Seal Beach doesn’t know how many people visit the city website. Synoptek, the vendor that manages sealbeachca.gov for the city government, doesn’t provide reports on analytics for site visitor traffic, according to Acting City Manager Patrick Gallegos. However, the City Clerk’s Office says they are in the process of developing a tracking system for this information.
District Two Council Member Tom Moore, who works in IT, speculated that the city doesn’t get reports because the contract with Synoptek is so old.
Page 40 of the contract PDF (available on the city website) shows the signature of then-City Manager David Carmany on Jan. 27, 2009. Page 42 shows that Synoptek’s proposal for IT outsourcing was dated March 15, 2007.
Information about web traffic is often called analytics. Some platforms, such as the Nextdoor social media platform, automatically provide analytics to individual members for free. “Website analytics refers to collecting, reporting and analyzing data that comes from users who interact with your website. It’s a process that will allow you to home in on how your site is performing and what you can do to improve it,” according to Forbes.com. The Seal Beach city website provides information about upcoming meetings, outreach, the online permitting process, and city services.
What the city knows
“While we don’t have specific website analytics data readily available at this time, we can share some insights based on our social media presence,” according to an unsigned Oct. 7, 2024 email from the City Clerk’s Office. The message was sent through the Public Records Request porta. “The City’s official social media platforms have a combined following of 54,238. We’ve seen a steady increase in engagement and interactions on these platforms, indicating a growing interest in the City’s news and updates,” according to the City Clerk’s Office.
“We believe that our social media channels have effectively driven traffic to our website and provided valuable information to our residents,” according to the City Clerk’s Office.
“While we don’t have specific website analytics data readily available at this time, we are in the process of implementing a more robust analytic tracking system to gather detailed information on website visits, clicks, and dwell times,” according to the City Clerk’s Office.
“Once this system is in place, we will be able to provide more comprehensive data on our website’s performance,” according to the City Clerk’s Office.
The Sun on Sept. 3 requested the August analytics for sealbeachca.gov. On Sept. 27, the request was closed because “there are no records responsive to your request.”
That day, the Sun revised the request and still received no information. The Sun called District Four Council Member/Mayor Schelly Sustarsic to ask about traffic numbers for the website. Sustarsic emailed Interim City Manager Patrick Gallegos.
On Sept. 30, Interim City Manager Patrick Gallegos an answer to Sustarsic, who forwarded the email to the Sun. “A division of Synoptek, Web Support, manages our website on behalf of the City. A few key staff members also have access to make changes to our website but typically it is Synoptek staff that is posting updates with content provided by staff. For a small city without a dedicated PIO division, this is standard especially when we contract out IT-managed services,” Gallegos wrote.
As for the question about sealbeachca.gov, he wrote in part that “we do not currently have a report that is created by them and provided to the City which is likely the reason the City responded with ‘no responsive records,’” Gallegos wrote.
