St. Martin’s Episcopal School
New Small School Website
When we set out to help St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal School (SMES) improve their website, COVID-19 was not on the map. With the pandemic crisis forcing schools to move to remote learning, the school’s online presence became all the more important.
The SMES community was able to pivot quickly to provide a robust online learning program, and they worked hard to maintain their tight-knit school community via social media and video connections. We helped manage a lot of content on the new site while they focused on running their school, so that as soon as school ended, we were able to make final checks and get the new website live quickly.
Usability, Navigation and Photography
We worked with the administration to outline a clean and usable navigation structure to make content easy to find. The navigation includes a sectional navigation with a sidebar on top level pages of each section and an off-page menu on the sub pages.
The former SMES website was built on Weebly. The design and content were out of date. We provided a fresh design, with custom photography from our team photographer Betsy Withycombe to make the new website current and relevant. SMES worked with writer Edit Barry to develop messaging and copy for top-level website pages. The result is a website that feels warm and welcoming like the school itself!
The new website is hosted with Kinsta, who offers a nonprofit rate. We were happy to see the Home Page, even with an Instagram feed, loads in under 2 seconds.
Simplified Branding
The school name is very long, making the addition of a graphic element overly busy. We modernized and simplified the logo, helping create a fresh, modern look for the website. We also created an icon that further condenses a very long school name into a brand element that can be used in social media and other materials.
Donations made easy with GiveWP
To minimize overhead, especially at a time when the economy is struggling in response to shutdowns, we recommended that SMES use GiveWP for online donations. This makes the giving process easy for the user and the administration, with very low processing fees.
Infographics for small school website
To create a visual representation on the “Facts at a Glance” page, we created some custom engaging infographics.
Measuring Results in an Online Education Environment
Now that the new website is launched for SMES, we helped ensure that their new website is set up in Google Analytics and Google Search Console (GSC). We submitted the site map to GSC so it will be indexed for SEO. By utilizing and acting upon the data from these tools, this will also allow SMES to utilize their new website help grow enrollment.
Does your website need a refresh? Let’s chat!