I’ve known Kristen Keltz, the current CEO of the Skagit Valley Tourism Bureau, for over 20 years. We’ve worked on several projects and served on a few committees together over the years. When she came to me to inquire about doing website project management for their redesign, I was thrilled to work with her again.
Plus, I’ve lived in Skagit County nearly my whole life, so I was excited to dig into the tourism industry and help bring new visitors to our beautiful Valley. After reading through this project management case study, you might just want to come visit!
Skagit Valley Tourism Bureau Summary
The Skagit Valley Tourism Bureau is a one-stop shop for all things tourism in the Skagit Valley. They provide helpful information and resources for places to stay, travel tips, dining options, activities, and special events. The Tourism Bureau aims to help visitors plan an unforgettable journey and create memories that will last a lifetime.
Business Challenges
The Tourism Bureau is undergoing a complete rebrand and reset in all aspects. The organization was formed a few years ago, and there have been a few iterations of what the organization should look like. When Kristen took the helm in January 2024, she had a very clear vision of where to take it, and a new website was at the top of her list.
Their old website was created about 10 years ago as an offshoot of the Chamber of Commerce. A lot of great content was created over the years, but the new strategy and vision for the organization meant the website needed a reset. The user journey was a big opportunity for improvement as well as refreshed design in alignment with their rebrand.
The Skagit Tourism Bureau is building a top-tier destination marketing organization focused on growing tourism in the area. They needed a forward-thinking website with a great user experience that could grow with the company while working towards that goal.
Website Project Management Implementation
Getting from Point A to Point B took a lot of time and effort from several contributing partners. Sometimes website project management can be viewed as an unnecessary role, or something that can be easily absorbed into current work volumes. However, the website project manager is who gets the project to the finish line! And that path can be a long one, with a lot of challenges addressed along the way.
In this scenario, the client appreciated all the work taken off their plates over the course of this year-long project.
Phase 1: Getting Our Ducks in a Row
We started this website project in March 2024. The Skagit Tourism Bureau already had their Request for Proposal (RFP) out to a number of vendors, so I helped evaluate the responses and facilitated the selection process. I went through the vendor proposals, conducted some initial research on each applicant, scheduled and facilitated interviews, and gave my recommendations to Kristen and her team during the final decision process.
During the course of the project, planning meetings were essential touch points between stakeholders. I met with the design and development teams every other Thursday to get progress updates. Then, the following Monday, I would meet with Kristen and her team to get feedback, suggestions, and facilitate decisions.
I served as the core communicator between the client and the design and development teams, as well as documenting decision points and framing planning documents to keep everyone on the same page. These communication and coordination activities took a lot of weight off the client’s shoulders. They got the information they needed to make decisions and weren’t bogged down in the details leading up to benchmarks or implementing decisions afterward.
Phase 2: Website Strategy and Planning
As a web designer, I already had the knowledge and experience to know all that goes into launching a website. However, this was the biggest website I’ve ever worked on. W
ith over 100 pages of content, we had to be very strategic about the architecture and structure of the website. One hundred pages can easily get overwhelming and out of hand! We spent a lot of time deciding how it should be organized and what we wanted the customer journey to look like.
I led an exercise to help them visualize the layout, as shown below.
I created a website project management board in Asana that was accessible to everyone involved in this project. It helped everyone understand the flow of the entire project. Decisions and tracking sheets were put in Asana so everyone could reference them. All files and documentation were also stored in Asana. The tool helped keep everyone accountable and on track with this project.
With so many people involved (stakeholders, the client, vendors, etc.), it took a tremendous amount of planning and communication. You might think that we could have done it all upfront, but we were planning, tweaking, and implementing throughout the summer.
Phase 3: Education
Throughout the process, I provided a lot of education on website best practices, SEO, timelines, and how everything works together. The client knew this site would be a huge undertaking but there are always little details and additional elements that go into launching a new website, usually making them more complex as it gets larger in size.
For example, the Tourism Bureau has a CRM integrated with their website to showcase local businesses. We realized early in the project that we needed to configure the CRM to capture certain information and produce specific outputs, before integrating it with the website development. Systems and automation aren’t the sexy part of building a website, but they’re the foundation for making sure the website functions as intended.
Phase 4: Triple-Checking
My job, especially as we wrapped up the project, was to triple-check that we hit every decision point discussed and agreed upon throughout the entire year. I made sure everything translated into the new website, ensuring that nothing fell through the cracks. It was a tremendous amount of work between different teams.
As part of the finished work, I went through every page with a fine-toothed comb and looked for the following:
- Spelling mistakes
- Design mishaps
- Functionality issues
- Formatting
- Inserted SEO metadata
- Broken or incorrect links
In a project of this size, with so many partners working on their part, it was valuable to have one consistent set of eyes on the big picture. I was able to ensure nothing was missed and everything was correct before the website went live.
Website Project Management Results
The website went live in March 2025 and I have to say… It looks beautiful! Check it out!
We launched the website in January 2025. As you can see, we’ve seen a steady increase in organic traffic since then.
(The spike in April always happens due to our annual Tulip festival!)
It was a lift, but I’m so happy with how it turned out. I am thrilled that Kristen is, too:
Rachael has been an extraordinary partner to our team! She has played a pivotal role in our major website build for the Skagit Tourism Bureau, guiding us seamlessly through every step of the process. Acting as a skilled liaison between our design, CRM, and build teams, her technical expertise and exceptional ability to manage critical deadlines have been truly invaluable.
Thanks to Rachael, we’ve achieved milestones we couldn’t have imagined without her. Beyond the website, her thoughtful and strategic approach has brought fresh insights to other areas of our business, including improvements to our Google My Business profile, CRM build, and more. We’re incredibly grateful for her dedication and expertise, which have made this project a success!
-Kristen Keltz
A year sounds like a long time to launch a new website, but we identified this timeline up front due to careful pre-planning. The advanced preparation kept us from being surprised or falling behind in the schedule. Delays can be frustrating, and also negatively impact your budget, so we invested up front to make sure we planned accordingly for the entire scope.
I’ve mentioned a few times how much time and work went into this project. Over the course of the year, I spent just under 500 hours on this project. With many partners involved, all investing their own chunk of time, I can confidently say this was an EFFORT to get done, but one that paid off in the end with a beautiful website.
Why Website Project Management Services with Woods MarCom?
I love project management and helping companies stay on track with their big campaigns and goals. Let’s chat if you have a big project coming up that could use a project manager! Now that I’m done with this massive project, I have some bandwidth in my schedule to add another project or two!
Project Credit
This was truly a team effort, and I wanted to give a shoutout to all the other vendors involved in creating this beautiful website!
- Project Management – Woods MarCom
- Graphic Design – Baylii Branding
- Website Development – FDGWeb
- Copywriting – Maven Made Copy
- Photography – Multiple local photographers contributed their images to this project.
