Supercharging Platform Performance for a $6 Billion Media Giant Through Legacy CMS to WordPress Migration

About Client

They are one of Australia’s largest media conglomerates, publishing newspapers, digital media, and magazines nationwide. With an estimated revenue of over $6B and over 150 brands in news, sports, and lifestyle, backed by a team of 5,000 professionals, they reach more than 18 million Australians monthly across print, video, audio, and digital platforms. Their influential titles, including The Australian and The Daily Telegraph, make them a dominant force in the Australian media landscape.

Goal

• Enhance subscription page performance to improve the user experience and streamline the process for consumers interested in subscribing to news content.
• Reduce reliance on developers for content updates and shop front template changes, eliminating bottlenecks and delays in implementing necessary modifications.
• Accelerate the deployment of new mastheads to enable the organization to swiftly release new content and stay relevant in a fast-paced industry.
• Implement a centralized content management system to efficiently manage content across multiple websites and simplify editorial workflows.

Solution

• Implemented a WordPress Multisite network to unify all mastheads under a single platform, streamlining content management and operations.
• Developed custom Gutenberg blocks for managing template needs, including checkout, confirmation, and offer management pages.
• Designed blocks to support A/B testing, enabling data-driven decisions regarding content and layout.
• Introduced features allowing shopfront pages to adapt content based on query parameters, providing personalized user experiences.
• Created diverse templates using custom blocks to support various masthead layouts.
• Developed a module allowing the editorial team to create, consolidate, and display different offer combinations on shopfront pages.
• Implemented user-friendly and efficient pages for checkout, confirmation, and offer management.
• Integrated with external platforms to streamline offer and subscription plan updates.
• Integrated Google Pay for seamless subscriptions and connected with the Google Play services API to retrieve offer subscriptions.
• Empowered the editorial team with centralized management capabilities, allowing efficient control of offers and content across all websites.
• Established an approval and rejection workflow for dynamic content, ensuring changes are efficiently tracked and managed.
• Conducted extensive load testing to ensure the website could handle high traffic volumes, maintaining reliability and performance.

Results

• Achieved a 20-25% boost in website performance, especially on subscription and landing pages, delivering a faster and more responsive user experience.
• Successfully launched over 15 mastheads within just four months, showcasing the platform’s efficiency and scalability.
• Developed a highly customizable CMS with centralized content management, increasing operational efficiency and productivity by 30%.
• The migration to a multisite setup led to reduced maintenance costs, streamlining operations and cutting down resource expenditure.