Working out the essentials of an essential website.
Look Up is a mental health advocacy website with a very large contributor network. New content was continually getting added, but with old content lingering, the site couldn’t handle all of it. Navigation was confusing and multiple stakeholders with different agendas complicated what the site was meant to be. Plus, there were no effective metrics to evaluate performance.
As a resource for people struggling with mental health, it could not be a frustrating experience. It needed to be as simple as possible, with content that could really make a difference. We had to figure out the basics of the site—why it was needed, who it was for and what it needed to do. Then the all-important question, how were we gonna make that happen?
Discover
Our first task was to do research to understand all the audiences, back-end users and stakeholders. After that, we were able to clarify an essential point—the purpose of the website. That guided everything we did, including determining functionality, simplifying content, creating appropriate calls to action and establishing useful metrics.
Develop
We built the site with Craft CMS to make it significantly easier for the marketing team and partners to update and control content. At the same time, we gave parameters, limiting the content to five themes so that it wouldn’t get out of the scope of the mission. We built a back-end individual management system for 93 users with permissions-based access to independent resource segments. Along with that, we created 93 individual calendars for them to utilize. And, to standardize information, we did a customized integration of a social care network so that the site could have a comprehensive list of service providers statewide.
Deliver
While we worked on the new website, we made sure the existing site was always up and running so this critical mental health resource was available to whomever needed it. We were able to launch the revamped site a week early. And, we incorporated information to support the local COVID-19 communication plan (which had just been released), building that temporary section overnight.
The Results:
We received great feedback from the county coordinators who maintain their individual sites. The effect of the new website’s easier navigation and more clearly-defined goals was also seen in increased traffic and engagement. Site traffic went up 300% over the year prior and the bounce rate dropped from 90% to 9%.