It’s been just over two years since the launch of the Alliance’s new website. While that doesn’t sound like a long time, in the digital world, it is. We launched this new site at the start of our 50th Anniversary in January 2021 with a layout that better aligned with our mission and refreshed design elements that highlighted our brand. Since then, the Alliance has grown tremendously, and as we evolve, so should our website.

Since 2021, our website navigation looked something like this:

Over the last two years, this navigation did a tremendous job at showcasing our four program areas; placing them front and center as a user scans the page.

However, in 2023, we asked ourselves, “why does someone visit the Alliance’s website?” Our answer was simple, “To learn about what we do, who we are, and to find resources and ways to get involved in our work.” That made the new navigation layout easy.

Navigation breakdown

  • We moved our four program areas into a “What We Do” section, so it is more obvious to users what we’re doing on the ground across the watershed.
  • We have more information about Alliance staff, leadership, and board members, our approach and strategies, and our diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice journey under “Who We Are.”
  • If a user wants to take action by volunteering, attending an event, donating, etc., “Get Involved” has all of those bases covered.
  • Lastly, many of our DIY tools, news/educational articles, etc. can be found under “Resources” (makes sense, right?).

Overall, this navigation feels much more straightforward and user-friendly.

New features to note

  • Our Board – The Alliance’s Board of Directors are a critical part our our team. They serve as mentors and leaders for the organization, providing strategic direction, high-level oversight, programmatic support, and more. We now have a dedicated “Our Board” landing page to better showcase the team.
  • Native Plant Center – We’re extremely excited about our recent migration of nativeplantcenter.net to the Alliance’s website! This one-stop-shop native plant database is an amazing tool to use when you’re on the hunt for native plants of any kind – ferns, herbaceous species, trees, shrubs, etc.
  • Chesapeake Network – While not a new resource, the Chesapeake Network is now more prominently placed in our navigation. In fact, it’s now within the dropdown menu that pops up when you hover over “Resources.” In case you don’t already know, the Chesapeake Network is a crowd-sourced, information-sharing platform where anyone can submit and broadcast job postings, event ads, etc. to a user audience of about 8,500 people!

Our website is your way to catch a glimpse of the Alliance, and for some, it’s a gateway into the conservation world. We’re very excited to more easily share the work we do, who we are, ways to get involved, and our resources with you, and we hope you can take advantage of it!

Special thanks to our longtime web partners at Digital Ink for all their help and guidance with these website changes. In case you missed it, we won a Web Excellence award with Digital Ink last year!