New Web address, new Web site for King County- King County

June 19, 2007

New Web address, new Web site for King County

Rom Sims King County's award-winning Web site, just got better. The county today debuted a new Web address, www.kingcounty.gov to replace www.metrokc.gov, plus a new home page design and other upgrades. The changes plus others still in the works promise to make kingcounty.gov more user-friendly and make a wealth of information more accessible.

The transition of the massive 100,000 page Web site will be completed over the next 18 months. Use of the site has grown 50 percent from January 2006 to January 2007 with page views jumping from 7.6 million page to 11.5 million during that time.

"Technology is helping us provide more convenient services, more information more quickly, and more efficiencies in our workforce," said County Executive Ron Sims. "With the huge increase in use, our Web site was due for technology and content upgrades."

The county recently upgraded to a Google search engine - which makes KingCounty.gov more user friendly and makes it easier to find all the great information available on the website. Web site architecture, Web Content Management and server upgrades are also all part of the 18 month transition.

County e-mail addresses are also changing to a format incorporating the new domain and will use the format firstname.lastname@kingcounty.gov. The system is accepting e-mail with the old address and the new e-mail for several months while we inform the public about the change and make the full technical transition over several months.

The new home page features a new service-driven navigation menu, rather than a department-focused layout, that will make it easier for county residents to find the people and services they're looking for. The navigation is a better reflection of the services King County provides.

Most of this large scale transition is happening behind the scenes with cost-effective technology upgrades and changes over the next 18 months. Until then, the old metrokc.gov home page will redirect users to the new home page at kingcounty.gov and department home pages will work as usual, but website addresses within sites may not automatically redirect users until farther into the 18 month transition.

Eventually, the Web changes will make it easier for King County residents, other governments and staff to find what they need on the county's Internet system.

King County's Web site won five national awards for excellence last year including being named one of CIO Magazine's Top 100 Innovators and a tie for second place in the Digital Counties Survey for large metropolitan counties.

Recent years have seen a huge surge in use of King County Web site, with its most popular services including the Metro bus Trip Planner, Parcel Viewer, on-line property tax payments and jail inmate lookup information.

Metro Transit

Metro Trip Planner use is on track to more than double by the end of 2007. The service had 3.4 million visits in 2003 and 6.6 million visits in 2006. This year, it saw more than 3 million users through the month of May, nearly as many users in five months as for the whole of 2003.

Property tax payments

Last year 15,000 people paid their property taxes online. For the first half of 2007, almost 10,000 people paid their property taxes online

Pet Licenses

Online pet licensing averages between 1500 and 2000 monthly online payments accounting for approximately 15-17% of the total license transactions. The pet licenses application lets citizens purchase new or renew existing pet licenses. The application provides an interface for existing license holders to view their existing license information and to make modifications as necessary. Customers can also enter their owner and pet information to purchase licenses for new pets.

Elections Candidate Filing

The Candidate Filing application provides candidates running for office an online option to pay filing fees for various elections. This year, more than half of the candidate filings were done online.

King County Executive, Ron Sims County news Executive initiatives Excellence in Government Executive offices Biography Contact information King County Executive Office Ron Sims, King County Executive 701 Fifth Ave. Suite 3210 Seattle, WA 98104 Phone: 206-296-4040 Fax: 206-296-0194 TTY Relay: 711	KING COUNTY HOME \| NEWS \| SERVICES \| DIRECTORY \| CONTACT King County Executive, Ron Sims King County Executive You're in: King County Executive, Ron Sims print June 19, 2007 New Web address, new Web site for King County King County's award-winning Web site, just got better. The county today debuted a new Web address, www.kingcounty.gov to replace www.metrokc.gov, plus a new home page design and other upgrades. The changes plus others still in the works promise to make kingcounty.gov more user-friendly and make a wealth of information more accessible. The transition of the massive 100,000 page Web site will be completed over the next 18 months. Use of the site has grown 50 percent from January 2006 to January 2007 with page views jumping from 7.6 million page to 11.5 million during that time. "Technology is helping us provide more convenient services, more information more quickly, and more efficiencies in our workforce," said County Executive Ron Sims. "With the huge increase in use, our Web site was due for technology and content upgrades." The county recently upgraded to a Google search engine - which makes KingCounty.gov more user friendly and makes it easier to find all the great information available on the website. Web site architecture, Web Content Management and server upgrades are also all part of the 18 month transition. County e-mail addresses are also changing to a format incorporating the new domain and will use the format firstname.lastname@kingcounty.gov. The system is accepting e-mail with the old address and the new e-mail for several months while we inform the public about the change and make the full technical transition over several months. The new home page features a new service-driven navigation menu, rather than a department-focused layout, that will make it easier for county residents to find the people and services they're looking for. The navigation is a better reflection of the services King County provides. Most of this large scale transition is happening behind the scenes with cost-effective technology upgrades and changes over the next 18 months. Until then, the old metrokc.gov home page will redirect users to the new home page at kingcounty.gov and department home pages will work as usual, but website addresses within sites may not automatically redirect users until farther into the 18 month transition. Eventually, the Web changes will make it easier for King County residents, other governments and staff to find what they need on the county's Internet system. King County's Web site won five national awards for excellence last year including being named one of CIO Magazine's Top 100 Innovators and a tie for second place in the Digital Counties Survey for large metropolitan counties. Recent years have seen a huge surge in use of King County Web site, with its most popular services including the Metro bus Trip Planner, Parcel Viewer, on-line property tax payments and jail inmate lookup information. Metro Transit Metro Trip Planner use is on track to more than double by the end of 2007. The service had 3.4 million visits in 2003 and 6.6 million visits in 2006. This year, it saw more than 3 million users through the month of May, nearly as many users in five months as for the whole of 2003. Property tax payments Last year 15,000 people paid their property taxes online. For the first half of 2007, almost 10,000 people paid their property taxes online Pet Licenses Online pet licensing averages between 1500 and 2000 monthly online payments accounting for approximately 15-17% of the total license transactions. The pet licenses application lets citizens purchase new or renew existing pet licenses. The application provides an interface for existing license holders to view their existing license information and to make modifications as necessary. Customers can also enter their owner and pet information to purchase licenses for new pets. Elections Candidate Filing The Candidate Filing application provides candidates running for office an online option to pay filing fees for various elections. This year, more than half of the candidate filings were done online.
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	Updated: June 19, 2007