Municipal Website Improvement Plan Approved

After receiving a less-than-satisfactory review of its municipal website in a recent statewide study, Cinnaminson unanimously approved a contract with township-based Networks Plus to overhaul the website at a reduced rate.

Township committee awarded a contract to Cinnaminson-based Networks Plus for only $4,500. Administrator Frank Locantore said the next lowest quote, among the handful he received, was for $9,000.

Networks Plus president Anne Caruso said as a local business, and a resident—she and her husband live in Palmyra—she wanted to offer the township the best price possible.

Chrysta Stever, the company’s website designer, along with Caruso, pitched the concept to committee prior to their vote. The presentation focused on two major ideas: user-friendliness and aesthetics.

The imagery and design of the website is critical to drawing visitors in, Stever said, showing committee a possible design that featured a prominent photo representing Cinnaminson, placed on the homepage, that would scroll automatically. Caruso gave committee some ideas for the types of images the township could use—Cinnaminson Day, for example.

“We do our very best to accurately represent each business or municipality,” said Stever. “We give each site an atmosphere you would get when you go to that place.”

However, as important as looks are, those considerations are trumped by ease-of-access, Stever stressed.

"It can look as pretty as you want it to, but if the citizens can’t find the information, it’s useless," she said. "When we say user-friendly, this means your average citizen can find the minutes, or a meeting time, with little to no problems."

In addition to the improved aesthetics and design, the new website would have a number of features absent from the existing one: the ability to post videos from committee meetings, online portals to pay municipal bills, links to other sites (i.e. sports clubs).

Cinnaminson’s current website was right near the bottom of Monmouth University’s recent study into the effectiveness of municipal websites: It was ranked 517 out of the 540 sites evaluated in the study.

(Check out the attached PDF to see the full results of the study.)

Committeeman Anthony Minniti joked, “We’ve got a low bar to clear here. If we get up to 300, that’s like a 200 percent jump … I can’t believe our site’s that bad.”

Networks Plus also designed and supports the municipal websites for Palmyra and Mansfield Township, which are ranked 102 and 166, respectively, in the Monmouth study. The company also handles IT for the Cinnaminson Police Department, and has designed websites for a number of local businesses.

Joking aside, Minniti echoed the feelings of the other members of committee, saying the update was “way overdue.”

In addition to the other improvements proposed by Networks Plus, he said the new site should have a page listing biographical and contact information for each of the committee members.

Caruso stressed that the township would be involved in the process throughout the entire design phase.

“It will not go live until you say, ‘Yep, this is exactly what we want,’” she said.

She told committee the new site could launch within a month.