Process & Results

The most visible manifestation of the project is the brand new Dover Town Library website, which is social-media-friendly, mobile-optimized, and easy-to-manage by Dover Town Library staff. The strategy also brings many disparate digital properties under the control of one powerful Content Management System (CMS), a platform we customized to meet Dover Town Library’s unique needs. Looking to the future needs of their audience, the site is fully Responsive, optimized for display on desktop monitors, tablets, and other mobile devices like smartphones.

Less obvious are the other things we did behind the scenes. We worked closely with Dover Town Library staff through workshops and documentation to help them develop a unified tone and editorial approach for all communications channels. We established a consistent and unified metrics program available to everyone in the organization, giving them a dashboard overview of how they’re doing.

Our solution was designed to:

  • Improve engagement with Dover Town Library’s core audiences.
  • Minimize stale content and abandoned web properties.
  • Better integrate and promote campaigns and applications across the organization.
  • Improve social media content quality.
  • Strengthen and amplify SEO.
  • Increase the organization’s relevance within the town of Dover.
  • Position Dover Town Library as the trusted resource for all things digital.

The project was released in phases and completed in January 2013. Many yearly metric targets were achieved or exceeded within the first two months since the completion of the project. Unique visitors to the site grew 242% percent in that first two month period alone.

Dover Town Library

Our in-depth process led us to take a close look at the library from technical infrastructure to business requirements. We looked at existing data and usage of their properties, interviewed department heads, audited existing deficiencies, and worked towards an effective digital strategy that met organizational objectives.

We built the Dover Town Library digital universe around a core property of library. At heart of this digital universe was a web portal strategy with three distinct “pillars” serving three distinct audience groupings, based on proximity to the library. In the process, their many social media channels and digital properties were consolidated under the Dover Town Library umbrella, which allowed the small team to focus their efforts and leverage content across all areas of the organization.

Dover Town Library is free public library located in Dover, MA recognized in 1894. The library was named a “Best Small Library in North America 2012” by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Library Journal. Congratulations to the entire Dover Library Staff!

Website:  http://dovertownlibrary.org/

56 Dedham St, Dover, MA  02030

Task

Complete re-design from an outdated HTML site to interactive WordPress content management system.

  • an intuitive user interface
  • backend administration
  • multiple staff logins
  • improved information architecture
  • multiple templates for different content types
  • effective search engine optimization
  • flexible framework for future development

Skills

  • PHP
  • MySQL
  • HTML
  • CSS