Improvement plan
Your website probably doesn't need replacing
Seven steps council web teams use to fix the pages residents phone about, and keep them fixed.
A new website every four years, and the same complaint
Many councils change their website platform about every four years. The trigger is usually the same: the contact centre reports more calls from residents who say "I started on the website but got confused." A new site launches, residents learn a new layout, and four years later the same complaint comes back.
In my experience, most of those problems could have been fixed on the site you already have. What's missing isn't a platform. It's a habit of finding out where residents get stuck and fixing it, one task at a time.
A site that isn't looked after slowly loses value: the navigation gets confusing, accessibility slips, bugs don't get fixed. Someone asks "do we need a new website?" and everyone gets busy with a rebuild. The new look and features arrive, but the content moves across almost as it was, because time ran out. It feels better; for residents, little has changed. With a habit of improvement, the site gets better for residents every month instead.
That's why I'd rather upcycle a website than rebuild it.
"Websites don't shout. They quietly age in the background, and while no one is looking, things stop working."
Fix guides tell you what to fix. This plan is how your team works.
Our monthly checks and fix guides show what is wrong on a page today. The improvement plan is the part that lasts: how your team picks what to work on, listens to residents and makes time to improve every week.
A website is like a veg garden. If all your team can do is add content, that's just watering. Soon nobody can find the vegetables.
Seven steps, one resident task at a time
Why it works
I have built and improved websites for over twenty years, including five years delivering digital change for the public sector. This isn't software, a chat widget or a new platform. It's a way to organise your team's time so the work you put in shows up for residents.
Make every visit count. AI answers in search are already taking clicks away from websites; one industry analysis reports organic traffic falls of 20% to 60%. With fewer residents arriving, each visit has to finish the task.
The monthly checks behind the leaderboard grew out of the same idea: simulate a resident, see where they get stuck, tell the team what to fix. Read how they started.
Try this week
Write down the things residents say bug them about the website. Not what bugs your team: what residents say. Ask your contact centre to add theirs. That list is where your plan starts.
Pick one task with me
In 30 minutes we can choose the resident task to start with and where residents are giving up. Or email david@digitaljourneycoach.com.
Book a 30 minute call