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website screenshot of NIIOH

A new mobile responsive WordPress CMS for NIIOH, to replace their non-mobile friendly Drupal site.

NIIOH provides convenings, tools and resources for thousands of educators, health professionals and other organizations to eradicate dental disease.

New site features include an e-newsletter signup, site search, custom 404 error page, and a modern visual refresh.

Scope of Work

  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Security Hardening
  • Visual Layout & Design
  • WordPress Theme Development
Performance MetricOld Drupal WebsiteNew WordPress Site
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility45/10089/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices67/10096/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed90/10070/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed100/10096/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization54/10085/100
WebPageTest Speed Index4.2834.786
Total Homepage File Size252 Kb (153 Kb Images + 54 Kb Scripts + 26 Kb CSS + 15 Kb Other + 4 Kb HTML)1.136 Mb (679 Kb Images + 101 Kb Scripts + 189 Kb CSS + 175 Kb Fonts + 19 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests52 (11 images + 2 scripts + 37 CSS files + 1 Other + 1 HTML)52 (31 Images + 9 Scripts + 9 CSS + 2 Fonts + 1 HTML)
Estimated Homepage Mobile Load Time~4.3 seconds~4.8 seconds

WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2023, 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: David Owen Hastings
WordPress Design + Development: Scott Marlow

WordPress Website Rebuild for Dermatology Clinic

dermatology clinic website screenshot

A rebuilt website for Advanced Dermatology and Laser Institute of Seattle.

Dr. Greene’s dermatology clinic contracted with me to regain full administrative access to their WordPress site, which a marcom agency would not provide. After content was successfully migrated, I cloned the site into a new open source Theme, _S. Usability was improved  by increasing font sizes and color contrast.

Scope of Work

  • Accessibility
  • Performance Optimization
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Security Hardening
  • Visual Layout & Design
  • WordPress Theme Development

Performance

To optimize performance, overall page size, at 802 Kb, is 67% below the median industry homepage size of ~2.4 Mb, and server requests have been reduced 42%, from 69 to 40. Accessibility benchmarks are also excellent, with a 38% improvement in Google Lighthouse’s automated accessibility metrics.

Before & After Performance Comparison

Performance Metric Old Website
New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility 60/100 96/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices 95/100 100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed 72/100 73/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed 91/100 91/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization 82/100 91/100
WebPageTest Speed Index 1.805 2.251
Total Homepage File Size 1.047 Mb (230 Kb Images + 421 Kb Scripts + 117 Kb CSS + 271 Kb Fonts + 32 Kb HTML) 802 Kb (416 Kb Images + 193 Kb Scripts + 87 Kb CSS + 106 Kb Fonts + 106 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests 69 (15 Images + 16 Scripts + 28 CSS + 7 Fonts + 1 Other + 2 HTML) 40 (14 Images + 13 Scripts + 8 CSS + 3 Fonts + 1 Other + 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.

Thank you so much. We are extremely happy.
Peggy Mesnik

Site Credits

WordPress Design + Development: Scott Marlow

Scholarships to Support Spokane Student Education

Spokane nonprofit retired teachers association website

A new WordPress-powered website for Spokane Area Retired Educator’s Association (SAREA), a member organization of Washington State School Retirees Association.

This Spokane nonprofit association lost access to their domain registrar and host, after a key stakeholder passed away. After a new domain name was secured,  site content was manually migrated into a WordPress CMS for more intuitive content editing. The new site incorporates an online application for scholarships and mini-grants awarded each fall.

Scope of Work

  • Content Migration
  • Performance Optimization
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Security Hardening
  • Visual Layout & Design
  • WordPress Theme Development
  • WordPress Training & Consulting

Performance

Page load speed is excellent with overall page size, 273 Kb, 88% below the median homepage size. Accessibility benchmarks are also superb.

Performance Metric New WordPress Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility 100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices 100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed 70/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed 91/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization 93/100
WebPageTest Speed Index 1.795
Total Homepage File Size 273 Kb (218 Kb Images + 9 Kb Scripts + 45Kb CSS + 8Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests 18 (5 Images + 4 Scripts + 8 CSS + 1 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time ~1.8 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 Design + Development: Scott Marlow