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Ask HN: How would you turn around/re-imagine a city website?

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Ask HN: How would you turn around/re-imagine a city website?

#1

Post by clamattack »

I work a couple of days a month on a 'city site' for a fairly large city in the UK, doing maintenance, clean ups etc. It's been going since 1998 so it's pretty established in internet terms but over the past couple of years has really lost its way and I'm struggling for ideas to revive it - I fear I might be too close to have some kind of revelation.

Stats-wise, the site has settled at around 2500 uniques per day and has remained at that level for maybe the past 2 years. So it's not like no one ever visits, more that here is no reason for them to ever come back. It also has a very good domain (think CITY.com). Recently it has paid its way through crummy Yellow Pages-style adverts which are also drying up - and hurting the site in the process.

So, in short, assuming you had such a site at your disposal and had carte blanche to make changes - what would you do? How would you approach such a site?

I'm hoping to turn this around and make a success of it but right now struggle to think how. Any ideas are welcome, no matter how outlandish!

p.s. In case it wasn't clear, it's currently a city guide to hotels, restaurants, shopping etc - but hopelessly outdated and ad-filled.

Re: Ask HN: How would you turn around/re-imagine a city website?

#2

Post by lutusp »

You managed to omit a link to the site. How shall we say what remedies to apply to a site whose appearance we can only imagine?

But this advice anyway -- perform some A/B testing, see if proposed changes actually work before making them permanent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing

> Any ideas are welcome, no matter how outlandish!

I offer this outlandish suggestion: provide a link to the site so people can offer meaningful advice.

Re: Ask HN: How would you turn around/re-imagine a city website?

#3

Post by clamattack »

lutusp wrote: post #2

You managed to omit a link to the site. How shall we say what remedies to apply to a site whose appearance we can only imagine? But this advice anyway -- perform some A/B testing, see if proposed changes actually work before making them permanent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing > Any ideas are welcome, no matter how outlandish! I offer this outlandish suggestion: provide a link to the site so people can off…

I didn't include a link as the existing site is almost irrelevant and the vast majority needs to be scrapped. I'm more interested in how people would approach this from scratch with no preconceived notions. Like I said, I'm looking to approach this as carte Blanche to build a 21st century city guide/site/whatever and I'm having a brain freeze in that regard.

Re: Ask HN: How would you turn around/re-imagine a city website?

#4

Post by lutusp »

clamattack wrote: post #3
lutusp wrote: post #2

You managed to omit a link to the site. How shall we say what remedies to apply to a site whose appearance we can only imagine? But this advice anyway -- perform some A/B testing, see if proposed changes actually work before making them permanent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing > Any ideas are welcome, no matter how outlandish! I offer this outlandish suggestion: provide a link to the site so people can off…

I didn't include a link as the existing site is almost irrelevant and the vast majority needs to be scrapped. I'm more interested in how people would approach this from scratch with no preconceived notions. Like I said, I'm looking to approach this as carte Blanche to build a 21st century city guide/site/whatever and I'm having a brain freeze in that regard.

> I didn't include a link as the existing site is almost irrelevant and the vast majority needs to be scrapped. I'm more interested in how people would approach this from scratch with no preconceived notions.

Well, first I would look at the page to see what the problems are.

Your move.

Re: Ask HN: How would you turn around/re-imagine a city website?

#5

Post by clamattack »

lutusp wrote: post #4
clamattack wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't include a link as the existing site is almost irrelevant and the vast majority needs to be scrapped. I'm more interested in how people would approach this from scratch with no preconceived notions. Like I said, I'm looking to approach this as carte Blanche to build a 21st century city guide/site/whatever and I'm having a brain freeze in that regard.

> I didn't include a link as the existing site is almost irrelevant and the vast majority needs to be scrapped. I'm more interested in how people would approach this from scratch with no preconceived notions. Well, first I would look at the page to see what the problems are. Your move.

Well I guess this is something of a stealth project for myself and I don't really want to link it right now. I hoped for ideas on where someone would start, totally from scratch to give me a fresh approach. If this approach is unwise or inappropriate for here then I apologise and shall leave it at that.

Re: Ask HN: How would you turn around/re-imagine a city website?

#6

Post by lutusp »

clamattack wrote: post #5
lutusp wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I didn't include a link as the existing site is almost irrelevant and the vast majority needs to be scrapped. I'm more interested in how people would approach this from scratch with no preconceived notions. Well, first I would look at the page to see what the problems are. Your move.

Well I guess this is something of a stealth project for myself and I don't really want to link it right now. I hoped for ideas on where someone would start, totally from scratch to give me a fresh approach. If this approach is unwise or inappropriate for here then I apologise and shall leave it at that.

In that case, with the available information, you should strive to make the page better than it is. Under the circumstances, no one will be able to offer more apt advice (though some may try).

Re: Ask HN: How would you turn around/re-imagine a city website?

#7

Post by invalidOrTaken »

You want outlandish?

--- aggregate all the google Places entries in your city

--- ask your local chamber of commerce (if that exists in the UK?) if they have a listing for every business in the city. Chop up and categorize

--- Using the google maps api, create bundled experiences for visitors. It's one thing to find the best restaurant. It's another to find the best restaurant next to a good theater. It's an entirely different thing to go from park to bar to historical mansion, tracing the life of Count Dead-for-a-long-time. Ask tomasien on HN about his experiences with thecityswig.com

--- write a business-owner-facing page (that is basically an API for humans) allowing them to have special deals, pushed to mobile apps. Charge business owners at least $x to avoid spam.

--- record meetings of the city council and upload them.

--- consider a discussion board. reddit style, discourse style? I don't know.

--- take inspiration (of the positive or negative variety) from my hometown: moraga.ca.us

Re: Ask HN: How would you turn around/re-imagine a city website?

#8

Post by clamattack »

invalidOrTaken wrote: post #7

You want outlandish? --- aggregate all the google Places entries in your city --- ask your local chamber of commerce (if that exists in the UK?) if they have a listing for every business in the city. Chop up and categorize --- Using the google maps api, create bundled experiences for visitors. It's one thing to find the best restaurant. It's another to find the best restaurant next to a good theater. It's an entirely…

Thanks - this is the kind of thing I was looking for! I'll take a look at those links too.

Re: Ask HN: How would you turn around/re-imagine a city website?

#9

Post by gregcohn »

A more useful way to approach this might be to ask for examples of city sites that people think are good, and why.

It would probably also help to be clearer in your objectives -- city sites can have vastly different goals, from helping citizens through processes like getting permits and paying traffic tickets, to attracting visitors, to promoting the members of its chamber of commerce.

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