As the Pines Theater begins its fourth season of bringing world-class entertainment to Lufkin, officials are celebrating the launch of ThePinesLufkin.com, a new website devoted to promoting events hosted in the City of Lufkin’s historic downtown theater.
“I’m very excited about the new website and what it means for the theater and downtown Lufkin,” said Tara Watson-Watkins, executive director of the Lufkin Convention and Visitors Bureau and artistic director for The Pines. “The new site is beautiful and inviting, it’s easy for users to navigate, and it has several special features that will make it easier for us to get the word out about all the great things going on at The Pines.”
The new website coordinates visually with the established Pines Theater brand. The striking design features simple navigation so users can find information on events and how to purchase tickets, as well as details on how to rent the historic venue. The prominent calendar and simple “Concerts/Movies/Events” image buttons allow users to sort through listings quickly and easily. A streamlined ticket-buying tool uses The Pines existing ticketing software, and users can sign up for an informative e-newsletter from any page on the site.
“A lot of thought went into every detail of this new site,” Watson-Watkins said. “It’s not just easier for visitors. It’s designed to make it easier for us to get information to visitors. The calendar is integrated with VisitLufkin.com, so we get twice the event promotion with a single point of data entry. Every page has an image link to the city and Convention and Visitors Bureau websites. We built a vibrant new tool to attract visitors to Lufkin, but we were careful not to ‘reinvent the wheel.’ When users want information on where to stay and where to dine, the new site works in tandem with VisitLufkin.com.”
The new website includes a Custom Content Management System, an Image Gallery Database, a PDF Manager, a simple Request for Proposal (RFP) tool and easy-to-use Social Share Tools. Static text incorporates key terms to enhance search engine optimization (SEO), and calendar items on both the home and interior pages automatically refresh, to further increase SEO.
Point A Media in Nacogdoches designed the site and is providing content migration and on-site training for city employees who will be able to update the site from anywhere in the world with access to the internet.
