Cordwainer About Page Content Cleanup

Overview

The Cordwainer "About" section accumulated content from multiple agency transitions and no longer reflects the brand's core identity. The section is bloated with redundant, outdated, and misplaced content. This article documents the agreed cleanup strategy from the ^[1] website strategy review (November 2025).

The guiding principle: strip the About section down to what genuinely differentiates Cordwainer — family ownership, the Learned Environment program, and the people behind the community — and relocate or remove everything else.

What Gets Removed

Resident Programs Sub-page

• Action: Remove from About navigation entirely.
• Rationale: The content duplicates what will live on the new "Learned Environment" page under the ^[2].
• Content destination: Merge into the Learned Environment page.

Safety & Healthcare Sub-page

• Action: Remove from About navigation.
• Rationale: This content is more accurately categorized as an amenity, not an organizational differentiator.
• Content destination: Relevant points move to the Amenities page. A future blog post on safety and healthcare in memory care is under consideration as a standalone SEO asset.

"Aging Gracefully" Program

• Action: Remove all mentions site-wide.
• Rationale: The program is no longer offered. Any remaining references are factually incorrect and potentially misleading to prospective families.
• Note: Search the full site for mentions — this may appear in body copy or blog content beyond the About section.

"What Makes Us Different" Page

• Action: Edit down significantly; do not remove entirely.
• Rationale: The page is currently overloaded with loosely connected content and stock photography. It should be reduced to a tight set of genuine differentiators.
• Keep: References to the Learned Environment, family ownership, boutique scale, and owner involvement.
• Remove: Redundant copy, excessive stock imagery, and content that belongs elsewhere (e.g., amenity descriptions).

What Gets Emphasized

Family-Owned Status

• Current state: Mentioned once, buried in body copy. Not prominent.
• Target state: Elevated to a featured element near the top of the About page.
• Approach: Add a brief owner statement or quote (from Tamilyn Liesenfeld) articulating the founding vision. Position this above or alongside Maria Lastoria's executive director profile.
• Rationale: Cordwainer's privately-owned, non-corporate identity is a primary differentiator in a market dominated by large operators. Families respond to this. It should be the first thing they encounter on the About page, not an afterthought.

Learned Environment Program

• Current state: Buried under "Resident Programs" in the About dropdown.
• Target state: Promoted to its own page under the new Living & Care navigation section, with a reference or link from the About page.
• Rationale: This is Cordwainer's proprietary program and the clearest proof point of their differentiated care model. It warrants its own prominent home in the navigation, not a sub-item under About.

Our Providers Page

• Action: Keep as-is; do not remove.
• Rationale: The Providers page is a unique feature that creates cross-linking opportunities with partner provider websites, supporting SEO through mutual backlinks.
• Follow-up: Maria Lastoria to confirm that Cordwainer is linked back from each listed provider's website.

Recommended About Section Structure (Post-Cleanup)

SEO Considerations

• Removing pages creates redirect opportunities. Any removed sub-pages should 301 redirect to their new content destination (Learned Environment page, Amenities page) rather than returning 404s.
• The Safety & Healthcare content, while removed from navigation, has SEO potential as a standalone blog post. Topic: safety features and healthcare protocols in memory care communities.
• "Family-owned memory care" and related phrases are underutilized on the current site. The About page cleanup is an opportunity to introduce this language naturally.

Related Context

• This cleanup was discussed as part of a broader website strategy session. See also:
• ^[3] — Living & Care and Accommodations restructuring
• ^[4] — balancing SEO copy with warmer brand voice
• ^[5] — client overview and active projects

Action Items