Glynn County launches redesigned website with new search and text alerts to improve access

Glynn County launched a redesigned county website on Aug. 20 to make services, contacts and documents easier for residents to find, county digital administrator Kim Ransom said on the Sept. episode of the radio program Good News Glenn.

The redesign, Ransom said, follows a 15-month development process driven by repeated citizen complaints about findability and mobile use. "We started a Voice of Citizen survey and addressed common pain points like search and mobile usability," Ransom said. She told host Avery Brooks the new search feature and an “I want to” homepage section are intended to speed common tasks; the site also added a TextMyGov widget for text-based alerts.

Officials said the redesign matters because most visitors now access local government information from mobile devices. "We found well over 65% of our citizens are using mobile devices," Ransom said, adding the county is monitoring usage with heat maps and other analytics to measure improvements.

The county selected a vendor described as Interpersonal Frequency, which Ransom said specializes in local-government websites. She said the county is still collecting feedback through the Voice of Citizen survey and will adjust the site over time. "This was about a 15 month process from start to finish, and we're not done," Ransom said.

County official Bill Fallon, who introduced Ransom on the program, praised her role in the project: "Kim Ransom is our behind-the-scenes person that has really done the lion's share of everything related to our new website," Fallon said.

Ransom described core features the county emphasized during development: improved keyword search, a compact “I want to” shortcut on the homepage for common tasks, mobile-first page templates and a TextMyGov opt-in for text notifications. She said site administrators are monitoring where visitors stall on pages and will refine content and navigation accordingly. The county also said it is working to keep the site accessible and ADA-friendly.

Ransom asked listeners to report missing documents, broken links or search problems so staff can correct them quickly. "The moment I get feedback that the search keyword isn't there or the PDF isn't there, let us know because we are definitely... ready to improve immediately," she said.

County staff said the website is intended both to support routine transactions—paying bills, locating property information, contacting elected officials—and to serve as a hub for community information and events. Ransom said the county will continue to track mobile use, search success and visitor behavior to guide future updates.

The county did not provide a numerical target for improvements or a timeline for specific subsequent updates on the program. Officials said the redesign and the new communication tools are part of ongoing efforts to modernize county digital services.