Website Design Services

The vendor is required to provide in web design services especially partnering with municipalities and implementation of state-of-the-art content management system (CMS) software.
- The new website will be contemporary, intuitive, multi-modal, and accessible.
- The successful vendor will provide the city with an innovative, cutting-edge, information-ready, turn-key website and intuitive, user-friendly, and robust CMS that includes a full suite of web-based tools.
• Website design and development: create a new, visually appealing, and functional website that meets the municipality's branding and accessibility needs. 
• Content migration and rewriting: assist with transferring content from the current site to the new one, including rewriting outdated or unclear content to improve readability and accessibility. 
• Third-party integrations: integrate existing services such as online payments, GIS, permit tracking, and other tools as needed. 
• Search functionality, calendars, alerts, directories: implement a robust internal search engine, community calendar, alert systems, and staff or department directories. 
• Emergency notifications and multilingual support: provide tools for urgent notifications and support for multiple languages to ensure inclusiveness. 
• Hosting (if applicable) and post-launch maintenance: propose hosting solutions and outline maintenance options post-launch including updates, monitoring, and bug fixes.
- Technical requirements
• Mobile responsiveness: website must function well on all devices including smartphones and tablets. 
• ADA compliance: adhere to WCAG 2.1 aa standards. 
• Preferred CMS or platform: indicate CMS and justify recommendation. 
• Browser compatibility SSL performance: ensure compatibility with all major browsers and optimal loading speeds. 
• Security, backups, and privacy: include SSL certificates, security best practices, backup strategies, and compliance with data privacy laws.
- Design requirements
• Branding guidelines SSL visual standards: align design with municipal branding and community identity. 
• Accessibility in design: ensure intuitive navigation, readability, and user-focused layout. 
• Preferred aesthetics or reference sites: vendors should be able to interpret and incorporate inspiration from example websites. 
• Custom vs. template-based design options: clarify design approach and explain pros and cons.
- Content requirements 
• Content migration and rewriting responsibility: specify who will handle content transfer and rewriting. 
• Estimated number of pages: the current website is approximately 150 pages, the new website should be geared toward streamlining, organizing and downsizing the number of pages required. 
• Special formatting needs: note any special layouts such as FAQs, permit applications, or service directories.
- CMS requirements
• CMS platform preference
o Indicate whether your recommended CMS is open-source (e.g., WordPress, Drupal, Joomla) or proprietary.
o If recommending a proprietary system, clearly explain:
▪ Ownership and access rights
▪ Licensing or ongoing subscription fees
▪ Portability and vendor independence
• Usability for non-technical staff
o The ease of managing content, uploading media, and editing pages.
o Preference for WYSIWYG or visual editors.
• Content workflows and role-based permissions
o Support for user roles (creator, editor, admin)
o Customizable permissions and content approval workflows
• Extensibility and custom modules
o Ability to integrate or build custom modules and plug-ins
o Future scalability and ease of enhancement
• Multilingual and accessibility support
o Multilingual capabilities and accessibility compliance
• SEO and analytics
o SEO tools and analytics integration (e.g., google analytics)
• Maintenance and updates
o How updates are managed and who is responsible post-launch
• Data portability and vendor independence
o Ability to export and migrate content in the future
- SEO optimization
• SEO strategy during content migration: ensure that content migration does not result in broken links, loss of metadata, or a decline in search engine rankings. redirect strategies should be used to maintain SEO equity. 
• Keyword optimization and readability: rewritten content should incorporate commonly searched keywords and phrases relevant to municipal services. 
• Metadata and structured content: page titles, descriptions, and header tags should be applied consistently to aid search engine indexing. 
• Technical optimization: ensure optimized load times, mobile usability, and proper html markup. 
• SEO best practices training: staff should be trained on how to create SEO-friendly content and use CMS tools to maintain optimization post-launch.
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: July 16, 2025