Bovey Tracey Town Council
Category: Development / Accessibility / Security / SEO
Client: Bovey Tracey TC
Local government website in Bovey Tracey, Devon. Launched in 2022 after a 3-month build. Public-sector accessibility and security baked in, with simpler bookings and clearer information for residents.
Why the Town Council in Bovey Tracey needed a compliant website
Residents needed a fast, simple way to find agendas, minutes and local services. Staff needed a secure, reliable CMS that lowered admin time. The Council also had to meet public sector accessibility rules. 'Our priority was accessibility compliance and security compliance.'' Meetings ran on site and over Zoom to move quickly without missing details.
Competitor & Keyword Insights: Council Services in Devon
I focused on resident tasks over keyword theatre. Clear signposting to meetings, documents, news and facilities. Structured content and schema so search and assistive tech can understand every page. Accessibility first. No fancy stuff.
How I built the site step-by-step (Copy, Design, Launch)
- Discovery & scope Confirmed audiences, key tasks, and compliance goals including WCAG 2.1 AA and security posture.
- Information architecture & UX Clean navigation for Council, Community, Documents and What's On. Internal links connect news, services and bookings.
- Copy & on-page SEO Tight H1 to H4 structure, plain-English summaries, descriptive link text, meta and FAQs. Entities and schema prepared for machines and AI surfaces.
- Build & performance Responsive, accessible templates with ARIA landmarks and skip links. Core Web Vitals protected. Hosted on a secure, monitored stack with CDN and compression.
- Tracking & privacy Goals for contact, bookings and document views. Consent framework aligned to Council policies.
- Launch & QA Accessibility checks, redirects from the old site, XML sitemap submitted.
Timeline: 3 months in 2022
FAQs Answered
- How quickly can a Town Council go live? Most sites of this size launch in 3 - 6 months. Public sector builds can vary with approvals.
- Do I need ongoing SEO? Yes. Content changes, services evolve and search shifts. We keep technical SEO foundations tidy and expand content as needs grow. See Technical SEO foundations on our SEO services in Devon page.
- Can you host and support the site? Yes. We I fast, secure hosting with updates and backups, plus support for editors.
- Will this help with AI Overviews? Yes. We I AI-ready schema and entity mapping so answer engines can parse and cite your pages.
Pre-Launch Checklist: Speed, Accessibility & Security
- CWV pass target with LCP under 2.0 s on key templates
- Alt text, colour contrast to 4.5:1, skip links, keyboard navigation
- HTTPS, daily backups, core and plugin updates
- Schema types added: Service, LocalBusiness, FAQ, BreadcrumbList
- XML sitemap, robots.txt and mapped redirects
Early Wins & Backlink Strategy for 'Bovey Tracey Town Council website'
Residents can reach minutes, agendas and news faster, reducing calls to the office. Staff publish updates quicker with fewer steps. Accessibility AA status supports inclusivity and trust. Next, I'll approach local partners and civic bodies for quality citations and links that reflect real community ties.
First month SEO wins: From invisible to used daily
- Improved visibility for branded and service queries as structured sections surface in search
- New long-tail queries discovered around facility bookings and local services
- Performance lift from lean templates and image optimisation
- More clicks to bookings and documents from clearer signposting
Add seasonal content, strengthen internal links to documents and services, and grow citations from regional organisations.
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