Renovate or start from scratch?
After eight years with the same website, Linda and Inger Lise at Elverum Municipality knew something had to be done. The site had become cluttered, overloaded with buttons and pages, and was far from user-friendly.
They had lost control of their website.
They had two options:
- Renovate the existing site
- Start with a blank canvas and build a new one.
They chose the latter: a new website – and ACOS as a new supplier.
– Today, we’re very glad we chose to build a new website in ACOS CMS. But to be honest, when we first started, it was with a mix of excitement and fear – mostly fear.
Linda Vespestad, Communications advisor, Elverum Municipality
From mission impossible to mission possible
The Elverum team dove into the website project with us at ACOS – and together we did a thorough job:
– It seemed like mission impossible at first, since none of us had ever been through this process before and we knew nothing about creating a new website. But with ACOS as an experienced, knowledgeable, and reliable partner, it turned out to be mission possible.
Some of the project activities included:
- Design workshop laying the foundation for the new web design, developed by ACOS
- Information architecture workshop where we built the structure for the new site together
- User testing with 83 participants testing the information architecture online
- Content workshop to kickstart content production
– A website we’re proud of
Linda and her colleagues did most of the heavy lifting for the new site themselves but greatly appreciated the support they received from ACOS throughout the project:
– ACOS supported us every step of the way with a steady hand. Our project manager at ACOS, Johanne, was always ready with good advice and helpful tips – nowledgeable, patient, and supportive throughout. That guidance was truly invaluable in building our new website.
After building a fresh design, a logical and user-friendly structure, and content written in plain language, the launch in October 2024 was ready to go.
And the result? Simply excellent.
– We now have a website with a unique design, which we receive great feedback on and which we’re truly proud of.
Check out Elverum's webpage
Easy website maintenance with ACOS CMS
For Linda, the role of web editor has changed dramatically since making the change to ACOS CMS. She now works daily with CMS features that help her make the website even more user-friendly and up to date.
– The difference in what we can do with ACOS CMS compared to what we had before is so great, it’s almost impossible to compare. With ACOS CMS we now have the tools that make website maintenance easy.
-
Linda’s best maintenance tips:
- Use feedback from “Did you find what you were looking for?” to improve content and structure
- Use search statistics and page traffic to prioritize what to update
- Actively use the “articles for revision” feature to keep content up to date
- Check the broken link list frequently and fix them right away
More of a partner than a supplier
– For us, ACOS feels more like a partner than just a supplier. They want us to have the best and most user-friendly website possible and are an active partner. They provide newsletters and webinars with tips and advice, helpful support pages, and are constantly developing the CMS.
We’re proud to be on your team, Elverum Municipality! ❤️