www.offenbach.de in demand as a reliable source of information during the crisis
04.03.2021 – The joint internet portal of the City of Offenbach am Main and the Stadtwerke Group www.offenbach.de recorded over three million visits in 2020, 66% more than in the previous year, and almost eight million page views.
"The main reason for this huge increase in visitor numbers was the comprehensive online communication surrounding the coronavirus," said Regina Preis, Head of Corporate Communications at the Stadtwerke Group, and Fabian El Cheikh, Head of Public Relations.
Corona topic section provides in-depth information
In March 2020, the online editors from the city and Stadtwerke jointly set up the "Information on the coronavirus" section at www.offenbach.de/corona (opens in a new tab) and have been continuously expanding it ever since.
Right from the start, it provided answers to the most important questions about the pandemic, explained the measures taken to contain the virus and linked to further information - for example from the state of Hesse or the Robert Koch Institute. Interested parties can also view the latest daily updated infection figures there. "Our online editorial team has done an unprecedented job here over the past year under great time pressure and with great commitment," say Preis and El Cheikh. In order to keep the website up to date, the online editorial team from the city and municipal utilities was on call at weekends from April to December and worked in shifts from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at times. Important information about the pandemic can also be found on the Corona pages in plain language, sign language and several foreign languages.
In addition to data, facts and rules about the corona pandemic, the section grew in April and May to include tips on staying at home during quarantine, explanations for children and offers and appeals for help. For example, over 300 volunteers were found for the shopping assistance service, which the Offenbach Volunteer Center coordinates on behalf of the city. There were also instructions for sewing everyday masks and a list of Offenbach restaurants and retailers offering delivery services. The website now also provides information on the coronavirus vaccination.
Corona communication via website and social media
The Corona topic section alone recorded almost 1.5 million page views in 2020 - this corresponds to around 19% of all page views on the entire portal. There were also numerous information pages on the portal relating to the coronavirus for specific target groups, such as public transport passengers or companies. These pages were also very popular.
In addition to communicating via the internet portal, the online editorial team used Facebook and Twitter to provide daily updates on coronavirus events. Citizens can also use these channels to ask questions, which the online editorial team answers promptly.
"A large part of the work in our departments will continue to be invested in coronavirus communication in order to inform citizens as comprehensively as possible about developments, background information and decisions in Offenbach," say Preis and El Cheikh.
Services and online offerings in demand
In addition to the latest coronavirus information, the online services provided by the city and municipal utilities were also in high demand. This trend had already become apparent in previous years, but was reinforced by the pandemic. The "Online Town Hall" (opens in a new tab) section, for example, achieved over half a million page views, an increase of 78% compared to the previous year. Stadtwerke's online services (opens in a new tab) were also in demand in 2020: for example, the email order form for bulky waste was accessed almost 45,000 times - four times as often as in 2019.
The City Hall A to Z (opens in a new tab) section with all services and important contacts in the city and at Stadtwerke increased its page views by 18 percent to over 1,300,000.
Other developments that were already apparent in previous years were also confirmed in 2020: More and more people are using the portal via mobile devices - 69% of all users in 2020. At 59%, the majority of users also came to the portal's pages via search engines in 2020. However, more direct accesses were recorded again in 2020 than in previous years: "During the crisis, the portal of the city and municipal utilities seems to have proven itself as a very well-known, central and reliable source of information," emphasized Preis and El Cheikh.
Portal to be further optimized
The www.offenbach.de portal went online in its current form in 2015. Even back then, the pages were optimized for mobile use. Since then, the online editorial team has regularly evaluated the number of page views and used the findings to continuously develop the portal. This has also shown statistically that the use of the portal via mobile devices has increased continuously.
The aim this year is therefore to optimize the portal even more for use via smartphone or tablet, to create easier access to the topics according to target groups and to make the online services of the city and municipal utilities even more quickly accessible. As both access via search engines and internal search queries are increasing, the search function is to be further improved and user guidance via the menu modernized.
The further development will also make it possible to play out individual subject areas from the existing portal in the form of progressive web apps, which correspond in their operation to the classic native apps available in the relevant app stores.