The Challenge

The City of Lomita sought to redesign its municipal website to better reflect its values as “The Friendly City” while improving usability, accessibility and navigation for both residents and staff. Lomita’s existing website had become outdated in terms of design, content structure and mobile functionality. The City partnered with Tripepi Smith to create a modern, intuitive and mobile-responsive website that streamlined access to services and information while preserving the small-town charm that sets Lomita apart.

Key goals for the project included improving navigation, optimizing the site for mobile users, enhancing ADA compliance, and creating a more visually compelling and welcoming digital front door. The City also wanted to simplify content management for staff and ensure the website would be easy to maintain over time.

Our Approach

Tripepi Smith kicked off the website redesign with a strategic planning session to align on project goals, establish a development timeline and evaluate the needs of Lomita’s internal and external audiences. Following the kickoff, Tripepi Smith created a detailed Website Specification Document (WSD) outlining the design direction, content priorities, functional requirements and technical specifications.

A full sitemap review and content audit followed, helping identify redundancies and improve the website’s structure. Based on analytics and staff input, Tripepi Smith streamlined the navigation to make high-demand content more accessible and reduce the number of clicks required to find key information. The final sitemap included an “I Want To…” dropdown menu and a reorganized homepage layout that made it easier for residents, businesses and visitors to find the services they needed.

During the design phase, Tripepi Smith worked closely with Lomita staff to develop a look and feel that reflected the City’s personality, friendly, welcoming and community-focused. The final design featured warm imagery of Lomita’s neighborhoods and public spaces, bold call-to-action buttons, and thoughtful content blocks that reflected the City’s approachable and professional tone.

The website was built in WordPress with accessibility and mobile performance as top priorities. Key features included a mobile-first design, simplified menu structure, calendar and news functionality, quick links to top services and a reorganized Document Center for easier public access to city records. Tripepi Smith also provided hands-on training for City staff and delivered a custom user guide to support ongoing content updates.

Results

The redesigned Lomita website launched in November 2021 and was well-received by City staff and the public. City leaders highlighted the improved functionality and refreshed visual identity as a major step forward in their digital communications efforts.

The new site provides a much more intuitive experience across devices, with enhanced accessibility, better content organization and stronger search functionality. Internal users also reported that the new backend structure made it easier to manage and update content.

In the months following launch, the website experienced a rise in mobile traffic and longer average time on page, strong indicators that users were finding value in the new design and structure. By creating a digital experience that matches the City’s in-person hospitality, Lomita now has a website that lives up to its nickname: “The Friendly City.”