to organize its website content. It’s now easier for County staff to maintain the pages Standardized templates made maintenance by departmental staff and ensure that content always stays current and valuable for the public.
The new County website helps people intuitively find what they’re looking for in a variety of ways. By using the “How can we help you?” section on the home page, people can find the most commonly used public services in just a few clicks. The top of every page also includes quick links to other commonly used areas of the site.
Before the website went live, the County invited members of the public to voluntarily test the new website design and provide feedback. These volunteers came from all industries and all walks of life. Based on their input, the County refined the design and created a better, easier way for people to connect citizens to the services and information they need.
Not Done Yet
Since launching the site in July 2017, the County has identified many ways to improve the site. Some of these changes have been made and many more are scheduled for the coming year. The goal is to always improve the website, so that it becomes more useful to the people of SLO County over time. Recent and future improvements include:
- Automatic website translation through Google Translate
- Enhanced keyword search result suggestions
- Upcoming public meeting notifications that appear at the top of the website before they start
- Improved Department / Division directory
- Upcoming and past election directory / search
- Property tax bill charge directory / search
- Committee / Meeting management
- Various mobile / tablet enhancements
- Encrypted delivery of content between server and browser
- Social Media Integration
The County is very proud of its new website and looks forward to ongoing public feedback and suggestions to keep it a winner for many years to come. If you would like to provide feedback, please contact the County's IT Department. Your feedback will be reviewed by County staff and may be included as a future enhancement or change.