Creating a Resource-Rich WordPress Website for British Society of Lifestyle Medicine

How our Customised WordPress Website Helped Healthier Lifestyles Stand up to Diseases

British Society of Lifestyle Medicine (BSLM) promotes a lifestyle-based approach to preventing, managing and reversing lifestyle-related illnesses. These include cancer, diabetes and heart disease. The society boasts a rising count of more than 1,000 members from a range of medical and non-medical disciplines.

A Site at the Heart of Health

BSLM approached Hookson to design and develop a comprehensive new website. The site would act as a one-stop resource for members, and for all those interested in learning more about lifestyle medicine. An active organisation, BSLM places itself at the heart of education, events and developments across lifestyle medicine. Consequently, the requirement would be for a hard-working, UX-focused website.

Starting From a Healthy WordPress Foundation

Hookson’s experience of highly customised WordPress websites had this job off to a flying start. BSLM required a site that was both easy to update and robust enough for a host of membership tools and functionality. WordPress provided these benefits and also allowed Hookson freedom to build-in a range of features that enhanced user experience.

Membership Functionality: Building a Resource Like no Other

An organisation like BSLM flourishes, above all, through its sustained and growing membership. The site therefore required a number of advanced membership tools and functionalities.

These included:

Membership Directory

This feature made it easy for professionals to post their profile and interact with peers.

Resource Library

With so many professionals visiting and contributing to the website, we significantly enhanced UX by making it simple for members to access resources. These included up-to-the-minute research and documents.

Enhanced User Dashboard

This tool enabled members to keep track of social and development activities. These included the noting of events attended and texts read. This go-to location further added to member experience and contributed to members’ Continuous Professional Development.

Event Booking Integration

Engaging members and powering networking, BSLM events would loom large on the new website. A dedicated Events section showcased incoming talks, conferences and webinars. Clicking on an event provided greatly expanded information: from content summary to ticket prices, venue information to lunch and meal times. In short, everything in one place. From here, attendees could book an event, automatically adding the engagement to members’ dashboards.

Supplementing the Experience with Vigorous UX

A top menu made navigating the new BSLM site pain-free. Key sections including Education, News, Events and, of course, the crucial members’ area, were easy to locate. We ensured diverse information – for example, membership tiers for practitioners, non-practitioners and students – was presented clearly and concisely.

An A+ for Hookson UX

Education and discussion were to be key features of the website. Appealing to visitors, a growing collection of blogs and webinars offered significant value and positioned BSLM as engaged experts.

Logo and Website Design: a Picture of Health

Although BSLM’s member site called upon Hookson’s skills in building-in functionality and member tools, our creative design skills would be required too. Leading the way in this regard was a brand new Hookson-created logo. Here, we evolved the existing logo – a dated treatment of the DNA helix – into a contemporary symbol representing community and connection. Within the helix device, subtle use of rainbow colours referenced BSLM’s multifaceted approach to lifestyle medicine. Also referenced was the notion of variety, particularly in regards to a healthy and diverse diet.

Connected Colours

Next, we developed a colour palette for our logo’s accompanying text, and applied this to the wider website. Here, we were careful to align our palette with the colours of the broader worldwide lifestyle medicine movement. This further connected BSLM with a burgeoning, international health community.

Across the website, we gathered a selection of active lifestyle and health-oriented images. As well as looking fantastic, this photography nutshelled BSLM’s mission of facing down disease with healthy choices.

Applying our SEO Strategy to BSLM’s WordPress Build

Lastly, in addition to providing sophisticated membership tools, Hookson’s SEO strategy would go on to help attract high-quality visitors and potential new members.

Visit the BSLM website