Los Angeles County City Internet Strategy Analysis – May 2011
Tripepi Smith is releasing its latest study on the Internet strategies of city governments in LA County. The study is one of a series of Tripepi Smith studies that have focused on how city governments communicate with their communities,leverage social media and craft websites that deliver critical information that enhances transparency.
The Study found that city governments in Los Angeles have the following basics covered:
- Every city (88/88) has a website.
- Every city’s website was viewable on a mobile device. Ten sites were optimized to work nicely on a mobile platform. However, a number of websites are Flashed based sites which prevents certain from being accessed on Apple mobile devices such as an iPhone or iPad.
- Nearly every city (75/88) has expanded search results when searched for on Google.
- Nearly every city (83/88) offers some sort of search function on their website.
Additional observations that we found to be interesting include the following:
- More cities have an official Facebook page (37/88) then a Twitter account (28/88). Still less than half engage in these two primary social media outlets.
- 75% of cities (67/88) listed an email address for the mayor or council in general or provided a form to contact elected officials.
- Nearly 50% of cities (38/88) in Los Angeles County are webcasting their council meetings. This webcasting was often provided through the same service. This could represent an opportunity for cities to combine contracting power to secure better pricing for the service.
- Over half (57/88) use a user friendly URL. (Ex. www.hiddenhillscity.org)
- 80% of city’s (69/88) provided links to their current city budgets.
You can download the report here: Los Angeles County City Internet Strategy Analysis – May 2011 (PDF – 22 Pages)
Tripepi Smith has published this study with the hope that it will spawn a discussion among the public and cities about how social media is best used by cities. It may even provide some helpful feedback for a city on how to improve their own strategy.
If you are affiliated with a city in Los Angeles County, you can contact the co-author (ryder@tripepismith.com) to receive a custom report on your city’s performance relative to your peers.
Feel free to make suggestions on how to improve the analysis via email to the author at ryder@tripepismith.com