By Andrea Gregory

Somerville’s Web site is getting a complete facelift, and the changes begin with a new, easier-to-remember Web address. But the user-friendly upgrades won’t stop there.

Most of the changes will be rolled out this fall. However, finding the city’s homepage is already easier. Before this week, Web surfers needed to connect to www.ci.somerville.ma.us. Officials say the “ci” part made it hard to remember so the city has purchased www.somervillema.gov, hoping it will roll off the fingertips of residents typing at computers.

Although a pretty simple adjustment, many more are underway.

“There are quite a few changes coming,” said Thomas P. Champion, spokesman for the city. “There are several different things going on here.”

Champion said to expect a complete redesign with more content and more transaction capability. Also city officials are all going to be getting new email addresses.

Already bills like parking, water and property taxes can be paid over the city’s Web site. Residents can look up every law in the entire municipal code. And the site houses meeting agendas minutes and newsworthy tidbits from across the city. There is also 311 – the city’s information call-in line, accessible via the Web. Champion said the online offering and upcoming changes all fall under the umbrella of the mayor’s customer service initiative.

In January, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone revealed his plan to start treating city government as a business. And when it comes to running a business customer service is key.

‚ÄúHe‚Äôs made customer service a high priority,‚Äù said Champion.  ‚ÄúThe other piece of it has been an enormous change in the technology of Web sites. This becomes an ongoing process.‚Äù

Rusty Lewis, who has been the city’s Web services director, is what some would call an informational architect. He said the Web is entering a new phase and it is important for Web sites to keep up.

“We are sort of in the second bubble of the Web now,” said Lewis, adding that ” 2.0” is the new industry buzz word for the latest advances in online capabilities.

The city’s Website receives between 9,000 and 10,000 hits per day, according to Lewis. He said earlier this month, just under 11,000 hits were received on the day of the fireworks. There are about 2,500 unique users – visitors from different computers – per day. Lewis said the site’s activity is expected to increase with the new changes.

Until about two and a half years ago the city’s Web site was what Lewis refers to as a “static brochure site.” However, Somerville rolled out its new version around that time and has even won recent award for its online link to the city. Lewis said he is hoping to take the city’s online entrance to a level where it is viewed as a national example of an exceptional municipal Web site.

Lewis said the latest round of upgrades is really focused on making the site user-friendly.  He said people don‚Äôt want to click five or six times to find the information they are looking for.

“If you are frustrating the people by hiding the information, they are going to leave quicker,” he said.

Some of the changes and a lot of behind the scenes work is already underway. Lewis said the links on the city’s Web site used to be picture based rather than text based. Although it might not seem like a big deal for residents clicking to reach new pages, search engines such as Google will over look any link that is not text based. Therefore some city information was failing to show up through popular search avenues.

Lewis plans to improve the city’s Web site using free content management platforms available from drupal.org. He said it is a great resource to gather free software for Web sites.

Video is also an expected addition to the Web site, making it a multi-media reflection of the city.

“There will be a whole multi-media section of the site,” he said.

City officials say online visitors can expect to look twice once the big changes are implemented since the site is expected to have a completely new look and feel.

“We are sort of throwing everything out and starting fresh,” said Lewis.

“The page will look very different. The way you navigate will be very different,” said Champion. “People will notice a striking change.”

Champion and Lewis both say the city’s Web site is a valuable resource as it stands. However, that won’t keep Somerville from striving to grow its online presence in the ever-changing world of online technology.

“Anything can be made better,” said Champion.