WILLIAMSON — The City of Williamson has launched its new website.
The Williamson City Council in August approved a contract with local company RunyonTech to create a new website for the township.
Blake Runyon, owner of RunyonTech, had met with Mayor Charlie Hatfield to discuss the details before presenting a contract proposal to the council. Runyon has worked with the town of Chapmanville in neighboring Logan County, for whom it still provides web services.
Hatfield said he spent a lot of time looking at different options and companies now that the city is in a financial position to make an investment in a new website, but he also wanted to make sure the city got the best deal.
“Running a website isn’t cheap, and in the past few years we haven’t had a lot of money to do a lot of things,” Hatfield said. “The website did not have that priority.”
Hatfield said that in that search, RunyonTech was recommended to him.
“This young man came highly recommended,” Hatfield said. “It offers a lot.”
Runyon said she sees the value in how entities present themselves online, which is why she believes the work she does is important to her clients.
“You can look at the statistics yourself, but it shows that even if a person lives in an area, they will judge an area based on their online presence,” Runyon said.
Runyon’s package for the city included a custom design optimized for mobile devices and ADA compliant. He also works with search engine optimization to try to help his clients rank higher in searches. He said that work has paid off in Chapmanville.
Runyon’s new design also offers multiple online event calendars, as well as a blog for the city to share any business and event news.
The website will also be enabled to offer commercial license and other documents. Hatfield said the offer alone will be huge for the city, as someone could complete the process to start a business in the city on their own schedule.
Hatfield also commented on the security features provided by RunyonTech. Runyon said it pays a third-party cybersecurity company to ensure that information provided to its customers remains secure.
Runyon also offers a hosting service for county email addresses. As a third party, Runyon also said his company will have the ability to transfer email address access for each ward and the mayoral position after an election or any other circumstance in which an office may change hands He said this ensures that there is no disruption to voters.
The council approved the contract, with the first year costing $2,000 and then the annual fee dropping to $1,200. The city also has the option to cancel service at any time and pay only for the months the services were used.
HD Media reporter Nancy Peyton primarily covers Mingo County news.
[ad_2]
Source link
