EVERETT — The city of Everett launched its revamped website this week.
The new website, everettwa.gov, was designed and built by CivicPlus, a Manhattan, Kansas, company that specializes in municipal government websites and services.
The Everett City Council awarded CivicPlus a contract in August that included $79,000 in initial development costs and $12,600 per year for three years of maintenance and hosting. CivicPlus also has the contract for Snohomish County’s website.
City communications director Meghan Pembroke said the contract gives the city the opportunity to add new services as they become available and the technology improves in future years.
“Part of the contract is to do some revamping and redesign of the site,” she said.
One of the biggest improvements over the old site is the ability to interact with it on mobile devices, which a majority of visitors to the site now do, Pembroke said.
Other new features include the “Notify Me” function to sign up for email or text updates regarding specific programs or departments, the ability for individuals to sign in and customize the site with favorites, and an improved search function.
The city also is looking at adding more features, such as online bill payment, public discussion forums and other engagement tools in future updates, Pembroke said.
For the first time, the city now is able to analyze visitor traffic to see what people are viewing and using, and adjust content accordingly.
One much-ballyhooed element not present on the website is a new logo. The city ran into trouble after it held a logo contest last fall, and selected a logo that turned out to be similar to a private company’s existing logo.
The website just has the city’s name in a sans serif font in muted colors.
“That’s just a placeholder for a logo,” Pembroke said, adding that news about a new logo should be coming soon.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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