When I joined the board of the Metamora Association for Historic Preservation in 2023, one of my first observations was how much valuable history lived online, but how difficult it was to find.
Decades of newsletters, research, and archival documentation existed on the organization’s website, yet the structure made it difficult for visitors to navigate.
Important information was buried and unevenly formatted, and in many cases only accessible if you already knew exactly where to look.
In short, we had the history, but we needed a better way to share it.
This made the website redesign one of my first major initiatives: not just to modernize the experience, but to organize and preserve an irreplaceable archive so it could be accessed, searched, and utilized by the community it exists to serve.
The Challenge: Organizing Decades of History
The previous website contained years of content, but the architecture did not clearly guide visitors through it.
Key issues included:
- No structured content hierarchy to help users browse or discover information.
- A backlog of historic newsletters dating back to 2006 with no system for public access.
- No modern analytics installed, meaning we had no insight into what people were viewing or searching for.
- A site that did not scale well on mobile screens and lacked modern design patterns.
- A board member who had failed to keep the previous site updated.
The biggest challenge was not creating new content—it was honoring and preserving what already existed, and restructuring it into something intuitive, accessible, and functional.
Our goal was simple: build something clean, organized, and strong enough to support the next chapter of Metamora’s historical storytelling.
The Solution: A Fresh Platform, Clean Structure, And A Home For The Archive
I developed a completely new WordPress site using WPBakery, focusing first on architecture and usability rather than design alone. Structure needed to come before polish.
Core solutions included…
- Rebuilding the website with a clear, modern page layout. This gave us a foundation that can scale with future content and digital projects. I also took new photos to use on the website.
- Migrating and organizing historical content. I manually ported over dozens of archived newsletters dating back 20 years, formatted them into a clean, automatically updating feed. Visitors can now browse the organization’s written history like a digital library.
- Implementing analytics for the first time. With Google Analytics installed, we gained visibility into user behavior, traffic sources, and device usage for the first time. Early data showed a majority of users browse from mobile, which informed responsive design decisions and future planning.
This rebuild was about more than improving the look of the site.
It was about systemizing history, preserving it, and presenting it in a way that anyone could navigate.
Results: Data-Driven Decisions And A Stronger Digital Foundation
A historic organization doesn’t have to be stuck in the past.
With modern analytics in place, we now understand how visitors are using the site rather than guessing.
We can see which pages are read most often, who is accessing the site, and what information is being sought out.
One key discovery was that our most-viewed topic is The Underground Railroad in Metamora—an important historical subject that clearly resonates with visitors.
Because we now have visibility into this interest, we can prioritize content development, categorization, and educational material around what people are actively trying to learn.
The site has shifted from passive storage to active resource.
Impact: Increased Engagement, Consistent Updates, and a Tool for the Community
Before the redesign, the site often sat untouched for months at a time. Today, we update regularly. We add content, track performance, and respond to what the public is seeking.
More importantly, we are hearing from visitors.
People are using the contact form to ask questions about Metamora history. They are discovering archival pages through search. They are reading newsletters, digging into research, and connecting with the story of our town in a way that was previously limited by the site’s structure.
This is the value of digital preservation—not just storing history, but delivering it.
Looking Forward
This redesign was a beginning, not an endpoint.
As analytics collect more data, we will be able to:
- Measure audience growth and most-visited topics.
- Expand digital archival projects.
- Improve our visibility around historic research.
- Develop new educational content based on user interest.
- Continue building the site as a living record of Metamora’s past.
The Metamora Association for Historic Preservation now has a digital home that can grow with it at historicmetamora.org.
What once lived in scattered documents and deep page layers now lives in a structured, searchable, well-maintained space.
History is easier to access.
Engagement is higher.
And our stories—stories that might otherwise fade—now have room to be shared.
The project was more than a website. It was an investment in memory.
Interested in working with me on a website or marketing project for your nonprofit? If so, please contact me!