BHM Client Profile: Lafayette UMC

Lafayette United Methodist Church has been online since 2001, and a BHM client since 2011. The church regularly revisits their website to stay on top of the latest. They updated their look with us in 2011 and 2016. In 2020, they decided that it was time for a another refresh.

Challenges

• The church has a complex campus with various parking areas, and wanted all these details with accurate, interactive maps reflected on the website
• Just after we began this project, the COVID-19 crisis began. The church vastly expanded its use of social media: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and these platforms had to be incorporated on the new website in several ways as they were now the primary source of worship.
• The church had not previously used posts to their fullest potential and now having a news feed was critical.
• Having been online since 2001 means that there is a lot of content to go through. Decisions had to be made about what needed to stay, what needed to go, what was redundant.
• WordPress has changed as much as the times have changed. The church was used to the classic editor and its limitations. Retraining on current best website practice, as well as the new block editor, was a priority.
• The former color scheme was very monochromatic. A new vibrant color scheme was desired, but it can be tough to choose colors when you’re coming from a previous black and white experience.

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The Master Plan

• After a second round of design to get the color scheme and layout just right, we began development
• An accessible, vibrant color scheme was instituted, and modern photography was a major part of the homepage.
• We pulled in all of the former content, and helped the church to reorganize and edit it.
• Headers had not previously been utilized (just bold and italics). They were incorporated and stylized according to the brand palette.
• Photos were updated and aligned to wrap around the text rather than just be centered.
• A staff page with everyone’s photo and email was created.
• We were in constant communication in our Basecamp project management system. The church shared many ideas, photos, and responded to our requests for feedback.
• After several tries we finally managed to get the parking lot maps correct using Google Maps with longitude and latitude coordinates.
• They now have a robust news feed with video, audio, and updates.

The Result

• Lafayette United Methodist Church is actively using their new website, especially the news feed.
• Modern photography and graphics were used to enhance user experience.
• Multiple people took a Zoom training class we provided on using the new block editor and best web practice.
• Multiple calls to action appear on a variety of pages.

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