The City-County Communications and Marketing Association (3CMA), in its annual competition of who’s who in government communications, awarded the top Savvy Award to the City of Coral Gables’ www.coralgables.com for its overall website design in its Digital Interactive category. The award, which recognizes outstanding local government achievements in communications, public sector marketing and citizengovernment relationships, was presented during the 3CMA’s annual conference on Sept. 6 in Portland, OR. More than 40 entries from around the nation were received in the overall website category.
The City of Coral Gables launched its new website in February 2012. Judges’ were impressed with “the great photography and overall feel of this website… The website really does portray ‘The City Beautiful’ and does a good job of showcasing that to its website visitors.”
3CMA judges also loved the use of the sliding access icons across the bottom of the page, which gives the site a unique dimension rarely seen on other city government sites but still keeps the front page clean, effective, and easy to use.
The new www.CoralGables.com also features a comprehensive calendar of events, Spanish translation, and easier to find information about Coral Gables, Attractions, Doing Business, City Services and “I Want to…” links. Judges’ comments also noted the great use of subtle graphics and colors throughout the site.
The City of Coral Gables website, accessible 24/7, is a very popular source of online information for residents, visitors and businesses. Last year, coralgables.com received more than 5 million page visits. The previous website had been developed eight years ago and relied on programming to make changes, which was more cumbersome that the new Content Management System being used.
The new website was developed with the assistance of Vision Internet, an award-winning leader in government website development. The project took approximately one year to complete.
