American River Canyon Conservancy — Site Design
Designed their website for performance and user experience with Next.js and AWS infrastructure.
The conservancy's website was slow, difficult to maintain, and not mobile-friendly. Page loads exceeded 6 seconds, and the site experienced frequent downtime.
Key challenges:
- Outdated WordPress with security vulnerabilities
- Unoptimized images causing slow load times
- Poor mobile experience
- Difficult content management for staff
“The website design exceeded our expectations. Visitors can now easily find trail information and conservation updates, and our staff can update content effortlessly.”
Deep dive
Implementation details, architecture, and technical approach
Deep dive
Implementation details, architecture, and technical approach
Lack of proper backup and monitoring systems created operational risk. The site frequently went down during peak traffic periods, affecting visitor engagement and mission outreach.
Approach
We implemented a comprehensive website modernization focusing on performance, security, and user experience.
Principles:
- Performance enables engagement — fast sites convert visitors
- Infrastructure is reliability — uptime matters for mission-driven organizations
- Mobile-first for outdoor enthusiasts — most visitors access trail info on phones
- Empower staff — content updates should take minutes, not hours
Performance Optimization
- Migrated to AWS infrastructure
- Implemented advanced caching strategies
- Optimized all images and assets for web delivery
- Minimized and compressed CSS/JavaScript
- Configured proper browser caching headers
Platform Migration
- Migrated existing content from WordPress to Next.js
- Custom theme development with mobile-first approach
- Set up automated daily backups
Infrastructure & Monitoring
- AWS EC2 hosting with auto-scaling capabilities
- CloudWatch monitoring and alerting
- SSL certificate with automatic renewal
- Regular security updates and maintenance schedule
Outcome
The modernized website dramatically improved performance and user experience:
- Load time: 6.2s → 1.8s (71% improvement)
- TTFB: 1200ms → 660ms (45% improvement)
- Mobile score: 23 → 89 (287% improvement)
- Uptime: 94.2% → 99.95%
- Zero security incidents since launch
Operational Improvements
- Reduced manual maintenance time by 80%
- Staff can now update content in minutes vs hours
- All Core Web Vitals now in "Good" range
Impact
- Mobile-first design ensures optimal experience across all devices, crucial for outdoor enthusiasts accessing trail information on phones
- Simplified admin makes it easy for conservancy staff to update trail conditions, events, and conservation news
- Proper technical SEO implementation improved search rankings for key conservation and recreation terms
- Proactive monitoring ensures any issues are caught and resolved before they impact visitors
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