Cipalla Communications

Rita CipallaAn award-winning communications firm that provides senior-level consulting to nonprofit organizations, foundations, education institutions and government agencies.

Cipalla Communications focuses on travel and tourism, museums and performing arts, education, economic development and the environment. A partnership approach is used to develop creative strategies, crisp communication materials and effective public relations campaigns.

Building Nonprofit Websites in King County

Posted on

Nonprofit youth mentoring website screenshot

A redesigned WordPress website for The 4C Coalition – a community-based nonprofit, founded in 1999, that helps black and other youth of color succeed in school and in life. The 4C Coalition offers one-on-one mentoring, group mentoring and tutoring to 12- to 17-year-olds in King County.

Scope of Work

content migration
copywriting
creative strategy
color palette development
front-end web development
online data management
performance optimization
security hardening
search engine optimization
visual design
WordPress training and consulting

Performance

Page load speed ranks in the top 15% of sites.

WebPageTest Speed Index: 1.737 (median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388)

Total Page File Size: 1.3 Mb (In 2020, the median web page size = ~2.1 MB; the average page size = ~2.4 Mb)
Total Web Server Requests: 48

Web Design Team

Content Strategy: Rita Cipalla
Photography: Rebecca Sullivan
Visual Design: Joan van den Berg
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow

 

Original Websites for Original Artists

Posted on

musician-composer website

A redesigned WordPress website for musician-composer, Glenna Burmer. The new site merges content from burmermusic.com into a single domain for the award-winning artist. Visitors can listen and watch concert clips from SoundCloud and Vimeo. Stay tuned for the teaser trailer for the award-winning animated short film, Nana korobi, Ya oki.

The new website is simply FANTASTIC! Absolutely beautiful!
Glenna Burmer

Scope of Work

content migration
copywriting
creative strategy
color palette development
front-end web development
performance optimization
security hardening
search engine optimization
visual design
WordPress training and consulting

Performance

Page load speed ranks in the top 10% of sites.

Google Lighthouse benchmarks
Mobile Speed: 85/100
Desktop Speed: 97/100
Accessibility: 96/100
Best Practices:  100/100
Search Engine Optimization: 93/100

WebPageTest Speed Index: 1.169 (median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388)

Total Page File Size: 489 Kb (In 2020, the average page size was ~2.4 Mb; the median size was ~2.1 Mb)
Total Web Server Requests: 24 (4 Scripts + 5 Images + 6 CSS files + 4 fonts + 2 Other + 1 HTML )

Team

Content Strategy by: Rita Cipalla
Visual Design by: Joan van den Berg
Banner artwork: Descending Dragon by Nobu Burmer | Banner photo: Sakurajima volcano, Kyushu, Japan, by Glenna Burmer
WordPress Theme Development by: Scott Marlow

Nonprofit Website Training

Posted on

Job training center website screenshot

Puget Sound Training Center provides career training and employment services to immigrants, refugees and under-served individuals. PSTC trains individuals who are clients of Washington State Labor and Industry (L&I) and Department of Rehabilitation (DVR); PSTC also partners with CBOs (Community Based Organizations) to provide customized skills training.

This website redesign project involved upgrading the job training center’s decade-old static HTML website into a mobile-first responsive layout, powered by an intuitive WordPress Content Management System. During the redesign, nonprofit staff were trained how to add and edit website content – including text, images, and links – using WordPress’ new Gutenberg Block Editor. In addition to editing content, staff can now use the block editor, which has been custom-branded to their identity, to create mobile responsive layouts.

Scope of Work

creative strategy
color palette development
front-end web development
performance optimization
security hardening
search engine optimization
visual design
WordPress training and consulting

Team

Visual Design by: Joan van den Berg
Photography and WordPress Theme Development by: Scott Marlow

WordPress: A World of Difference

Posted on

screenshot Cipalla Communications website

Copywriting by Rita Cipalla
Visual Design by Joan van den Berg
WordPress Child Theme Development by Scott Marlow

An overdue mobile-responsive website upgrade for my writing colleague, Rita Cipalla.

For this website redesign, we chose to skin an existing template WordPress Theme, Argent, by Automattic. The Argent Theme is based on _Underscores, so theme skinning is fast and straightforward – and the final product is guaranteed to be compatible with WordPress software and Plugins.

Overall Page Size is a lean 584 Kb, ~25% the industry median page size, with only 32 web server requests. As a result, page load speed is well optimized for mobile devices.

The site features Rita’s custom travel photographs for an authentic look. A classic combination of custom serif and sans-serif fonts are typeset in very readable line widths, with bold red and yellow call-outs for emphasis. And, unlike her previous static HTML site, Rita can now easily add and edit portfolio and blog content.

I love it! Thank you so much.

Experienced, Professional WordPress Web Development

Posted on

screenshot Colorado psychiatrists website

Copyediting by Rita Cipalla
Visual Design by Joan van den Berg
WordPress Theme Development by Scott Marlow

A long overdue mobile-responsive website upgrade for Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Neuropsychiatrists. RMNA has specialized in medication management for general psychiatric disorders – such as anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder – for Colorado Springs residents since 1999.

RMNA’s decade-old static HTML site no longer reflected the quality of their service business. The new, cleaner visual design is more inline with their brand identity. Contact information was prioritized for ease of use. Regional landscape stock photos give the light content a positive lift.

Overall Page Size is a lean 489 Kb, ~25% the industry median page size, with only 31 web server requests. As a result, page load speed is well optimized for mobile devices.

My specialty is accessible, mobile responsive, user-friendly front-end web development for Content Management Systems – such as WordPress. And since 2005, I have provided expert, professional marketing support to help you regain control over technology.