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National Park Express · Web operations

National Park Express Performance

Personally optimized a National Park Express site, reducing reported page-load times from more than seven seconds to under four.

RoleWebmaster
DatesNovember 2019 – October 2021
Platform/scopeWordPress applications and API integrations
AudienceCustomers, internal operations, and external partners

Project imagery

Faster sites, connected systems.

Conceptual illustration of multiple digital properties connected through a central integration layer to content management, analytics, and supporting systems.
Conceptual illustration of a connected multi-site ecosystem; it does not depict the actual systems or their integrations.

Reported outcomes

  • 7+ sec page-load time before optimization
  • <4 sec page-load time after optimization

01 / Context

The work in context.

Owned web strategy and day-to-day technical operations across development, performance, SEO/SEM, integrations, maintenance, and digital project delivery. On one site, I optimized images, removed unnecessary scripts, and implemented caching.

02 / Challenge

The problem to solve.

Page-load times on one site exceeded seven seconds. Images and scripts were the main sources of avoidable weight within the existing WordPress experience.

03 / Approach

How I approached it.

  • Start by reducing image weight to the minimum acceptable visual quality and removing scripts the site did not need.
  • Add caching as part of the optimization, then delegate some work after beginning the effort independently.

04 / Implementation

What I delivered.

  • Compressed and optimized images while preserving acceptable visual quality.
  • Removed unnecessary scripts and implemented caching.
  • Personally tested before and after; reported page-load times changed from more than seven seconds to under four.
  • Planned, developed, and maintained web applications using WordPress, PHP, JavaScript, jQuery, and AJAX.
  • Developed custom API integrations connecting multiple sites with centralized databases.

05 / Constraints & tradeoffs

What shaped the work.

  • The performance work covered one site; the before-and-after benchmark report and test conditions were not retained.

06 / Outcome

What changed.

The site’s reported load time fell from more than seven seconds to under four. No separate business outcome was measured or attributed to this work.

I tested the site before and after the changes, but did not retain a benchmark report or test conditions. A published test record does not accompany the reported timings.

  • WordPress
  • PHP
  • JavaScript
  • jQuery
  • AJAX
  • APIs

07 / Reflection

What I take forward.

Web performance sits within a broader system of operational responsibilities, integrations, and business needs.