Soaking up the Humidity in the San Juan Islands
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Building WordPress Websites, Online Forms, and Marcom Confidence
A website redesign and rebuild for Habitat for Humanity of Kitsap County. This new custom-branded WordPress website replaces a 2017 volunteer-built static HTML site, which was not mobile-friendly, despite a significant amount of site visits from mobile devices.
The WordPress CMS with a Block Editor-integrated Theme enables the new marcom staff to intuitively edit content, as well as create rich, modern layouts. Google Lighthouse benchmarks across the board were significantly improved.
Scope of Work
- Accessibility Consulting
- Branding & Visual Design
- Content Migration
- Performance Optimization
- Search Engine Optimization
- Security Hardening
- WordPress Theme Development
- WordPress Training & Consulting
Performance
Page load speed improved considerably by reducing overall page size 96% from 15.4 Mb to 618 Kb, 1/4th the median homepage size.
Before & After Performance Comparison
| Performance Metric | Old Website | New Website |
| Google Lighthouse: Accessibility | 41/100 | 98/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Best Practices | 83/100 | 100/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed | 58/100 | 70/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed | 53/100 | 98/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization | 50/100 | 93/100 |
| WebPageTest Speed Index | 11.384 | 3.422 |
| Total Homepage File Size | 15.336 Mb (14.6 Mb Images + 933Kb Scripts) | 618 Kb (148 Kb Images + 290 Kb Scripts + 133 Kb CSS + 49 Kb Fonts + 11 Kb HTML) |
| Total Web Server Requests | 40 (16 Images + 9 Scripts + 2 CSS + 8Other + 5 HTML) | 41 (7Images + 15 Scripts + 15CSS + 2 Fonts + 1 HTML) |
| Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time | ~11.4 seconds | ~3.4 seconds |
WebPageTest Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2022, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.
Site Credits
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow
The Web Developer for People of All Races
Another performance-optimized website rebuild from a ThemeForest template Theme to an open source WordPress Theme.
El Centro de la Raza provides 43 programs and services in 9 different service areas for children, youth, families and seniors around King County. The website features a new events calendar, language translation, and more dynamic program content in a more accessible Theme. The Gutenberg Block Editor provides more streamlined editing, with a plethora of layout and design options for content contributors.
Scope of Work
- Accessibility Consulting
- Branding & Visual Design
- Content Migration
- Performance Optimization
- Search Engine Optimization
- Security Hardening
- WordPress Theme Development
- WordPress Training & Consulting
Performance
Page load speed significantly improved since 2022. By reducing overall page size 88%, from 11.5 Mb to 1.4 Mb, and reducing web server requests 19% from 64 to 52, average mobile page loads have improved from ~11 to ~3 seconds.
Before & After Performance Comparison
| Performance Metric | Old Website | New Website |
| Google Lighthouse: Accessibility | 88/100 | 98/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Best Practices | 92/100 | 92/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed | 39/100 | 87/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed | 54/100 | 99/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization | 79/100 | 77/100 |
| WebPageTest Speed Index | 10.729 | 3.024 |
| Total Homepage File Size | 11.5 Mb (10.1 Mb Images + 853 Kb Scripts + 136 Kb CSS + 31 Kb Other + 42 Kb Fonts + 42 Kb HTML) | 1.366 Mb (1 Mb Images + 239 Kb Scripts + 123 Kb CSS + 22 Kb HTML) |
| Total Web Server Requests | 64 (18 Images + 18 Scripts + 14 CSS + 10 Other + 4 HTML) | 52 (13 Images + 14 Scripts + 22 CSS + 1 Other + 2 HTML) |
| Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time | ~11 seconds | ~3 seconds |
WebPageTest Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2022, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.
Site Credits
Visual Design: Pixel Lighthouse
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow
Collaborative Divorce Attorney Website
The latest website launch for Shoreline attorney Ginger Boyle, who specializes in collaborative divorce and divorce mediation.
This project involved rebuilding a non-mobile friendly GoDaddy Site Builder website into a more accessible, mobile friendly WordPress site. Web server requests – the primary factor in slow page load speeds – were reduced 20% from 42 to 34, and overall homepage size was reduced 45% from 1.3 Mb to 715 Kb. Google Lighthouse mobile speed benchmarks improved from 24 to 97/100.
Performance Analysis
| Performance Metric | old GoDaddy website | New WordPress Website |
| Google Lighthouse: Accessibility | 48/100 | 97/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Best Practices | 67/100 | 100/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed | 24/100 | 97/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed | 96/100 | 89/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization | 91/100 | 91/100 |
| WebPageTest Speed Index | 1.905 | 2.420 |
| Total Homepage File Size | 1.302 Mb (144 Kb Images + 80 Kb Scripts + 20 Kb CSS + 1 Mb Fonts + 9 Kb HTML) | 715 Kb (125 Kb Images + 295 Kb Scripts + 93 Kb CSS + Kb Fonts + Kb HTML) |
| Total Web Server Requests | 42 (4 Images + 10 Scripts + 2 CSS + 24 Fonts + 2 HTML) | 34 (6 Images +11 Scripts + 12 CSS + 3 Other + 2 HTML) |
| Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time | ~2 seconds | ~2.4 seconds |
WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2022, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.
Branding & Visual Design: Heidi Grace
Portraiture: Ingrid Page-Sheldon
Videography: The Crouch Group
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow
Regular Website Check-ups = Better Performance
A modern refresh for Arcora Foundation’s SmileMobile van, a 3-chair mobile dental office that brings oral health services to babies, children, youth, pregnant/postpartum people and adults in Washington State who have limited options for dental care. The new site features a mobile-friendly event calendar, as well as translation tool for under-served communities.
Mobile performance was significantly improved by reducing web server requests 63% and overall page size 77%.
Accessibility improvements included skip-to-content links, keyboard-navigable navigation, semantic HTML, and a higher contrast color palette.
Scope of Work
Accessibility Remediation
Performance Optimization
Search Engine Optimization
Visual Design & Layout
Performance Analysis
| Performance Metric | Old Website | New Website |
| Google Lighthouse: Accessibility | 95/100 | 98/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Best Practices | 92/100 | 92/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed | 31/100 | 84/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed | 81/100 | 95/100 |
| Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization | 80/100 | 91/100 |
| WebPageTest Speed Index | 7.309 | 2.879 |
| Total Homepage File Size | 2.2 Mb ( 1.36 Mb Images + 574 Kb Scripts + 156 Kb CSS + Kb HTML) | 509 Kb (153 Kb Images + 128 Kb Scripts + 77 Kb CSS + 150 Kb Fonts + 12 Kb HTML) |
| Total Web Server Requests | 84 (25 Images + 32 Scripts + 16 CSS + 11 Other + 1 HTML) | 31 (6 Images + 11 Scripts + 11 CSS + 1 Font + 2 HTML) |
| Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time | ~7.3 seconds | ~2.9 seconds |
WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2022, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.
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