By Snohomish County PUD

The utility business is notoriously complicated. At the PUD we manage dams, energy efficiency programs, cybersecurity requirements, billing and customer service, and everything else we do every day to keep the lights on and water flowing.

To get all of that information on a website can be a Herculean task. Our old website was feeling the strain. After serving the PUD for nearly 13 years, it had become convoluted and hard to navigate as information began piling up on more than 750 webpages. It was also outdated. The site was not responsive to mobile devices and the design was tired and not intuitive for customers.

After months of hard work, the new Snopud.com is a reality. The new site is designed with customers’ needs in mind. Improvements make it easier to navigate and find important information on their account, as well as find outage information and conservation programs.

There has been a lot of thought put into design and content on our new site. We’ve cut the number of webpages in half, making it easier for customers to navigate to the information they’re looking for quickly.

Most importantly, we researched why customers visit our website and tailored the content and design to fit those needs. What’s important to our customers: their bill, outage info, saving money and energy, and the environment. The four main categories on the site now cater to those needs:

• Account & Billing

• Save Energy & Money

• Outages & Safety

• Community & Environment.

These categories are prominently displayed across the top of the new site and serve as doorways to the rest of our new website. Within each category, customers can quickly access sub-categories to find the information they’re trying to find.

Here are some other great new elements of the new SnoPUD.com.

One-click sign-on for MySnoPUD: The new site has one-click sign-in for MySnoPUD, our powerful customer portal. That means customers can quickly log in and review their energy and water usage on interactive graphs, make a payment or view older bills, set up autopay or paperless billing, request different payment arrangements or sign up for text alerts. If you haven’t registered your account on MySnoPUD, today is a great day to head over there and enroll. Find the blue MySnoPUD sign-in button in the upper-right-hand corner of the site.

Translate the site into multiple languages: To better serve all PUD customers, the new site includes easy access to a foreign-language translation tool. Customers can easily toggle between 15 different languages, including Spanish, Russian and Chinese, at the top left-hand corner of the site. The PUD wants to make sure all customers feel welcome.

“How Do I …” Tool: One of the best features on the new site is this tool that allows customers to easily find the most sought-after information on the site. Need to start or stop service or find construction requirements? The new tool will allow you to easily find what you need in one easy click. You can also use the tool to find out how to attend PUD commission meetings, get financial assistance, pay your bill and more. Find the “How Do I …” drop down in the upper-right-hand corner of the site next to the MySnoPUD sign in button.

To explore our new website, go to www.snopud.com.

Video online

To see a video about the PUD’s new website, go to the online version of this article at www.heraldnet.com.