Client-Side Project Lead & Digital Strategist
I led the YMCA’s side of a major website redesign and rebuild, serving as the primary point of contact between the organization and its contracted web design firm. My role was to translate the YMCA’s business objectives, brand, audience needs, content requirements, and organizational knowledge into a website the external agency could successfully design and build.
The YMCA needed a new website that could better serve both its audiences and its business goals. The existing digital experience needed to be rebuilt around a clearer information architecture, stronger content, and a more intuitive path for users to find and act on what mattered to them.
Because the project was being executed by an external web design firm, the YMCA needed an internal leader who could translate the organization’s needs into clear requirements for the agency. I ensured the agency’s work remained aligned with the YMCA’s brand, priorities, and expectations.
The Strategy
I approached the website as a business tool, not simply a communications channel. The site’s structure and content needed to support three primary objectives:
- Member acquisition: help prospective members understand the YMCA’s value and take the next step toward membership.
- Program registration: make programs easier to discover and give users clear pathways to registration.
- Community engagement: communicate the breadth of the YMCA’s work and help members and community members connect with programs, resources, and opportunities.
I served as the internal bridge between the YMCA and the external design firm, combining project management with brand, content, and digital strategy. After launch, I treated the website as an evolving digital asset rather than a finished project.
SEO Optimization Program
The challenge extended beyond website launch. Once the new site was live, the YMCA needed to maintain the site and continually improve on its ability to support organizational goals.
Rather than attempting to optimize every page simultaneously, I took a prioritized, business-driven approach. With our agency partner, I focused optimization efforts on key landing pages associated with the YMCA’s most important business goals using search strategy and performance data to identify opportunities where optimization could have the greatest potential impact.
This work effectively transformed the website from a completed design project into an actively managed digital acquisition channel.
Outcomes
The project delivered a new website that gave the YMCA a stronger digital foundation for membership acquisition, program registration, and community engagement, while establishing an internal model for ongoing website management.
My ownership continued beyond the initial agency engagement: I became responsible for the site’s administration and subsequently developed an SEO strategy to improve the visibility and performance of high-value pages.
The larger outcome was a shift from website project to digital asset: I helped lead the organization through the initial transformation, maintained the platform after launch, and later identified and executed opportunities to make the site work harder for the business.