Google aims to give local councils an online boost

Our recent local council website usability report found that many local council websites still have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to usability. However, it seems that Google now wants to help local councils with their online offering with its Local government resource centre.

Offered in partnership with Directgov, LG Communications and the Society of IT Management (Socitm), Google’s resource centre offers a variety of online tools designed to help local government organisations to:

• Make their websites easier to find
• Improve the user journeys on their websites
• Improve efficiency and reduce website costs
• Build revenue through their websites
• Help local business use digital to their advantage

The resources on offer such as Google Analytics, Website Optimiser, AdWords and AdPlanner certainly have the potential to be useful to local councils, but the question is whether the decision makers will see the value in and also get over any fear of using such an abundance of web-based tools.

Time will tell, but one thing’s for sure – the opportunity to save money through the resources on offer, and the strategic partnerships Google has developed for this venture could just swing its widespread adoption in the local government sector.