Three Website Redesign Case Studies for Nonprofit Brands in Philadelphia
Key Medium aimed to develop user experience, design strategy, strategic branding, and create a clear structure with the website redesigns of the three nonprofit brands in Philadelphia.
Every business, especially in 2020, needs a website that is mobile-friendly, voice-search friendly, marked up for schema, on-page, off-page, and local SEO as well as prepares for AI-first, Google’s search journeys and search intent queries, and performs well.
Many web developers simply create websites, but they don’t necessarily have fully-integrated dashboards to monitor results, also they are not SEO compatible.
Of course, all of these behind-the-scenes technical aspects are time-consuming for developers and expensive for businesses, so some businesses make shortcuts, because they do not have the funds. Others are nonprofits who only have a limited allocated budget. That is why programs like Coding for Causes and other organisations allow web development, SEO, and analytics.
Companies like Key Medium donate websites, ad spend, and time to ensure that even nonprofits can have visually appealing, top-quality web design with all of the back-end and front-end development in place, ensuring the website will perform well today, tomorrow, and five years from now.
Grounded in Philly, Public Interest Law Center’s Garden Justice Legal Initiative
Grounded in Philly was founded in 2013 to tackle food insecurity in Philadelphia. They provide public access to green space and land for gardening and urban farming in the local community.
The original website design was heavy on information and light on structure. Key Medium aimed to develop the design strategy and user experience to improve the overall look, feel, and use of the website.
Key Medium corrected the on-page and off-page SEO technical fixes before embarking on a rebuild. They decided that categorizing the main information with Pathways, Resources, Grapevine, and Register allowed enough categories to help users move around the site seamlessly.
For example, in Pathways, users could easily find out information on how to start a community garden or farm. They could secure land ownership or join an existing urban agricultural community and more. The Resources tab allowed for users to find information, eBooks, and other vital information. The Grapevine provides users with a forum, and Register allows users to get in touch with the Grounded in Philly organizers. Of course, each tab offers much more but this is a brief overview of the way the information was categorized to make everything more user-friendly.
Key Medium won five awards for the redesign. Organic traffic grew by an impressive 28% and users increased by 31%. Social media traffic, their main goal, rose by 260%, with record levels of engagement.
Through the Law Center’s Garden Justice Legal Initiative, Key Medium was able to donate a new brand identity, a web development budget, and a hosting budget. With impressive results and helping to tackle food insecurity for over 300,000 Philadelphians, Key Medium is delighted for their involvement in the project.
Women in Nontraditional Careers (WINC) Project
Funded by the US Department of Labor, The Women’s Bureau, and other organizations, Women in Nontraditional Careers, or WINC for short, is a public-private initiative that gives young women and potential career-changing women resources to understand the non-traditional career and apprenticeship pathways available to them in Philadelphia and the surrounding community, such as working in manufacturing, construction, and other trades.
The old website design didn’t connect these women and girls clearly to the information they needed. The website needed a clear FAQ page, a news page, and a lead-generation form, none of which it had.
Key Medium focused on the design strategy and user experience and strategic branding and digital development. First, they focused on creating a prototype of the microsite. Then, they commissioned artwork to create Rosie The Riveter Style piece to drive social engagement. Finally, they worked on benefits-led messaging and completely rewrote the site’s content.
The new clear website structure with engaging messaging, new artwork, and lead-gen form, increased traffic by over 41%. They also received an Honorable Mention in the 2019 MarCom Awards competition from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.
Again, this project is another one that Key Medium was proud to be part of. They love giving back to the community and helping nonprofits who maybe don’t have the resources to have the reach their projects deserve.
Community Integrated Services (CIS)
Community Integrated Services, or CIS, is a nonprofit who empowers and supports individuals with disabilities in the community. The nonprofit helps individuals find employment, reach their goals, enjoy meaningful work, work towards independence, and more.
Besides not being user-friendly, especially to the target audience of job seekers with disabilities and those who wanted to employ these individuals, on a technical side, the old website was not secure and difficult to update. The technical information architecture and foundations were not in place.
Key Medium worked on rebuilding and restructuring the site from the ground up. Then they worked on their on-page, off-page, and local SEO. They implemented a content strategy and created a new flow to the website. The clear structure has allowed users to find the information they want seamlessly.
For their work, Key Medium received a Gold Award in dotCOMM’s 2019 as well as a 2020 AVA Digital Awards Gold–both international awards competition honoring excellence in web creativity and digital communication. The website saw a 17% lift in session time, a 38% increase in each overall session, and a 212% increase in social media traffic.
Through Coding for Causes, they were able to donate the entire website design, development, branding, and more to the CIS team, which is another organization they are proud to support.
About Key Medium
Key Medium team has proven that with the right website, design & messaging, online experiences can be personal, memorable & result in relationships that drive growth + success!
