Website services

This service has been developed to help local authorities understand much more about the profile of their website visitors and their needs, and how well their website is performing in terms of visitor numbers and satisfaction. Participating councils get information about the total number of unique visitors to their sites, why people are visiting, how they got there, what the experience was like, and whether they are likely to visit again. Launched in 2004, the Website takeup service gathers information through an exit survey offered to every fifth visitor to participating councils' websites.

Nearly 25,000 visitors complete the survey each month across the 130+ councils currently participating in the service.

Subscribers receive:

• qualitative and quantitative information about visitors to their website(s) provided through a wide variety of reporting options 
• benchmarking of visitor information against that of other participating local authorities
• analysis of all the results from all participants by month and type of authority
• summary report of the key messages, lessons learnt and case studies
• free places at information sharing workshops with other subscribers
• avoidable contact statistics
• access to online discussion forum

The visitor survey

The exit survey that collects the data for the Website take-up service is added to participating authorities' websites and is launched (by a piece of code invisible to the user) as every fifth visitor leaves the site.  The software prevents repeat invitations (through use of cookies), whether or not the respondent has said "yes" or "no", until such time as the survey is updated (usually every 12 months), when earlier invitations are ignored .

The survey asks sixteen questions and takes between three and four minutes to complete. Supporting software collects the answers and analyses results in a variety of ways, allowing subscribers to look at findings from their own website and compare them with findings from the rest of the subscriber group. The questionnaire is normally updated once a year. 

This list of questions comes from the latest version of the survey implemented in January 2010.  (Note: Several of the options allow free text alternatives)

Intro - Would you like us to help you?

1. How did you find out about the website? (13 options)
2. In the last 6 months, approximately how many times have you visited this website? (6 options)
3. What was the main service area that you were interested in today? (22 options) 
4. What was your main purpose for coming to the website today? (8 options)
5. If you had not come to the website for this purpose, what would be your preferred way of contacting the council? (7 options)
6. Did you find what you were looking for today? (4 options)
7. How would you rate your satisfaction with the following features of this website? (6 satisfaction levels on factors of

•   General look & feel
•   Ease of getting around the site  
•   Ease of finding specific information 
•   Usefulness of the site search 
•   Value of the information
•   Mapping facilities) 

8. How likely are you to return to this website in the future? (5 levels of response)
9. Overall, how satisfied are you with your visit today? (5 satisfaction levels)

OPTIONAL PERSONAL QUESTIONS

10. Which of the following applies to you?  (Up to 10 ways of profiling the visitor)
11. What age group are you?
12. Gender?
13. Postcode or non UK
14. Ethnic origin
15. Disability status

And finally,

16. .... any more comments....but note that we cannot reply directly to comments you make here

The service uses software developed by rol (owners of Govmetric, a complimentary service that is part of the Customer Access Improvement Service). 

Currently, the service operates exclusively for local authority customers.  However, we are interested in exploring offering a comparable facility, asking similar questions to other parts of the public sector (eg police, fire, ndpbs, government departments etc.). Please contact insight@socitm.net.

What it costs and how to join

A one year subscription to the Website take-up service costs £1,130 for an existing Socitm Insight subscriber (£750 for shire district subscribers) or £2,200 for other local authorities. [Registration fees of £340, £300 and £450 apply in year one only].

You can start subscribing by filling in our Website take-up service order form or if you have further questions, contact Terry Madgwick for further information (terry.madgwick@socitm.net / 01483 855288).

There are also twice yearly best practice events open to subscribers and potential subscribers. The next event will be on 14 December 2010 in Birmingham.

Current subscribing LAs (2 September 2010)

• Aberdeen City Council
• Aberdeenshire
• Argyll and Bute Council
• Babergh DC
• Barnsley MBC
• Basildon DC
• Basingstoke and Deane BC
• Bassetlaw DC
• Bexley
• Blaenau Gwent CBC
• Bolsover District Council
• Bournemouth BC
• Bracknell Forest BC
• Bridgend CBC
• Bristol City
• Broxbourne, Borough of
• Bucks CC
• Bury MBC
• Caerphilly CBC
• Calderdale Council
• Cambridgeshire CC
• Camden
• Cannock Chase DC
• Cardiff County
• Carmarthenshire CC
• Ceredigion CC
• Chelmsford BC
• Chesterfield BC
• Chichester DC
• Chiltern DC
• Conwy CBC
• Cotswold DC
• Coventry City
• Cumbria CC
• Denbighshire CC
• Dorset CC/For You
• Dudley MBC
• Dumfries & Galloway
• East Ayrshire
• East Dunbartonshire
• East Riding of Yorkshire Council
• Eden DC
• Edinburgh City
• Epping Forest DC
• Fenland DC
• Fife Council
• Flintshire CC
• Gloucestershire CC
• Greenwich Council
• Guildford BC
• Gwynedd CC
• Halton BC
• Haringey
• Havering
• Herefordshire Council
• High Peak Borough Council
• Huntingdonshire DC
• Isle of Anglesey CC
• Islington
• Kirklees MBC
• Lancashire CC
• Lancaster City
• Leicester City
• Leicestershire CC
• Lewes DC
• Lewisham
• Lichfield DC
• Lincolnshire CC
• Liverpool City
• Manchester City
• Medway
• Merthyr Tydfil CBC
• Merton
• Milton Keynes
• Monmouthshire CC
• Neath Port Talbot CBC
• New Forest DC
• Newcastle-under-Lyme BC
• Newham
• Newport City Council
• Norfolk CC
• North Ayrshire
• North Kesteven DC
• North Lincolnshire
• North Somerset Council
• Northampton BC
• Northants CC
• Nottinghamshire CC
• Oxford City
• Oxfordshire CC
• Pembrokeshire CC
• Perth & Kinross
• Poole, Borough of
• Powys CC
• Preston City
• Renfrewshire
• Rhondda Cynon Taff CBC
• Rossendale BC
• Rushmoor BC
• Salford City
• Sandwell MBC
• Sheffield City
• Solihull MBC
• South Cambridgeshire DC
• South Gloucestershire
• South Kesteven DC
• South Lakeland DC
• South Lanarkshire
• South Norfolk DC
• South Oxfordshire DC
• South Tyneside
• Southampton City
• Southwark
• Spelthorne BC
• Stafford BC
• Staffordshire CC
• Staffordshire Moorlands DC
• Stoke-on-Trent, City of
• Sutton
• Swansea, City & County
• Tameside MBC
• Tamworth BC
• Telford & Wrekin
• Tendring DC
• Test Valley BC
• Torfaen CBC
• Trafford Council
• Vale of Glamorgan
• Wakefield MDC
• Warwick DC
• Warwickshire CC
• Watford
• Wealden DC
• Welwyn Hatfield BC
• West Berkshire Council
• West Lindsey DC
• West Lothian
• West Oxfordshire DC
• West Sussex CC
• Wiltshire
• Wokingham BC
• Worcestershire CC
• Worthing BC
• Wrexham CBC