Solution: the new Catalyst Website
Keeping the original format, color scheme, and design elements, I rebuilt the menu and sitemap using player feedback and common sense.
The menu is now based around the functions, with Player Resources acting as a repository for information, Events offering links to guides and reminders to purchase tickets, a Storyline section devoted to catching people up and letting them view a gallery of past events, and a brand-new Community page.
The Resources page acts as an interactive library of information that is currently relevant to players, including the rulebook, guidelines, and information they may need to access between or during events.
All the same information in the drop-down menu is available on the Player Resources page itself, so that people can scroll down to what they want to access. It has many clickable links that take people to different pages, depending on their needs.
The Events page is immediately to the right of the Player Resources, prompting visitors to buy tickets soon. A guide on attending events is at the bottom of the page, as well as the drop-down menu.
This page has all the same information as the drop-down menu, with additional buttons that return the viewer to pages they might not have visited yet. Some new users may have clicked “Event” before reading anything in Player Resources, so this section acts as a prompt to send them back to the important sections they missed.
The Storyline section focuses on the story portion of the game, with a focus on past events. It has an opening that is designed to explain the plot simplistically for new attendees. It also acts as an archive of photographs, prologues, and former settings based within the story of the game. These are resources for existing players that are best used to remember a forgotten plot thread, admire pictures that were taken, and recall fond memories.
This page also contains the same information as the drop-down, with an interactive menu I built in HTML that allows players to access past prologues.
Finally, the people behind the game found their rightful place. Rather that having a staff section crammed underneath the Contact Us section, they get their own dedicated page.
Here, I added an exciting new surprise: an Artist Spotlight. Once a month, I spotlight a member of the player base and bring attention to the work they do.
The goal of this page is to increase interest in the website, to make members of the community feel special and appreciated (because they are), and to create backlinks between their social media pages and our website, improving the SEO.
On the topic of SEO, with the advent of AI, SEO strategy has to evolve. Companies have to predict what questions audiences are going to ask, and then incorporate them into their website. I used this strategy when revamping the FAQ section as seen below.
uslarps.com is another domain that will redirect to Catalyst, which is why I made it part of the strategy. These are just a few examples of questions that help improve search engine results, as I continue doing research and adding new questions into the FAQ.
Finally, I rebuilt the sitemap on the footer, restructuring all the information under a different set of titles for ease of accessibility. I reorganized all the links according to what needs a person might have when visiting the site, so they could accomplish their purpose quickly. A large Discord button sits next to all of it, prompting the viewer to join the Catalyst server one more time.
This website continues to be a passion project and, thus, a work in progress. The owner and I are discussing changing the formatting of the site to make it more colorful (it is presently white-on-black for accessibility reasons).
In the meantime, I received a new title.
Rayna J Lewis 