If you haven’t checked out Wilton’s website lately, it is worth a look. From experience, I know how easy it is to use.

It has been thoughtfully constructed in an intuitive manner by volunteer designer and webmaster Jackie Kahle, meaning that even a computer novice like me can maneuver through it without a hitch. And it’s not your normal small-town website. It has far more than local government information, which is all that many towns offer.

What makes it unique is its “outward” focus for those who may want to research town history, open a business, visit a shop, purchase a house or just take a hike in a local forest. People visiting the site will also encounter articles by guest writers detailing hidden places, interesting people and local businesses as part of its format. It is not a secret that Wilton’s website is the envy of town managers throughout the Monadnock region, and many would like to clone it.

I wanted to know how Wilton was so fortunate to have such an informative and useful website.  I learned that it was all because in 2016 and 2017, the town’s desire for a new site coincided with the formation of the Economic Development Team. A new web platform, designed to attract visitors and businesses to Wilton, was chosen in early 2018, after a year-long process. At the same time, a website development team was established in August with the mandate to get things up and running by December. The team beat that deadline by going online Nov. 12.

Although Jackie’s role was to only be in charge of the visitors and business sections, she knew from past experience the importance of a clean and easy to use home page with easy access to all things people may want or need without being overly confusing or busy. Her mantra was “If everything’s on the home page, then nothing’s on the home page.” 

It’s also the closest thing Wilton has to a town news source. Jackie takes pride in keeping people informed about what’s happening in Wilton. The recent primary is a good example. She proactively wrote the article on the primary to keep people informed and to make voting an easy process for everyone.

By keeping an open line to all local community resources for information, the site offers a comprehensive community calendar that lists all events from all the organizations in town. Jackie explained, “I have no one telling me what to post. I just try to keep up with town events and things people should know and then put them on the site. I also have people like Jeff Stone who help with the postings, plus some local organizations have people who are adept enough to enter their own updated information.”

One of the things Jackie is adamant about is quality control of the site. She continuously looks for dead links and changes that impact a user’s experience. She knows that what’s on the Wilton site must be accurate and timely to be useful. She also insists that site users follow the town’s style guides with its branding and design established by graphic designer Kat Tighe. All those who enter information onto the site are trained in good design practices so the site remains appealing. These are all things town officials have no time for nor experience doing, but became possible when Jackie stepped in as a volunteer.

And the seasonally changing photos illustrate Wilton in a most-appealing manner. This, too, has happened under her leadership. People should know that the site always welcomes new photos from residents.

Statistics prove the value of the site. Eighty-eight percent of those replying to a survey said the new site was far superior to the old one for ease of use, content and visual appeal. During the first year, there were 32,000 unique visitors and by 2022 that rose to 51,000, and 55% of those views were from out of town.

So you ask, “What will happen when Jackie decides to retire as webmaster?” She has an answer, “I wrote a two-page, in-depth description of all I do to maintain the site. I hope it will be useful in the future.” And she’s willing to share it with anyone else who may be interested in establishing a comparable website. 

So maybe there is a way to clone this site. If you want to check it out, just go to wiltonnh.gov.

 

One of the reasons I decided to write a column about Wilton is I thought it was time to introduce our Wilton community to others as well as introduce people like Jackie, who work silently behind the scenes at tasks that make living in Wilton as seamless and informative as possible. If you know of a Wilton business, community organization, club, favorite spot to visit or someone who I should hear about who deserves to be recognized, please contact me either by phone or email at 603-654-2783 or gchoar@tds.net