What would you include on a spreadsheet to track all of your microsites?

Recommended Spreadsheet Columns for Council Websites

1. Basic Identification

• Website Name – Human-friendly name (e.g. “Planning Portal”, “Leisure Services”).
• Domain Name / URL – e.g. planning.mytown.gov.uk
• Subdomain? (Y/N) – Helps track if it’s under the council’s main domain.
• Service Description / Purpose – Brief summary of what the site is for.

2. Ownership and Responsibility

• Internal Owner / Department – Who is responsible internally (e.g. Housing Dept).
• Business Contact – Name/email of the service lead.
• Technical Owner – Internal contact who manages the technical side.

3. Technical Details

• Hosting Provider – e.g. AWS, Azure, Gov.UK PaaS, private host.
• Content Management System (CMS) – e.g. WordPress, Drupal, bespoke.
• DNS Provider – e.g. Cloudflare, AWS Route 53, internal IT.
• SSL Certificate Provider – Who issues the TLS/SSL cert.
• SSL Expiry Date – For tracking renewal needs.
• IP Address – If known/static.

4. Contracts & Vendors

• Third-party Developer / Agency – If managed externally.
• Maintenance Contract (Y/N) – Whether it’s under a support contract.
• Contract Expiry Date – So you can review or renew in time.
• Procurement Platform – e.g. G-Cloud, direct award, framework used.

5. Compliance & Standards

• Accessibility Compliance Level – WCAG 2.1 AA, etc.
• Privacy Policy Link – Where users can find it.
• Cookies Policy in Place? (Y/N) – Confirm if cookie banner exists.
• Last Accessibility Audit Date – When it was last reviewed.
• Google Analytics / Tracking? (Y/N) – Helps with GDPR assessment.

6. Security

• Penetration Test Last Completed – Date of last security review.
• Security Contact – Internal or vendor contact for breaches.
• Login Required? (Y/N) – Public site vs. login-only portal.

7. Lifecycle & Review

• Date Created / Launched
• Last Updated
• Next Review Date
• Still Active? (Y/N) – Flag for sites that are live but unused.
• Planned Retirement Date – If decommissioning is scheduled.

Optional (Advanced Use)

• Backup Frequency / Method – Especially for bespoke/critical systems.
• Search Engine Indexing (Y/N) – Should it be crawled?
• Mobile Responsive? (Y/N) – For usability checks.
• Notes / Comments – Catch-all for anything not covered.

I think that makes a pretty good starting point for any council when auditing their microsites.

P.S. Added bonus, here's an excel sheet for the above.