Challenge
The Content Department was using Expression Engine, a CMS, for our major astrology brand. However, this CMS was outdated, hard to use, and was about to run out of security updates. This posed a significant risk for the thousands of daily visitors to our site.
Additionally, my department was unable to make quick edits or updates to most of the webpages due to the difficulty of using the program. We felt that we could not move quickly or test extensively, as any webpage update needed to go through a developer.
What Did We Do?
I was responsible for creating a communication plan to gain buy-in from our CEO and CFO, enabling us to move forward with this significant project. Together, my team and I built out a plan outlining the issues with our current CMS and the reasons for investing in a new one.
I interviewed industry experts, conducted competitive research, and demonstrated the significant revenue loss resulting from our outdated CMS, as we were unable to utilize Advanced Ads.
You can find the communications plan we put together here: Astrology Answers CMS Upgrade Proposal
Results
The CEO and CFO agreed to move forward with this project based on the above plan. I managed the entire project from start to finish, working with a team that included a designer and a developer.
We migrated over 3,000 pages to a new WordPress site, optimizing and updating the best-performing content and pages, developing a more comprehensive SEO strategy, and enhancing the user experience for our large audience.
The new CMS contributed to a $20,000 increase in monthly ad revenue. We also improved our workflow efficiency and optimized content output for better results. The content team was now able to make edits, A/B test, and perform other tasks without the need for developer assistance moving forward.
MARINA KHONAISSER 