It’s live! The new diocesan website is up and active

By Deacon Tom Cuskey
Editor

This may have already gone viral, so you may be fully aware that the Diocese of Syracuse has launched its new website. The address is the same — syrdio.org — but the new home is everything you might want in a leading-edge web page.

It’s been more than two years in the making including research, vendor selection, design and content import. The partnering vendor, E-Catholic, has been on board for about 18 months. During that time, diocesan communications and social media specialist Gabby Pattwell has been creating, editing, importing and mothering the site to launch.

“E-Catholic is so cutting edge. They specialize and already speak the same language,” she says. The vendor’s expertise allowed Pattwell to allocate more time to content. “I thought it would be more on the actual software and website. But my time was spent with the Chancery employees, which was surprising to me. But it was also really, really fruitful.”

What will users notice most about the new site?

“The speed of the site and navigation. So, so much faster,” Pattwell says. “The updated fresh content that is really straight to the point with what people need.”

What people need most is the opportunity to connect with the diocese, its ministries and its support of people seeking more about their faith.

“Communication is essential to furthering our mission of evangelization,” adds Danielle Cummings, Chancellor of the diocese and Director of Communications. “To be most effective, ongoing enhancements and improvements of communication tools must be done on a regular basis. The new diocesan website has been designed to intuitively and cleanly respond to queries from those who are seeking information to connect them to aspects of their faith.” Cummings points out that every ministry and diocesan office worked with Pattwell to review their information with fresh eyes to ensure that the information that is accessible is what the visitor needs. “I am thrilled Launch Day is finally here and grateful to Gabby and our ministry teams for their work on this important project.”

Recent statistics show that the diocesan site attracts as many as 17,000 visits per month.  Pattwell has spent countless hours refining the new site and is very excited about the look, feel and impact of the new online home of the Diocese of Syracuse.

“I just love the homepage, I love that we have drone footage of the Cathedral,” she says. It’s also as much about celebrating our history as it is navigating our future. “It has decades-old pictures of the Cathedral, of young nuns and young priests from the ’40s and ’50s. But then it snaps right to drone footage that we took a couple of years ago. So super modern. I love the combination of not forgetting the past and not forgetting everything about our diocese. It’s moving into a new space.”

Please visit the site at syrdio.org and let us know what you think. Email us at [email protected].