Web design

Scholarships to Support Spokane Student Education

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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 MetricNew WordPress Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed70/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed91/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization93/100
WebPageTest Speed Index1.795
Total Homepage File Size273 Kb (218 Kb Images + 9 Kb Scripts + 45Kb CSS + 8Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests18 (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

Building WordPress Websites, Online Forms, and Marcom Confidence

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Habitat for Humanity website screenshot

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 MetricOld Website
New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility41/10098/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices83/100100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed58/10070/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed53/10098/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization50/10093/100
WebPageTest Speed Index11.3843.422
Total Homepage File Size15.336 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 Requests40 (16 Images + 9 Scripts + 2 CSS + 8Other + 5 HTML)41 (7 Images + 15 Scripts + 15 CSS + 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

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screenshot for El Centro de la Raza

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 MetricOld Website
New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility88/10098/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices92/10092/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed39/10087/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed54/10099/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization79/10077/100
WebPageTest Speed Index10.7293.024
Total Homepage File Size11.5 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 Requests64 (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

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Collaborative divorce lawyer 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 Metricold GoDaddy website
New WordPress Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility48/10097/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices67/100100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed24/10097/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed96/10089/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization91/10091/100
WebPageTest Speed Index1.9052.420
Total Homepage File Size1.302 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 Requests42 (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

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mobile dental van website

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 MetricOld Website
New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility95/10098/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices92/10092/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed31/10084/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed81/10095/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization80/10091/100
WebPageTest Speed Index7.3092.879
Total Homepage File Size2.2 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 Requests84 (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.