Project Description
The NLCA was founded in 1968 to serve as the “Voice of the Provincial Construction Industry”. They provide a forum through which members can discuss and resolve matters of common interest. Their goal is to coordinate and develop policies and programs that will enhance the professionalism, productivity, and profitability of their members.
The Challenge
Their previous website had become outdated and several features no longer worked. They didn’t have access to update things like the WordPress core or plugins so the site became more unusable over time. They also wanted a facelift on the look and feel to bring it up to modern standards. In addition to the existing site functionality, they wanted to be able to include a classifieds section for their members, the ability to sell ad space throughout the site, and to streamline membership tasks like renewals and event registration.
The Solution
We designed and built a new site on WordPress that has a more modern feel. We worked closely with the NLCA to organize a large amount of content they had to make it more user-friendly for site visitors. To keep the main navigation simple we restricted it to two levels deep and then used secondary navigation on the left to let a visitor dive deeper.
We also set up NLCA with GrowthZone – an industry leader in association management software – for all of their association membership management needs. GrowthZone uses the same header and footer as the main NLCA which gives it a more seamless transition. They provide the membership directory, their events calendar, and online workshop registrations and payments.
We integrated an ad platform that would let members self-serve and book sidebar ads throughout the site. NLCA were able to determine the length of time each ad should be up as well as cost and take payment directly. Finally, we set them up with a robust classifieds system where members and non-members could list items they had for sale and be able to pay for each listing directly.
