THE CITY OF SANTA CRUZ LAUNCHES NEW, USER-FRIENDLY WEBSITE 

SANTA CRUZ, CA— The City of Santa Cruz officially launched its new website this week incorporating a fresh look, improved navigation and new interactive tools.

Developed in partnership with the online government experts at Vision, the new site captures the spirit of the city and puts detailed government information at the fingertips of residents and visitors.

According to City Manager, Martín Bernal, “our website is the first impression many people have of our City. It also is the portal that allows community members to connect with local government from any location, at any time of the day or night. Our site is one of the most powerful tools we have to keep the public engaged and informed, which is why this redesign is integral to our overall community outreach efforts.”

Many key features of the new website can be accessed directly from the new dynamic homepage that includes a “How Do I” tab that takes community members directly to the information they need. Among the improved website features are:

• Navigation organization that is aligned with how community members would look for items.
• Consolidation of service functions into one place – e.g., reporting of items for action by the City; payments; licenses.
• Home page reorganized to most frequently accessed topics as per a year of usage analytics.
• Searchable, dynamic calendar of community meetings and events that can be filtered by department and easily added to personal Google, iPhone and other calendars.

“The City of Santa Cruz’s forward-thinking government has created a powerful website that not only caters directly to community members’ needs, but to the needs of business owners, developers, investors, elected officials and City employees,” said Ashley Fruechting, Vision’s senior director of marketing. “The new site engages the public, provides information that builds trust, and delivers information when, where and in whatever format community members want it.”