The Small Business Administration has put a new face on its website, www.sba.gov.

The redesign is intended to make it more user-friendly. Instead of being organized around individual SBA programs, it focuses on information that a user might need.

The new design resembles the governmentwide Web portal FirstGov, which recently won an Innovation in American Government award.

For example, the old SBA site required a visitor to click on “SBA Programs” and scroll through a long list to find SUB-Net, the directory of subcontracting opportunities.

On the new site, a click on “Business Opportunities” on the home page leads the user to a list of “Basic Contracting Topics,” including “Subcontracting Opportunities.” That page links to SUB-Net.

However, it’s now difficult to find specific programs. Links to the 8(a) and HUBZone programs, for example, are far down at the bottom of the “Business Opportunities” page. It’s quicker to use the “Search” window on the home page if you know what program you are looking for.

SBA says this redesign is phase one of a larger effort.