Gold dotCOMM award for Welland’s redesigned website

As you read this, you’re on our redesigned website, which is what we’re celebrating. In this year’s dotCOMM Awards, presented by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals (AMCP), the City of Welland’s website redesign was recognized with a gold award in the Government Website category.

The dotCOMM Awards is an international competition honouring excellence in web creativity and digital communication. This competition is unique in that it acknowledges the pivotal role of creatives in shaping the dynamic web that is continually transforming how we market and communicate products and services. dotCOMM Awards’ categories are the core elements of the web’s evolving tools. Interactivity, content, design, social media, video, apps, blogs, and influencers are all important components of digital public relations, marketing, and advertising campaigns.

Judges are a diverse cross-section of experienced industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose creative talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose original work serves as a benchmark for others in the industry. This year, more than 2,500 entries were submitted from throughout the United States, Canada, and 32 other countries. In such a far-reaching field of submissions, this recognition is cause for celebratory reflection.

The City of Welland last redesigned its website in 2017. However, there have been significant changes in how people access and prefer information on mobile devices since then. As the City is experiencing rapid and unprecedented growth, it is essential to provide a website that meets the needs of our expanding and diversifying community.

In 2022, we formed a team to redesign our website. We carefully analyzed our site map and scrutinized hundreds of pages of content to determine how to make the user experience easier, more streamlined, and generally pleasing.

To garner a better understanding of what the public wanted to see in a new site, we provided a digital survey to our external users to help us ensure that our final product would meet the needs of those who frequently use our site.

From the survey, we discovered that:

• 35 per cent of respondents said they use the site once a week
• 50 per cent of respondents said they search for council information and news updates the most
• 91 per cent said the website was not visually appealing
• 83 per cent said navigation of the site was not easy

Based on the survey feedback, many users found it challenging to find the desired information due to the excessive number of clicks required. To address this issue, we sought input from our internal partners on revising and consolidating content where applicable.

As a team, we had a kickoff meeting to discuss our goals and objectives. We shared our observations and wishes before outlining our creative brief. We performed a thorough content audit and site mapping card shuffle, devised our visual and textual approach, and drafted a website writing style guide for all team members to reference. We met regularly to share ideas and ensure everyone was supported and working together to achieve our goals.

Overall, welland.ca has never looked better and we look forward to continuing to improve the site as we move along. And one of the coolest things about the project? It was done entirely in-house.