Contract for the MCCIP Website Development, Hosting and Support (RM6190)

MCCIP requires provision of services to redesign / develop a new user-friendly website for MCCIP to be live by 01 December 2026, and for ongoing hosting and support up to 31 March 2030.

The main function of the MCCIP website (https://www.mccip.org.uk) is as a repository of all outputs published by MCCIP over the past 20 years, that provide marine climate change evidence and advice for partners, policy makers and other stakeholders. The vast majority of outputs are document type files (PDF and Microsoft Word), although we have started to use ArcGIS to produce some in a Storymap format. The MCCIP Secretariat manages the content of the website and performs information updates directly.

But the current website no longer meets our needs. It lacks a properly searchable library function; the documentation content was never properly catalogued and cannot be easily interrogated or browsed. New pages and child elements have been added over the years to accommodate new topics, but the structure has never been rationalised and has become confusing, making it difficult for users to locate specific content, especially on mobile devices. The CMS system (Drupal) is also overly complex and even small updates can be very time-consuming, or simply not possible. In addition, the current version of Drupal will become obsolete by December 2026.

Some of the desirable features for the new website would include

• A simple, user-friendly content management system approach which allows the MCCIP Secretariat to perform regular updates and amendments directly without the need for support.
• Fresh design based on MCCIP branding guidelines.
• Integration of a library plug-in for better management and access to documents.
• Inclusion of a usage statistics/metrics dashboard.
• Ability to embed some of the media and content we are developing using external applications, such as ArcGIS Storymaps.
• A 'Contact Us' function and links to MCCIP socials.
• Compliance with UK Government data security standards.
• Potential CSM options the Supplier considers suitable and why.
• How to achieve a clean, smart website style that matches the MCCIP branding, and that together with the imagery is in tune with a theme that combines marine & climate change (this is something that the current website supplier has failed to achieve).
• How to achieve a structure that is logical and easy to navigate. We are happy to take advice from the Supplier, but we understand it must work in tandem with how the library content will also be organized. The hierarchy of the current website for example is too deeply layered and requires a high number of clicks to move through to find specific outputs, which we puts visitors off.
• A landing page design that can be easily updated and refreshed, e.g. so we can promote the latest output or share announcements.
• A simple contact us form, linked to our MCCIP email inbox.
• Potentially, a way for users to log the intended use of outputs when they download content, even if we just ask them to choose from a list of pre-defined options.
• Website user engagement and traffic. This has never been available to us on the current website, but it would be very useful to be able to track key metrics like average time on page, bounce rate, pages per session, open clicks, links downloaded, etc to provide us with insights into user-content interaction and effectiveness.
• How would the supplier safely and efficiently migrate all current file and media content from the old website to the new one, bearing in mind that we may want to rationalise some of the documents as well as refreshing some of the page content, so they will need to liaise closely with the Client for this task.
• How to ensure that we can directly manage day-to-day updates ourselves with minimal support required from the Supplier.
• CMS Training: The Supplier to provide appropriate user training on the system of choice to the Client ahead of website going live.
• Library plugin: this will be a key feature of the new website, to allow cataloguing and searching (e.g. by publication date, document type, topic, title, etc).
• AI crawling: we are aware of the increasing use of AI bots to systematically find, collect and summarise information and data from websites. We are not necessarily opposed to this but understand we have to future-proof the website to allow for AI bots to interrogate our website and its content while protecting its integrity.
• Ability to embed media content, such YouTube videos and ArcGIS storymaps using i-links/code
• Timeline for key stages of delivery up to go-live by 1 December 2026.
• Hosting and support package options, noting that while on-going support required by the Client from the Supplier should be minimal, should the decision be taken to retender after March 2030, the Client will require a managed exit from the Supplier and their support to ensure a smooth handover of the service to a different supplier.