Morganton's new websites earn statewide recognition

The City of Morganton is again earning statewide recognition for its communications efforts. The City won an Excellence in Communications Award for its 2021 website redesign project during the annual North Carolina City & County Communicators (NC3C) conference in Greenville, NC, on April 28, 2022.

This year’s contest netted 111 award entries from 43 organizations. All award entries were judged by professional communicators from the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators. This is the City’s fourth year in a row earning at least one Excellence in Communications Award from NC3C.

“I am always grateful when the City is recognized for the hard work staff puts in each year to help our community keep its best face forward,” said Public Information Officer Ethan Smith. “This project was a long and necessary process that has paid off tremendously since we launched the websites last year. I am deeply grateful to the more than 60 employees who helped redesign and update all six City websites. We would not have been successful without their help and dedication.”

The City’s website redesign project began in January 2021, and saw all six City websites completely revamped, with designs and content updated simultaneously. The City partnered with Municode to complete the project, and paid for the project with CARES Act funding. The process, led by Public Information Officer Ethan Smith, involved more than 60 employees from every City department. These employees helped create the new designs of the websites, as well as update the content and implement new features, such as translation tools and fillable forms. The new websites also meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards.

Once designs for the websites were completed, content migration began in the summer of 2021. Then, a launch date was set for the middle of October. Only two weeks before the City’s new websites were set to launch, the old City websites, launched in 2015, all simultaneously crashed, and restoring backups of the old sites failed. Because of the hard work of the dedicated staff working on the new websites, the City was able to make the decision to launch all six websites two weeks early on October 4, 2021.

Since the launch of the new websites, traffic to all City websites has increased, and the City has received positive feedback on the intuitive navigation, aesthetically-pleasing designs, and updated content and features. Judges of the NC3C Excellence in Communications Awards contest praised how easy it is to use the new websites, and said they were impressed with how quickly the City pulled off a complete and simultaneous overhaul of six websites for a very reasonable cost. The City’s website redesign project earned second place in the website category of the Excellence in Communications Awards contest.

During the NC3C conference, Smith was also recognized for his service on the NC3C Board of Directors. Smith served as Secretary of the board from 2021-2022 after being elected by membership in 2021.

“We are so glad to see the efforts of our staff being recognized at the state level,” said City Manager Sally Sandy. “The City of Morganton has earned awards from NC3C each year Smith has served as our Public Information Officer, and we are glad to see his marketing and communications strategies earning the recognition they deserve. This particular project was truly a group effort, and it is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our City employees who care about serving our citizens.”