Each of our website projects includes reviewing the websites of similar businesses throughout the country. From this exercise we develop a list of sites that we particularly like or dislike. This is a good starting point to discuss with our client options for their new website.
We discovered the municipal websites referenced below during the research phase of building a new site for the village of Chatham, NY.
Taos, New Mexico
This active, colorful website has a clear mission: entice people to visit. The photos grab and keep your attention and the main navigational tabs clearly guide you into the rest of the site. www.taos.org
City of Mill Valley, CA
This site is geared toward the resident rather than the visitor, and this is an important distinction because it is crucial to understand who your audience is before you can begin to develop your own site. Mill Valley’s navigation clearly breaks down the relevant areas and the news and calendar sections keep the site looking fresh and up-to-date. www.cityofmillvalley.org
Durango, CO
The thing I like about this website is the color scheme. It does a good job conveying the outdoor attractions, the clear skies and rich green forests one expects to find in Colorado. The navigation is a bit disorderly: there are at least four navigation areas. For example the “Explore Durango” image in the upper right corner actually has its own navigation. www.durangogov.org
What an awesome website, the links don’t even work.
Hi Joseph,
The links should all be working now. Sorry about that, and thanks for taking the time to let us know.
Unfortunately this post is out of date now. For instance, the City of Key West has a new website that doesn’t have the text size adjustment feature we described. Of course, you can always zoom in and out using your browser.