Request A Quote

Why are most government websites so terrible?

The recent debacle with the Affordable Care Act has made headlines but those of us in the development world are just seeing more of the same old thing. Government websites stink! Why is that? I can assure you that their cost structure is very similar to the outrageous cost of healthcare.gov. We have seen bids for local government sites in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. While they are complex, they aren’t that complex. Once major challenge is hooking up to all the old legacy systems local (aw heck, all) governments rely on. This presents challenges but the bids are still overblown – it’s kind of just “the thing to do” with government, huh?

But then, why do they still stink? If they cost so much, so be it, but at least be good, right?

They almost unanimously seem to lumber along, contain sparse information, disconnect and are chock full of broken links. Other websites are just as complex, take Amazon or Ebay for example and you’ll rarely see the kind of issues you find throughout government web projects. Maybe those are extreme examples but you would think that government web developers would at least be working with the latest in industry standards. There is nothing preventing a government site from being responsive or at least mobile friendly. Why do I see so many <font> tags? Is this 1998?

For all the trouble and money you would think the product would be just cutting edge. Nope. We relive  and suffer through the same old clunkers and just kind of shrug… it’s just the way it is.

More Web Design Blog Content

Gainesville Web Marketing

North West Mini Storage and Warehouse is a new client of ours. We started optimizing their site about 3 weeks from the date of this post. Already a page 1 contender, our client now enjoys a surge in search engine traffic – all organic, all of it white

Linking Your G+ Page To Your Website

We always get asked: Does anyone use G+? Yes. Is it worth it? Again, Yes. Using Google’s products would obviously help your standing with their search algorithm. We don’t know this to be technically true but it certainly seems so in our experience. The more you use and

web design north carolina

B2B Social Marketing

Social media marketing is usually not as important for business-to-business (B2B) businesses because most of their customers find them through word-of-mouth or a lot of online searching. Many B2Bs are also in ‘dry’ or serious businesses that don’t work well with pictures. But a social media marketing plan

Using Meta Tags In Images

Because search engines mainly rely on the text linked with an image to comprehend its content, using meta tags on images is crucial for SEO. Search engines may more precisely index photos when they are properly tagged, which can increase a website’s visibility and ranking on search engine

Small Business Sees A Rise In Cyber Threats

Come on, let’s all live in the real world: we’re all vulnerable. Really the only chance you have these days is to make it as difficult as possible for any potential hacker to get to your valuable data. First and foremost this means protecting your data in transit.

  • EMAIL: web@livewiregeeks.com
Facebook Linkedin Google-plus