PRES 1 - Audit Findings of WebsitesCity of Federal Way
Auxiliary Websites Audit
Executive Overview
April 24, 2024
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Branding I Advertising Strategic Communications
Now Do L
63 =6
Welcome ome
- t-7.V Federal Way, Ccnt ere on Opportunity!
4111111110,.
Mayor Jim Ferrell delivered
his State of the City Address
on Thursday, February 15!
ra WAICH BON
YouTube
How Do I...
'A, Fed-.Iwn I Resnurm I N— I C I Cwo l
orr or
Federal Way
Centered wr Oppwrumfy
ABOUT GOVERNMENT BUSINESS COMMUNITY SERVICES POLICE
® a ® in a
8os' Ca lw L«s nay
Cngrynr U.-r Yu— %wTPa{cy tnobw�N..wa..
5 Auxiliary Websites +
• Brand/Image
• Function
DUMAS BAY
VISIT
FEDERAL
WAY
Shop Local I Eat
SHOP LOCAL COMMUNITY
CENTER
Engage Federal Way -
Online Public
Participation
Platform
Comprehensive Plan
Periodic Update
shape
ire of
Way
ENGAGE
FEDERAL
WAY
ECONOMIC
DEVELOP-
MENT PAGE
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
What did we our audit include?
DUMAS
VISIT
SHOP
COMMUNITY
ENGAGE
ECONOMIC
BAY
FEDERAL
LOCAL
CENTER
FEDERAL
DEVELOP -
WAY
WAY
M E NT PAG E
Visual
Branding
X
X
X
X
X
Brand
X
X
X
X
Messaging
User
X
X
X
X
Experience
Staff
X
X
X
X
X
X
Experience
Analytics
GA/SEO
X
X
X
Comparative
Analysis
X
X
X
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Audit Highlights: Branding
All sites should adopt some degree of the city website's
design:
• Dumas Bay - Needs light branding. Having it's own brand
provides some exclusiveness for marketing benefit.
• Visit Federal Way - Needs light branding. Visitors don't
want institutional look.
• Shop Local - Needs stronger branding. People should
know this is a city service.
• Community Center - Needs stronger branding. People
should know this is a city service.
• Engage Federal Way-Thiswebsite's look should replicate
the city's for a seamless user experience.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Audit Highlights: User Experience
• All sites have recommendations that will improve them.
• Two sites need to be significantly improved:
Shoplocalfedway.com Needs:
VisitFW.org Needs:
• Content to attract shoppers to • Redesign
g
what they want as well as need
• Working search and calendar
• Online shopping capability functions
• A curated listings of businesses • Mobile version
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Shoplocalfedway.com
740 people visit this site each month
reauarants
Listings
f;L LL}LL1"Lg & Ttk 3r: V I LC S
dull Ft�rul
No#F i n g found
SLvey, LrUL nww-d mdwJ,edyud+ LI; L_rrra. md,& my mw, wM.w sunee Lwrerev kYpwwdi
pop
Local
� red Way.com
--Shop local. Eat local_
j€@-Ap Fpd�raJ way -5trong
Rayo's rowing LtC-
Address :ir : }. Phora Frderal Way
Shop
Local
Fcd Way.com
—chap focal. Eat Jbear_
K�op I:Lbd@ra) way Strom
LOG Fli jos Del R-ey
Addrrv..
aaX
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
VisitFW.org
1,300 people visit this site each month
f,
NoN.f glad �Wt.?
S
dlMwadkW erp+s
ke
Acce�a &ho�lr.,r�
' � Vylwn km�nyuw 6wx�np,�cxrymsx'npiwtd.
nccns, i'a+�Yr yq.�, and pJ;u�.+� poq�xnia<uccao
• dw'Nue CeMkr �anr/ on Ice, :��mse Y1u�IE lire, Lk Kent.
In[e•n•�idal Fc�[.e1 aed s Y�f W.e cv yxrx Fm dl twee
dec Km way ee•e
�, Rnq � rx.jr.i Mrn nq� p1 MvA G—
P7— R Yg UR STA dN[ CpRlAD! 1 EYP:'JRE ]
V
Search By ;
Keyword._ Asian Restaurants V I Federal Way, Washington
¢ previous 1 -8 of217 Go to page 1 r
Where to Eat
3 Ts & More Mexican
Restaurant
27400 Paafic Hwy
Federal Way, WA,98003
More Details
85T Bakery Cate
31503 Pacific Hwy S
Federal Way, WA,99003
More Details
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Audit Highlights: Website Management
• Multiple departments manage websites with different
levels of sophistication and maintenance
• ALL websites are front doors to the city and reflect on
Federal Way
• Consistent branding and user experience enhance city's
image
• Best practice is to have one brand authority for the city
• Could bean individual or a committee
• Creates a framework for developing more unified image
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Audit Highlights: SEO Performance
The older sites lag in terms of performance. Issues ranged
from slow -loading pages, which impact Search rankings, to
the lack of a mobile -friendly tourism website.
• Some of the newer sites can improve their SEO by adding
content based on keywords and creating meta descriptions
for more pages.
• The oldest sites have significant function issues that will
have to be addressed before SEO can be improved.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Thank you! Questions?
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
City of Federal Way
Auxiliary Webs*Ites Audit
March 2024
Co me nts
P. 3
Situation and Branding Reference
P. 5
Process
P. 6
Executive Summary
P. 7
Analysis and Recommendations for www. dumasbaycentre.com
P. 14
Analysis and Recommendations www.visitFW.org
P. 25
Analysis and Recommendations www.shol2localfedway.com
P. 33
Analysis and Recommendations www.itallhal2penshere.org
P. 38
Analysis and Recommendations www.engagefw.com
P. 41
Analysis and Recommendations www.cityoffederalway.com/content/economic-development
P. 47
Cost Estimates
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Situation
Building a Strong Brand: Consistency and User Experience
A brand is the signal you put out to the world through messaging, visuals and actions. Consistently applied, it builds
an image that is authentic, relevant to your audience and unique to your city.
Federal Way has the opportunity to build a stronger brand through its websites. With the new municipal website
launched, the city has the opportunity to improve several auxiliary sites that provide residents with information while
helping attract new businesses, residents and visitors to the city. These auxiliary sites are doorways for people seeking
the best of Federal Way —from places to eat to where to shop to how to get involved.
They are a chance for the city to shine.
To achieve that goal, the websites should carry city branding and function well. In the following pages, we review each
website, highlight our observations and make recommendations.
Our review included websites or the webpages for:
• Dumas Bay Centre
• Visit Federal Way
• Shop Local Federal Way
• Federal Way Community Center (branding only)
• Engage Federal Way
• City of Federal Way Economic Development Pages (content only)
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
New visual branding reference
The city website provides an opportunity to create a new family look for all websites associated with the city. Design elements
of the new sight include:
Blue on blue
The wave pattern
Icon style
Process
The websites were evaluated for the following elements, with a few exceptions. The economic development pages were
reviewed for content only, as the new design had already been applied. Itallhappenshere.org was reviewed for branding only,
as they had recently revised their website. We did not review analytics for EngageFW.com as it does not have Google
Analytics applied to it.
The websites were reviewed for:
• Current graphic design with a view to establishing a family look on the websites
• Brand -related content: Does the website share that this is a service of the City of Federal Way?
• User experience, especially for the shopping and tourism sites
• Comments by the website's staff "owner" about its usability and branding
• Analytics for site functionality and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Comparative analysis for the economic development pages and tourism site
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Executive Summary
The following pages provide insights into and recommendations for each website. Key takeaways from the audit include:
Branding. The new city website creates the opportunity to present a more unified look with its logo, colors and wave design.
All sites should adopt some degree of the city website's design to help brand them as part of the city of Federal Way. We have
outlined the level of brand adoption and our rationale in the following pages. From least to most rebranding needed, we
ranked the sites as follows: Dumas Bay Centre, Visit Federal Way, Federal Way Community Center/Shop Local Federal Way
(tied), and Engage Federal Way (The last site should look the most like the city website).
User Experience. All sites have general design and user experience recommendations that will improve them while moving
them closer to the city website look. Two sites need to be significantly updated and improved in function and design:
• Shoplocalfedway.com would be much more helpful to shoppers and businesses if moved to a platform that allows for more
content and online shopping. This is becoming the industry standard.
• VisitFW.org needs new design and content to showcase Federal Way as an appealing destination. Some of its key functions,
such as the events calendar, are broken.
Website management. Multiple departments manage the websites reviewed and present very different levels of
sophistication and ongoing maintenance. Two websites are new or relatively new, and staff owners are pleased with their sites
but are open to city branding opportunities. The economic development pages of the new city website are currently under
development, and we discuss content further in this document. The Shop, Visit and Engage websites have not benefited from
the same investment of time or resources. These are all front doors to the city. What they look like and how they function
reflects on Federal Way. This audit is the first step in elevating this image. Best practice is to have one brand authority for the
city. That could be an individual staff member or a committee of communication/marketing, IT and other leaders. This creates
a framework for developing a more unified image.
SEO performance. The older sites lag in terms of performance. Issues ranged from slow -loading pages, which impact Search
page rankings, to the lack of a mobile -friendly tourism website.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
1'-- 10- 'Ago
DumasBayCenfrexom
Review and Recommendations
BE
Current Dumas Bay Centre Design
Homepage on the desktop
Homepage on mobile
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Dumas Bay Centre Brand Review
Observations:
• There is no City of Federal Way logo or mention of the city on the home page or footer. The city is mentioned on the
"About" page.
• The dark and light blues match the city site well, while the dark green feels exclusive to Dumas Bay Centre.
• The navigation and site map are straightforward and user-friendly.
• The site is fairly new. The staff owner is pleased with its performance but is open to branding suggestions.
• Of all the sites, the Dumas Bay Centre website has the most reason to depart from the city website look. While we want to
acknowledge city ownership, Dumas Bay Centre sets itself apart as a hidden gem. Maintaining its own brand helps support
that image.
Recommendations for simple design and content changes to help align with the city's new website
• Replace the footer with the wave footer from the city's new site. Include the city logo. Ensure the blue colors match and use
white type for ease of reading.
• Consider changing the first sentence on the home page to identify the facility as a city venue.
Welcome to Dumas Bay.! A spectacular natural setting, comfortable accommodations and reasonable rates make Dumas
Bay Centre, a favorite meeting and special events venue owned and operated by the City of Federal Way.
• If one does not already exist, create a set of graphics standards for the site to guide decisions as new content is added.
General recommendations on the next page can strengthen the site as well as help align it with the city site.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Dumas Bay Centre Brand Review
Observations:
• There is no City of Federal Way logo or mention of the city on the home page or footer. The city is mentioned on the
"About" page.
• The dark and light blues match the city site well, while the dark green feels exclusive to Dumas Bay Centre.
• The navigation and site map are straightforward and user-friendly.
• The site is fairly new. The staff owner is pleased with its performance but is open to branding suggestions.
• Of all the sites, the Dumas Bay Centre website has the most reason to depart from the city website look. While we want to
acknowledge city ownership, Dumas Bay Centre sets itself apart as a hidden gem. Maintaining its own brand helps support
that image.
Recommendations for simple design and content changes to help align with the city's new website
• Replace the footer with the wave footer from the city's new site. Include the city logo. Ensure the blue colors match and use
white type for ease of reading.
• Consider changing the first sentence on the home page to identify the facility as a city venue.
Welcome to Dumas Bay.! A spectacular natural setting, comfortable accommodations and reasonable rates make Dumas
Bay Centre, a favorite meeting and special events venue owned and operated by the City of Federal Way.
• If one does not already exist, create a set of graphics standards for the site to guide decisions as new content is added.
General recommendations on the next page can strengthen the site as well as help align it with the city site.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Dumas Bay Centre Design and Content Review
General design/UX suggestions:
We understand this is a new site but as you make updates, you may want to consider the following:
• Fix the typo "Learn More Abour Overnight Lodging" on the "Our Spaces" page.
• Make text links distinguishable by using something other than color, such as underlining or font -weight, to make the links
easier to see.
• Consider showcasing the aerial video (on "About") on the homepage as it is a strong piece of visual marketing.
• Update the copyright in the footer to 2024.
• Consider using the fonts and font styling of the city site.
• Consider adding more white space above and below sections of text.
• Consider left -aligning paragraphs of text.
• There are two very similar medium blues are used for headlines and subheads. Consider making them both the same or
clearly intentionally different (#137095 and #0067a1).
• Consider adding a language selector to increase accessibility.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Dumas Bay Centre SEO Recommendations
Observations:
• Technical notes:
o SEMRush site health score is 93% (in the top 10% of the most optimized websites).
o Crawlability score is 100% (great).
o Indexability score low and could be improved by creating meta descriptions for all pages (11 currently missing).
o Core Web Vitals score is 0% due to long page loading times. A good Largest Contentful Paint (LPC) score is 2.5
seconds or less. Currently, the home page shows an LPC score of 9.16 seconds. That is what SEMRush reports. In
practice, the site seems to load more quickly. We recommend checking page speed load times.
o Internal linking is good with a page crawl depth of no more than two clicks for the user.
• Content:
o The keyword search showed value in adding separate pages for the center as a wedding venue and a theater.
o The pages are text -light. Adding more information can improve your SEO score.
SEO Recommendations:
• Keyword low -hanging fruit. These are common key phrases that people are searching and for which there is relatively low
competition. By adding separate pages with content specific to these topics, you will increase your organic SEO and
attract more people to the site. When adding these pages use these as the primary keyword phrases in your URL, title, H1
tag, first sentence and last sentence.
o Wedding Venue
o Knutzon Family Theater
• Create meta descriptions for all pages.
• Check and resolve underlying causes for slow page loading time.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Dumas Bay Centre Analytics
Review of five months of Google Analytics (Aug. 1 - Dec. 31)
Average users
User Stickiness DAU/MAU
User Acquisition
Average
Views per User
per month
Daily active users divided by monthly
Engagement
# pages viewed per
active users. Higher ratios suggest
Time
session
good engagement and user retention
840
3.5% (Low, but that may be expected
54% organic search, 36%
direct, 7% referral, 2%
27 seconds
1.8
for this type of website.)
organic social
+ Views Users Views per user Average engagementtime Event count
Top Pages------------------------------------------------------------- ------
Allevenvents
12.225
4,201
100% of tota l
100% of tota l
1 Dumas Bay Centre
4,807
3,452
2 Rental Spaces Overview - Dumas Bay Centre
2,443
1,581
3 Lodging At Dumas Bay Centre - Dumas Bay Centre
1,409
1,009
4 About Dumas Bay Centre - Dumas Bay Centre
844
603
5 Rental Inquiry - Dumas Bay Centre
692
552
6 Catering Menus - Dumas Bay Centre
679
531
7 Contact us - Dumas Bay Centre
334
268
B Retreats At Dumas Bay - Dumas Bay Centre
316
244
9 Dumas Bay Centre Gallery - Dumas Bay Centre
288
238
10 Home - Dumas Bay Centre
155
131
User Demographics
Female: 63.9% 1 Male: 36.1 %
The age group of 25-44 makes up about half of visitors with identifiable ages.
City
Users
Seattle
1.1 K
Federal Way
331
Tacoma
214
Kent
82
Auburn
80
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
2.91
tm 24s
32.293
Avg 0%
Avg 0 %
100% of total
1-39
26s
16,051
1-55
58s
5,256
1.4D
52s
2,972
1-40
308
1,804
1.25
1 m 16s
1,366
1.28
54s
1,412
1-25
238
785
1.30
20s
737
1-21
44s
581
1.18
22s
529
Dumas Bay
Centre Analytics
,1 Analytics
http:lMrwvv.dumasbaycentre....
Q-U—.
3
Reports snapshot
r-w-P t L
—1-„ Aup 1- Dec 31, 2023
W HERE DO YOUR NEW USERS COME FROM}
"A1 ARE YOUR TOP "UPAIGNS?
Vsvr Herry M Aveape&Vmjj tU*
(D
Tpta]eev (D
N!MAa!i by FMuM' dot" chv W91dW-
38waIwby
®.
4.2K 4.2K lm 24s
$0.00
s«ua d.r.n�rNwryEoy-
s;s—.yitt U i CHnxx_
SEES—
'v
orvancaercn
OlpxFC Seen:N
DSK
OFee
I-aN
x
ok.cl
R4lxral
3a0
FHlerral .
arwac gaEiEl
t=t
arvencs«xl'
uawNrHd
r�
.,
=sc
2, ].iK
tRera uav aequlalden �
Vew Ve![Ie acq.Iisitia+ i
HOW ARE
ACTIVE USERS TRENDING?
HOW WELL 00 YOU RETAIN YOUR USERS?
Uaen-byC—vy.
® -
Iperaedit—,ti—
UNWR-E+HFJ mNerE
® -
0 attd on drvice eora
oily
f'OUNIA,
USERS
ISK —0OA1s
w'wN0 WEWI W jig W-3 wpka
wpet5
.*
hired Stags
r}ON
6
6y5
I.'�.
•IOArs
1N
AN Um.
OLe f?-Oec 2i
Two% 7..7T. 1.$% 0^ o.6x
---�
a'n
a sy�
GHiR
I'f
Oec?A- n
-ow�:
y
r 0.
IreIEN
oernanr
i�
'+
61 OAT
sca 24
Dac 31 -Jan6
or
0
/t
Inds
13
Jen7-Jan 13
-
IAremdxmywn
1.
JEn 14-JmsO
Jan Pl-Je�2T
., Jr, .-ny 1«
rfew COu0leiea '1
4XMkL mNrq.la�:�
Vlew nlentl[n 3
WP-11 PAccs ANU•Dt 1-ME t.E111" Uua.vRwa+
EV Ex 151
w 11Ar A. YDUR 1 UP G.RYLNa.unal
WHAT ARE TOUR TOP 4E LUNG FMOMOM
FIOW UUES AV Iivi I V ON YOU R P CAI FURxs c OM PAet7
YieHS by Mp li kkrglFCeeeeI M
®
EseOl CIXred OrE Mil M"
0 .
Cp>r!0!f�0t!F Dy Enal>!EnMle ® y
!"p.w0Awbv ® -
C�H v=I- by Fwffpn
(a -
Hmmn�mr
AxO xCaEEH CEASB
YIEwS
EYEHT HAVE
EVERT cOUxi
- AIaE cOHV FRainHS
iTFU HAVE
ITFMRPUacHA.-
ovmrlaq'Ceetre
42K
la[
Ncdmaav hbl2
HodatawaiEDla
Rend Sparesarer.ie.r Duman Be..
YAK
HFa-Hro( ww
10N
LRQpEg At Oumw eay CimEe -Oum.
111c
PewN�agrt
S.G(
(N.d.—MID11.
r
Aaw[vunw 6ry Campo-vumaE 6..
844
orwvMN
42R
Regal 1M.ky- 0— ear O Mrc
M
nk-tlowl6erl
M6
carelvp Meow-DumE: Rayrxnvr
a7awkss
C lacr uE-Duran eay Centre
SM
11
A
viewpageseM ecreana
-j
vldr
-o,cE 4
Y•ew com—k— 3
Vlewi[ema 4
Vlewtachdeq:N 4
v 2024 GoogN f AnelyNcs hm 17— of Service I Prly y Pdlcy I p] Sod [EEdbECk
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
V*ls*ItFW.org
Review and Recommendations
[us
Federal Way
dilashirtgtors FEDERAL WAY SEE & 00 STAY DINE SHOP EVENTS YOUR TRIP us
ON,.
•
[=mmmmm��:
-Major FVFNTS << D
MOMS,Ea
Er Lodging
L
w
. � _ 11, Or_- i�
11�
UA4e1Pe&d 4
Explore the World in One Easy Stop .
C��I ir�r:ly !o• rrJ.J r i.li irN irri r•rv:x: 13R a�rla•n Ivry �.x Q..r 1 T cwanrca
renerlyd n glcbaiA�s.attie grort wnn. and at �xlv n.qc-uwny�n6, ax �� .
nn�ry half lFc PrK�. t OV
n r (o o 0.
�IIhC•. 1
:.-� EYEMS TIi1HG8ro DO PLACESro SLAT RESIlWPAHIS PLRPYWPTWP
J} —
f _
Surmjra
® . j .. "'..rim .. � �'�' � a-•,"'°- '�:
Tourism websites evoke emotion through quality
imagery and storytelling. They curate an
experience rather than simply provide a directory.
oRE W14so�`
�A
�'►rL
V
Visit Federal Way Brand Review
Observations:
• There needs to be a mobile version of this site; this is essential for tourism.
• Overall, the design is outdated, and the site does not appear to be regularly maintained.
• There are several functions broken on this site, including the major events box on the homepage, the events calendar, the search
bar on the directory pages and the Google Maps plugin on directory pages.
• More than 10 fonts are used throughout the website, which gives it a disjointed look.
• Boxes on the homepage are placed haphazardly.
• Photos do not do a good job of selling Federal Way as a destination.
• The staff owner feels the site requires significant changes and we agree.
• Visit Federal Way should provide inspirational images and information while picking up the branding from the city site.
Recommendations for simple design and content changes to help align with the city's new website
The current site does not present Federal Way well we recommend creating a new site or complete refresh of the existing site.
We have outlined specifics on the following pages For cohesive branding, we suggest-
• Use the fonts and font styling of the city site.
• Use the new city site wave footer.
• Use the header design of the city site or a modified version of this header.
• Incorporate icons in the same style/color as the city site to represent different activity categories.
General recommendations on the next page outline upgrades beyond branding for this website.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Visit Federal Way Design/User Experience Review
General design/UX recommendations:
The following recommendations would likely be more effectively implemented in a completely new website.
• There should be no more than two to three fonts used throughout the site, and they should be used consistently.
• Feature large photography wherever possible, as vacation destination selection leans heavily on visual inspiration.
• Dedicate whole sections to a single message or purpose rather than using sidebars that distract and dilute.
• Utilize itineraries, blogs, user -generated content, etc. to tell stories and showcase the destination.
• Keep crawl depth to no more than two to three clicks deep. (You shouldn't have to click more than three times to get to
your desired information.)
• Implement a simpler, cleaner, more up-to-date design.
• Fix broken links, e.g. Seattle Mariners link on the events calendar.
• Ensure all images and actionable graphics have alternative text for accessibility and SEO.
• White text on light blue in the header, gray text in the lower footer, and multiple other instances throughout the site do
not pass color contrast standards for accessibility. Using white text on dark blue is an example of good contrast.
• Use reversed versions of the logos in the upper footer and lay them out in a grid.
• Copyright in the footer should be updated to 2024.
• Consider adding a language selector to increase accessibility.
Mobile:
• There needs to be a mobile -friendly version of the site, as mobile makes up nearly 60% of global traffic.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Visit Federal Way Content Review
We reviewed the content of the tourism page from a visitor's standpoint and as compared to competing destination websites.
Homepage
• Add events to the calendar.
• Reduce the copy on the Navigation bar. For example, "Places to Stay" can just be "Stay," "Dine," and so forth.
• On the navigation, consider consolidating "Places to Shop" under "See & Do."
About Federal Way
• Consider deleting this altogether, the homepage should promote Federal Way and tell visitors what they need to know
about the destination.
• Remove the JAC information as it is not directed to visitors.
Things to See & Do
• Consider updating your listing plug-in, listings are unattractive, the search categories are convoluted, and the search bar
doesn't work.
• Use good quality local photography for the hero image.
Places to Stay
• The search function does not appear to work, and the listings could use more content. Dash Point State Park, for example is
listed as a place to stay yet does not mention camping.
Where to Dine
• Consider renaming to "Dine."
• The search function does not work.
• Images are not cropped to the appropriate size.
• Too many listings and the alphabetical order hinder the user experience if you are unfamiliar with the options in Federal
Way. Consider putting dining options into categories sorted by cuisine or city area.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Visit Federal Way Content Review
Plan Your Trip
Put more focus on itineraries and feature images of people doing the suggested activities. In our experience we've found
itineraries by activities category seem to perform better than itineraries listed by the number of days people are planning on
staying. Creating the itineraries by an activity theme allows visitors to explore what they are interested in.
Local Events Page
• Rename navigation to "Events" and add events - no events are currently listed.
• It is okay to include nearby major sports teams in an itinerary as a nearby option. However, the Mariners, Seahawks and
Sounders schedules should not be listed on your events calendar as they do not have events in Federal Way.
• There are too many category options on the events search. Pare it down to categories that people who are unfamiliar with
the area might understand. "The Commons" is not a good category, for example, as people from out of town do not know
it is the local shopping mall.
Training
• Delete this page; it isn't of interest to visitors and is out of date.
News
• Consider a media page instead and explore better placement on your sitemap. See https://visitkent.com/media/ as an
example.
Gallery
• Consider deleting this page as it uses a lot of memory and slows down the site. It would be better to incorporate more
quality images on the main pages where they will be seen.
Footer
• Partners listed on the footer need to be organized and logos need to be updated.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Visit Federal Way SEO Recommendations
SEO Observations and Recommendations
• Keyword low -hanging fruit:
These are common key phrases that people are searching for and for which there is relatively low competition. In many
cases, you have content on these topics, but it takes three to four clicks to reach it. Add content with the following key
search terms or reduce the crawl depth of the information you do have to bring more people to the site.
o Steel Lake; Steel Lake Federal Way
o Federal Way Community Center
o Weyerhaeuser Garden
o Best breakfast in Federal Way
o Bonsai Museum Washington state
• Technical notes:
o SEMRush site health score is 65% (below average).
o Crawlability score is 83%. The site has a significant number of non-indexable pages. (If a search engine can't crawl
each page, it won't be able to deliver it in a search request.)
o Indexability score is low and could be improved by creating meta descriptions for all pages (1 1 currently missing).
o Core Web Vitals score is 0% due to long page -loading times. A good Largest Contentful Paint (LPC) score is 2.5
seconds or less. Currently, the home page shows an LPC score of 45.89 seconds. That is what SEMRush reports. In
practice, parts of the site appear to load more quickly, but elements of the page lag.
o Internal linking score is average, with a significant number of broken external links. 9% of the pages have a crawl
depth of 4+ clicks to arrive at the page. The ideal is no more than 2-3 clicks.
• Site architecture:
• Information on some of the most important attractions is text -light and has a deep crawl depth. Adding more
information and reducing the crawl depth can improve your SEO score. This is due to the architecture of the site
and the way the directory is set up, so making changes will likely require a change in site architecture and a new
directory plug-in.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Visit Federal Way Analytics
Review of five months of analytics (Auq. 1 - Dec. 31)
Average users per month
User Stickiness DAU/MAU
User Acquisition
Average Engagement
Views per User
Higher ratios suggest good
Time
# pages viewed per
engagement and user retention
session
1,300
3.5% (Low)
82% organic
search
27 seconds
1.8
Top Pages
1 Directory Overview I Federal Way Tourism
2 Redondo Beach I Federal Way Tourism
3 Your guide to Dining, Lodging & Adventure in Federal Way I Federal Way Tourism
4 Events Calendar I Federal Way Tourism
5 Steel Lake Park & Family Funland I Federal Way Tourism
6 Celebration Park Sports Complex I Federal Way Tourism
7 About Us I Federal Way Tourism
8 Weyerhaeuser/King County Aquatic Center I Federal Way Tourism
9 Fall Foliage Festival 20231 Federal Way Tourism
10 West Hylebos Wetlands Park I Federal Way Tourism
+ 4 Views Users Views per user Average engagement time Eventcount
- --- ---- - - - - -------•---•---
Allevents -
11,733
6,534
1.00
279
43,082
100% of total
100% of total
Avg 4%
Avg D%
100% of total
2,301
791
2.91
41 s
6,746
1,567
1,282
1.22
9s
6,701
1,259
947
1.33
15s
4,301
1,236
886
1.40
40s
4,807
722
612
1.18
17s
3,077
404
340
1.19
15s
1,758
345
243
1.42
28s
1,074
241
213
1.13
11s
1,074
196
141
1.32
28s
690
154
132
1.17
14s
655
User Demographics
The site does not have enough traffic yet for GA to provide gender, age or user interest information. It does provide the top users by city
with the following being the top five.
City
Users
Seattle
1.9K
Federal Way
581
Tacoma
245
Auburn
196
Kent
188
Portland
62
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Visit Federal Way Analytics
Ecano-n c OcveA pme•
.11 Artalytics vi itMorg
Reports snapshot
C-t—Pon
tuuw-� Rup 1- peC 31, 7073
WHERE 00 YWR HEw USERS COME FROM? WHAT ARE YOUR TOP CAMDARC HST
Wars NOwusers Average ergapemeM time® TOmlrerarue0 Newuea'R by Flmt uFer primary chemal 0—p i0efau rhamel CyWp7- 0, 8auiom-by Q .
6.5K 6.5K 27S $0.00 Seaaimprlmarychmnelgroup_.
SESSION PRIMAkOk5
5^_ OrpeiNc saxch CFgW :Search am
10.1 greet asR
peers
RaferMt 70
Refercal I imeesgie6 12
s ffig. [Seeal .Og.eseanl 4
R fK
o• a1
Ylew user acgwsltlm i Yiew traffic aoquldam �
HOW ARF ACTIVE USERS TREH WNW WHICH PACES AHO SC ACE HS DE T FIFE MOST VIEWS? WHAT ARE YOUR TOP EVE HY87
Ukas+OY ca}: War activity ever time ® Vieweby Pepetitle end_atreeP emea ® Ever EWetby Evertp" 0-
PA" DIF1 FA !)SORFfW _ VIEWS EVENT RAMF FVFHT 00"T
HMedsfake 621K M5 Osectwf O—iml FFderal ... 13K Mgr-„ W. lac
•y
oena0a 55 . i DA•s Raomoo Beach l Ftderal wa._ 1.15K acrRll AK
, DM•� meA 2v ' 214 veer vudm an,mnq Ems.. 1.aK erpepemeM yeK t r �^• 20 Ewnla CakndarlFNenlwa_ 1.21c Lewiv,lalan "3K
Nwp Lw 25 is 46 S[etl Lake Park 3Famlb Fun_ ITa hrM_,bh '51K
or
qp -�:�
LbutiK 21 OelN,M1 nPurk Spam Lam_ WI dick 1.9K
IRreE 17
Ahaul ual FedFrd war TturL. 34a fam9tan 40
Di D1 Or _
AV, .+� .n her Oee
v4wcwrlrrks � YilrwpeyscaM screera i view svenn a
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP COHYERSIORmi HOW DOES ACTIVITY ON YOUR PLATFORMS COYPARET
Cmverah!rby Ewnt_yme (D T CDR[ve1k--bYPkilorRn 0 .
EVEHTNAME CCHYa FITM
NO d.w available
NOdata aveYeble
Vlewcaw iwai 4 W—tachdemlk 4
02024 CM * I Rnaly t5CS home 1 Tarma of Sa iCeI Privacy Poll" 1 0 Se d feedback
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Shoplocalfedwayocom
Review and Recommendations
BE
Shop Local Current Design
Homepage on the desktop
Adore 6rlda! gputlqu9
waw �sx
►i, GREATER
u�nwm ,e s au WAY
Homepage on mobile
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Comparative Local Shopping Sites
.Ley shop Home C f'
https:Hsantafe.shopwhereilive.com/
B— R--0
Shop the Main
Streets of Oakland
County, Online
snop o�i yow rm,ano nnoc or mxwcr raw c� nom mo
shop by Main street
https://www.shopocmainstreets.com/
0-
Strong -performing websites that support shopping
at local businesses go beyond a utilitarian directory.
• They highlight unique or new businesses,
common categories or seasonal offerings.
• This leads people to explore more stores, finding
not just what they need, but what they desire.
• While these sites also feature directories, they
allow you to filter in several ways.
• These sites offer small businesses an online
presence, in some cases before they can afford to
build a website.
• The more sophisticated sites go beyond foot
traffic to also build online sales for local stores.
This offers small businesses an online storefront.
• Best comparative sites found: Member
Marketplace/ShopWherelLive is one of the most
used local shopping platforms. It offers robust
features including online shopping and better
graphics. (Both examples on the right are
Member Marketplace sites.)
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Brand Review
Observations:
• The site was quickly built to respond to COVID-19, and it needs significant attention to remain relevant. It is also linked to social
media sites that have not been kept current.
• Because it had to be built quickly, the branding uses generic choices for color and clipart as the logo. The red/white/blue motif
had its place during the pandemic, but it may be out of step for a shopping site now. We see red/white/blue also appear on
the community center website, so this may be a city theme though we do not see it on the new city website.
• The site is composed of directory listings, but the directories are not visually appealing (most have no photos so the page is
filled with the Shop Local logo over and over). The listings often don't function well. When searching "restaurants," for example,
the site reported no listings but did under "diner," which is not even in the directory drop -down menu. Also, there are many
listings that have no contact information, just "Federal Way," and many just have a phone number, which limits their value.
• The site does not appropriately display photos or logos from businesses. Some don't fit or are stretched. Others are fuzzy.
Overall, it does not represent the businesses or Federal Way in a professional manner.
• In talking with staff owners and users of the site, there seems to be a consensus that the site needs significant improvement.
There is also a sense that they have a good system in place for capturing information to feed into the directory when they
process business licenses. It's clear that new businesses need some guidance or training to provide a minimum level of
information about their business for this site to be useful to customers.
Recommendations for design and content changes to help align with the city's new website
We strongly recommend exploring a different purpose-built shopping platform for a better user experience. For cohesive
branding, we suggest.•
• Use the fonts and font styling of the city site.
• Use the color palette of the city site, potentially with a different accent color.
• Tie the logo closer to the city logo through font, color, waves, etc.
• Incorporate icons in the same style and color as the city site to represent different business types.
• Use the fonts and font styling of the city site.
• Use the header layout of the city site.
• Use the wave footer graphic.
General recommendations on the next page can strengthen the site as well as help align it with the city site.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Shop Local Design and Content Review
If you were to keep the old website, significant design, content and user experience improvements should be made:
• Clean up the listings to show only those that have contact information. Consider only showing listings that have a logo or
photo.
• Ensure all photos are correctly sized for their box and are of good quality (not fuzzy).
• Update the "About Us" section to remove COVID-19 references and remove the link to the website.
• Consolidate categories into a more manageable list.
• Eliminate newsletter section and social media references unless those are being kept up to date with new content.
• Lead with featured listings to encourage browsing. Use featured listings to tell a story and update regularly.
• Instead of a carousel slider as the main image, which tends not to be clicked through, dedicate sections lower on the
homepage to tell the story of each of the slides with copy/photos/graphics/calls-to-action.
• Feature large photography wherever possible, as business patrons lean heavily on visual inspiration.
• Ensure enough contrast between background and text for readability. (Black headlines on dark photos are hard to read.)
• There are two competing sans serif fonts, which should either be the same or clearly intentionally different.
• Ensure all images and actionable graphics have alternative text for accessibility and good SEO.
• Social links in the footer should open in new tabs, and generally, icons are used instead of names.
• Copyright in the footer should be updated to 2024
• Remove arrows to the left of words (social links, business listing types) as arrows generally indicate a dropdown menu.
• Consider adding a language selector and using flags to help indicate it as a language selector. The city's new website uses
the language selector in the header, which increases accessibility.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Shop Local Design and Content Review
Mobile:
• It is not obvious what the red plus sign button does; it reads as a secondary menu expander. Put that link in the menu itself.
• Some text is too large, e.g., "Shop Local I Eat Local I Keep Our Community Strong" overwhelms the page.
• On the Businesses page, categories could be an expandable section collapsed by default so users can see listings faster.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Shop Local Analytics
Review of five months of analytics (Aug. 1 - Dec. 31)
Average users per month
User Stickiness. DAU/MAU
User Acquisition
Average Engagement
Views per User
Higher ratios suggest good
Time
# pages viewed per
engagement and user retention
session
740
2.8% (Low)
88% organic
search
22 seconds
1.67
Top Pages
1 Shop Local Federal Way - Shop Local I Eat Local I Keep Our Community Strang
2 Ricks Towing - Shop Local Federal Way
3 Lulu Massage - Shop Local Federal Way
4 Contact Us - Shop Local Federal Way
5 Insurance Au toAuctions, Inc. - Shop Local Federal Way
6 Mission Ruth Publishing -Shop Local Federal Way
7 Businesses- Shop Local Federal Way
8 About Us - Shop Local Federal Way
9 Page not found - Shop Local Federal Way
10 Lakeland Home Remodeling LLC -Shop Local Federal Way
+ 4, Views Users Views peruser Average engagement ti me
....... ........ ................... ..................................
61168
3.641
1.67
228
100% of total
100% of total
Avg 4%
Avg 4%
437
352
1.24
17s
263
166
1.58
16s
194
153
1.27
118
119
92
1.29
17s
119
81
1.47
21s
108
73
1.48
195
98
78
116
39s
92
76
1.21
10s
88
81
1.09
3s
85
46
1.85
15
Eventcount
All events -
14,Y76
100% of tota 1
1,275
810
669
248
380
351
212
200
408
214
User Demographics
The site does not have enough traffic yet for GA to provide gender, age or user interest information. It does provide the top users by city
with the following being the top five.
City
Users
Seattle
983
Federal Way
298
Tacoma
128
Auburn
112
Kent
103
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Shop Local Analytics
Erne ki)—l—w
.11 Analytics ShopLocelFedway.com
vAll Users A4d a0111ed.on } ;
Reports snapshot
ems_ , New users AV erageengag—mDme b Tomlre„ei— 0 -
3.7K 3.7K 22s $0.00
I
1
01 01 DI
A Aug &, Cc1 r.o. eke Al
W'HE RE DO YOUR NEW USE Is COME FRaN17
nn.,rsprs Dy pk.s u.r tl.Eaunchannel group= � -
Olgank search
Pbecl ■
Referral '
Paid Seareh
Organk 5oc1.1 ■■■
ueaa.Wo
HOW ARE ACTIVE USERS TUN PING'
LYers-hy Calrrtry
-
UAW IictiY i1y OYM tile.
0 -
C UHTRV
USERS
IN
• ]p DAYS
biped slalea
3.3N
634
'
NINn
ak.
81
73
avp
• 1 3
153
se. _
�p
Pakktan
36
'
e • • +
PNWppIiNa
36
.GD
. I DAY
18
SnW.
23
MO
HI -rep.
14
v
V--«.,o-be a
WHAT AM YOUR TOP CONVE RSIOHS? HOW DOES ACTIVITY ON YOUR PLATFORMS GOV PAK2
Cpweraloni ky eraRtname 0 p �OM1wYilWri-By Relfdm -
Ey F.NT NpMF LOHV EASIRNS
Nodalo."A le
Np dale aveiabk
Y.wuseY ecqulelsi9n �
ri.nrem Jul1,2023-3-1,2024
WHAr ARE YOUR iOP CAMPAIGNS?
$""- by
0 -
$Owmpafarw owwwgrow-
SESSION Ol H T CHAHN._
SESSIONS
Orq.nle Searen
Dlrce
83a
Referral
110
P.145e.rch
57
Un.uynee
7
Org— social
5
W HECH PACES AN D SCREE NS GE T THE MOST VIEWS?
Yi,i-i "us"sCTss cuu 0-
PAGE i IT L E_ ANDSCREEN_
VIEWS
Seep I--d Peder.I Way - Sn_
437
Rkka Tewlnp-Snap Lee.l F_.
Rp8
Ldu alaeaape-Shop Local P_
194
Canpcl OF -Shop LxM Fpd...
119
IMul.Ate Avl9 ADCCpas, In<...
119
Mftslm RUN lWTiphlrp-$n_
109
Ru.Ioea.ea-&*l.acal Fe_
90
Viawpapuandsera.ru 4
V."O'0fTECeCquisIE1W -)
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP EVENTS:
EY.IRGoMbjr EV"_mma 0 -
EVEHTNLME
EVE NTCOUNT
pegs -New
0,2K
ueer_eigepemeM
51K
aeasipr�atart
421E
fir.Lvis:t
3.7K
elaptlo-
84
Vi"Y is ->
mew corrverslore -? Yew mch delalls 9
JAYRAY/
2024 L�oogle I An.Wles home Terms of Service I PrIvacy Policy] p S0rd feed Cask
Itallhappenshere-org
Review and Recommendations
BE
ALL LOCKER ROOMS ARE CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS tarn More
It all happens here CENTS search
Home Visit • Swimming & Recreation • Fitness • Programs • Rentals • News & Updates Events • Contact Us • Register
1 —
oil
,.
Get Tickets Here
Row ToAOWf
.COy11M[LLf11R.4
QWLK MME
REpifiR NP MtWQAW
PROGRA GMMS
AW
RnEier. war wnuaov;
rs*xcc
ur's�rr
�as�aow
ieYrre:
r+a.re eua.n-RAib�
�.cvw.csncwn�rrs
�-��.
so<maw-ewe+
cvrmerw
-
� vnmm -ewe
irl++� °e@G61RN�5
rr.rnu eercw:ra
-
�smxna�u.
Federd Wayr Cf � d sl s
Community Center We bs ite Brand Review
Observations:
• The dark and light blues match the city website and the logo is visually tied into the city logo.
• Aside from the use of red as a contrasting color, this site feels most in line with the city site.
• The Federal Way logo is used in the footer.
• This is a relatively new site and the site owner is happy with the site's function but is open to closer branding
opportunities with the city site.
• The Community Center is a significant city asset and a closer tie-in to the city's new website branding will help heighten
awareness of it as a city facility.
Recommendations for simple changes to help align with the new look:
• Use the color palette of the city site, potentially keeping the purple as a unique accent color.
• Use the wave footer graphic with the Federal Way logo.
• Use the fonts and font styling of the city site.
• Consider increasing the size of the Federal Way Community Center logo on the header so that Federal Way is more
readily seen.
• As this is a new site, we do not anticipate further changes would be necessary. However, we have identified a few ideas
on the following page that could strengthen the site's design. We do recommend establishing a set of graphics
standards for the site to guide font and color use.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Community Center Website Design and UX Review
General design and user experience recommendations: (These can be done over time to polish the new site.)
• There are instances of low contrast between text and background and the use of color alone to highlight text links can
make some things difficult to read. This can be overcome by people using the accessibility plug-in but not everyone
realizes they are missing something and that they need to switch to accessible mode.
• The site name/URL is clever but does not tell people what the site is about. We suggest adding redirects from
federalwaycommunitycenter.org and similar domains (fedwaycommunitycenter.org, fwcommunitycenter.org, etc.).
• Be judicious in the use of all capitalization of words. It is not as easily to read and, when used on lavishly, it loses its
impact.
• While different fonts are okay for program/event name logos, use fonts consistently across the site itself. Carousel
graphic fonts should be consistent.
• Use colors consistently across all similar elements, e.g., all subheads one color, all primary buttons one color.
• Events calendar view options don't seem to work; there is an option to switch to "month" view, for example, but then no
events display.
• Consider increasing the size of the language selector and using flags to help indicate languages. The city's new website
uses the language selector in the header, which increases accessibility.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Engagefw.com
Review and Recommendations
[us
Current Design
Homepage on the desktop
® sOett L.19-9e
Home Federal Way We6site QSearch Sign in Register
Engage Federal Way - Online Public Participation Platform
Comprehensive Plan Periodic Update
Help us shape
the future of
Federal Way
all
a 41.
to
0
Scan QR or enter
URL to Learn more:
engagefw.com
Key Dates
Ad Hoc Committee Meeting Comp Plan Leap Day Open House
5:00pm- 6:00pm at City Hall, Hylehas Conference 4:00pm- 7:00pm at City Hall 33325 8th Ave 5
nUrnt:'-NaYt:'- Ull IlluuIie
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Engage Federal Way Website Brand Review
Observations:
• This website should be the most similar to the city website. It should feel like a continuation of the larger site.
• The site's header is so narrow that the city's logo is illegible. Picking up the design from the new city website will solve a
host of design concerns.
• The city's new website often links to Engage Federal Way's project pages. If those pages were better aligned with the city
website look, the user experience would be improved. There would be no question that these are still city pages.
Recommendations for simple changes to help align with the new look:
• Use the header and footer design of the city site.
• Use the fonts and font styling of the city site.
• Use the color palette of the city site.
• Use the button styling of the city site.
• Make icons match those on the city site.
General recommendations on the next page can strengthen the site as well as help align it with the city site.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Engage Federal Way Website Design and Content Review
General design, content and user experience recommendations:
• We realize that there may be design limitations with the Granicus/Bang The Table website. It relies on the user to scroll
through the programs to find the ones of interest. That works if there are just a few projects, but more than the current six
projects would feel overwhelming. If possible, add navigation links in the header to key areas, particularly to "Stay
Informed" to encourage sign-ups.
• Increase the size of the Federal Way logo (which will happen if you adopt the new city website look).
• Be consistent with similar elements across the site, e.g. rounded vs. square corners on buttons.
• Standardize the design of Project Highlights/Featured Project cards across the site, there are currently two distinct card
designs and naming conventions on different pages.
• Internal links should not open in a new tab.
• The Federal Way website link should open in a new tab.
• White text on a light teal background and light blue text on white do not pass color contrast requirements. Again,
adopting the city website's look will correct this.
• Ensure all images and actionable graphics have alt text.
• Consider adding a language choice option.
• Add a link from the city website to Engage Federal Way. If there is one, it was not easily found.
• Some of the content is out-of-date, including the February event that takes centerstage on the page. To help staff keep
up with changes, consider implementing a spreadsheet shared by content authors that includes a take -down date or
dates for updating projects. Remove surveys that are no longer open. Website accuracy impacts credibility.
Mobile:
• The logo in the header is too small and not legible.
• The centered hero graphic gets cut off. Redesign with mobile constraints in mind and consider not putting words on the
graphic at all.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Economic Development Pages
Review and Recommendations
[us
Current Design
Fi ieralway --- .— — — —8
Economic Development
rya,,.�Y» e�a ��. 6
NNYM bx[w.� no mo-ri.n rye.. iM CJ.[Jtl.� io �MF.Y .M OM^N[...nyty w iM IW[�. �MrY ML} dw. «. iypYYWM 4+Mrl of rw M�K
NYgfWnd rMPnr..4w T6Y SufA 14[..4� b�MW.Y'ry 1.lr.l R.tlrY NYr[x� M tl..[�bG x on d V�. bu Wcx m M N w iwurt
•.P.nM' Nr E,MF Mw bJ. I IMiM1 wslop..
IMY•M+Q�%wNarlClirn Q 9 ..y
wR' lec..r9l� B�si»u u F.urY NY.
F.eYY W.r Kw a.. CMe...b
J
e'IM pn F.d.rY Wy Rpc R.mr�. 51pp L.. F.tl V6y M rY Eirpleynvm
nacM..a..
https://www.federalwaywa.gov/economic-development
This is the page we based our observations and
recommendations on.
Cityoffederalwaycom/content/economic-development/
This page appears when using Google Search then switches to
the official page URL.
https://www.federalwaywa.gov/economic-development
It functions in the same way as the official page but has a different
look and narrative.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Comparative Economic Development Sites
https://whyrenton.com/
https://growinmiIford.com/
Strong -performing economic development sites are often
stand-alone websites created by economic development
councils, chambers and cities. In our comparisons, we have
looked at both stand-alone sites and high -quality
department pages within city websites. Here are some best
practice highlights.
Most commonly featured pages/content:
• Services (Especially for city departments, it is key to be
specific on what the city itself can offer.)
• Site selection, including available property and zoning
maps (See Milford's content. Not many city websites do
this.)
• Workforce, including information on local technical
schools or colleges
• Community demographics
• Transportation
• Key industries
• Taxes and incentives
• Resources (Often calling out small business resources
separately)
• Area lifestyle for work/life balance
• Regional context, such as proximity to markets or major
shipping corridors
• Strategic plan and links to major projects underway
• Unique URLs. We saw many "Choose," or "Invest in" URLs
for stand-alone sites and as vanity URLs for city pages.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Comparative Economic Development Sites
0b. PHOENIX ...,.. o,...-.d _.
Beyond the Court
https://www.investinphoenix.com/
��. cr...r G o .t NL.-H.- Smlma Prt rojea Cvuernn-n! ews
Economic Vitality Program
https://bouIdercoIorado.gov/services/economic-
vitality-proc r� am
https://invest.georcletown.orq/
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Explain why companies should choose Federal Way. Invest in
Phoenix is a city economic development department website.
Phoenix is large and so is its department. They do a very effective
job of telling "Why Phoenix" and sharing success stories. While
Federal Way may be smaller, it too can craft a compelling
narrative around its Centered on Opportunity slogan.
When sharing resources, go beyond what is offered through the
city to other governmental or regional resources. Determine
what should be on the city's economic development pages and
where to link to the Greater Federal Way Chamber of Commerce
site for additional information. Showing partnerships within the
economic development community is attractive to businesses.
(See the City of Boulder's Economic Vitality page.)
Make your page a one -stop shop for business in Federal Way.
List links to all the potential needs of a business from commercial
building permits to sign permits, etc. Georgetown, Texas does a
great of this on their city economic development site
"I nvest.Georgetown.org"
City Economic Development Content Review
General content and user experience observations:
• Explore the possibility of hosting your videos on the site (with the ability to expand full screen), as opposed to taking
people to the YouTube site. If that is not possible, have YouTube open in a new tab.
• It appears there is little to no formatting on the bottom of the page. For example, we did not see a headline or bullet points
where they clearly are intended below the Centered on Investment Opportunity graphic.
• https://www.federalwaywa.gov/page/entrepreneurial-resources has font issues.
• https://www.federalwaywa.gov/page/demographics has some formatting issues in the second paragraph.
• Explore whether the "Contact Us" on the "Business" dropdown menu can be linked directly to the contact information lower
on the main page. Otherwise, people may miss it.
• Some of these issues will be resolved as the new site is polished. However, we noted that every link from the Business menu
takes you to a page that looks different. More consistency from page to page will improve the user experience. This can be
helped by revising some of the PDFs to a standard format that matches the website look.
• As noted previously, we seem to be able to reach two different main pages through a Google search. We assume that the
one without the rotating banner should be eliminated.
General content and user experience recommendations:
• Consider a stand-alone site for economic development or a much richer set of pages with a vanity URL to allow for a direct
link to this section of the website. We saw many websites starting with "Choose," "Invest in," "or "Elevate" as domains. These
are all available for Federal Way.
• Share more content on the pages, using earlier best practice suggestions to guide the work.
• Edit the six -year -old Centered on Global Opportunity video to tighten and update the messages or create a new video.
Make it a centerpiece of the Economic Development main page.
• Collaborate with the Greater Federal Way Chamber of Commerce, acknowledging them as a partner and linking to good
resources on their website.
• As noted in the Google Analytics report, this page gets little traffic. Once updates have been made, review organic SEO for
opportunities and consider Google Search advertising to bring the site to the attention of interested businesses.
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
Economic Development Main Page Analytics
Review of five months of analytics (Aug. 1 - Dec. 31)
Average users per month
User Stickiness DAU/MAU
User Acquisition
Average Engagement
Views per User
Higher ratios suggest good
Time
# pages viewed per
engagement and user retention
session
68% organic
37
6.6
20% direct
22 seconds
1.40
12% referral
Page Ranking on Website
q search...
Page title and screen class
121 Parks & Recreation I City of Federal Way
122 E-Newsletter Sign-up I City of Federal Way
123 Yard Waste & Food Scraps Recycling I City of Federal Way
124 Economic Development I City of Federal Way
125 Traffic Division I City of Federal Way
126 Council President Linda Koch mar I City of Federal Way
127 Special Projects I City of Federal Way
128 21 st Ave S and S 320th St Signal and Ped Improvements I City of Federal Way
129 Vehicle Impound I City of Federal Way
130 City Center Access Project I City of Federal Way
Rows per page: 10
+ 4, Views Users Views per user Avaragaangagementtima Event count
........ ..--•----------•-- - - - ------•--------
Allevents —
We cannot generate a reports snapshot for a single page with
current traffic.
246,960
74,241
3.32
1m108
727,736
100% of total
100% of total
Avg 0%
Avg 0%
100% of total
266
205
1.30
195
897
264
201
1.31
32s
550
262
222
1.18
36s
1,045
260
186
1.40
225
744
254
168
1.51
31s
694
253
202
1.25
32s
594
253
168
1.51
36s
886
251
145
1.73
19s
620
241
158
1.53
40s
719
239
152
1.57
49s
779
JAYRAY A PLACE TO THINK
■
low
�. �i