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

Building Nonprofit Websites in King County

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 DevelopmentScott Marlow

 

WordPress. Fast. Affordable. Effective.

Pinpoint Strategic Communications marketing firm screenshot
Client
: Pinpoint Strategic Communications

Scope of Work
Branding
Content management
Front-End web development
Performance optimization
Security hardening
Search engine optimization
Visual design

Team: Pinpoint Strategic Communications, Scott Marlow

My latest website collaboration with Tami Vileta of Pinpoint Strategic Communications – a Seattle-based marketing agency specializing in brand development, loyalty marketing, event promotion, email marketing, collateral development, and integrated campaigns.

The new marketing firm website features icon fonts, image galleries, online forms, responsive grid layouts, social media & sharing integration, and SSL protection.

Performance Metrics

Performance WordPress Site Benchmark
Google Mobile Speed: 71
Google Desktop Speed 85
Pingdom 91 faster than 87% of tested sites
WebPageTest Speed Index 1,350 median = ~4,493
top 10% = <1,388
Web Page Size 1.1 Mb In 2017, average page size = ~2.4 Mb
median page size = ~1.9 Mb
Web Server Requests 53 < 40 – 60 recommended

Not only is Scott an absolute expert in responsive web development, he’s willing to think out of the box to bring ideas to life, he does diligent research and utilizes resources if he’s presented with challenges and problem solves, he’s incredibly flexible, accommodating, and personable to work with, and he handles pressure-cooker deadlines with grace and calm. I would ever so highly recommend developing your site with such a partner and would do so again in a heartbeat. Thank you!
Tamara Vileta, owner, Pinpoint Strategic Communications

Cushy CMS to WordPress CMS Conversion

Dumas Bay retreat center screenshot

Client: Dumas Bay Centre

Scope of Work
Accessibility Improvements
Copyediting and content migration
Front-End web development
Performance optimization
Security hardening
Search engine optimization
Visual redesign

Team: Cipalla Communications, Scott Marlow, Joan van den Berg

Dumas Bay Centre is a unique event & retreat venue owned by the City of Federal Way.

Before the website redesign, center staff were limited to editing existing website content using Cushy CMS, a WYSIWYG HTML editing tool. To add new content, city IT staff needed to upload files to the web host.

The website was migrated to a new host and WordPress was configured to allow full rich-content editing. The new mobile-friendly site features a more modern look, with image galleries, oEmbed video support, site search, SSL protection, and feedback and rental inquiry forms. All implemented with accessibility in mind.

Performance Metrics

Performance WordPress Site Benchmark
Google Mobile Speed: 68
Google Desktop Speed 81
Pingdom 87 faster than 87% of tested sites
WebPageTest Speed Index 1,017 median = ~4,493
top 10% = <1,388
YSlow 81 average score = 70
Web Page Size 526 Kb In 2017, average page size = ~2.4 Mb
median page size = ~1.9 Mb
Web Server Requests 27 < 40 – 60 recommended