The latest in astronomy news, fueled by a flexible WordPress system.
S
paceNews recently celebrated their 25th year as a leader in space publications. Previously a print magazine,
the industry leader is moving into the future with a powerful digital presence via WDG’s WordPress
expertise.
Project Mission
Originally a print magazine, SpaceNews sought to
completely revamp their website to improve the user experience while also increasing revenue through responsive
advertisements and content sponsorship.
What We Did
SpaceNews partnered with WDG for a premier digital
experience that would intuitively showcase their extensive body of work on a flexible WordPress content
management system.
48%
increase
in page views
Ensuring Mass Content Migration
WDG strategists began by using publication analytics to revamp and reorganize the site’s taxonomy structure,
remapping the existing content to be displayed in a more intuitive manner. This map was used during migration to
match the new taxonomy terms to content using a combination of keywords and previous terms. We also included
content tagging and content feeds capabilities. Importantly, WDG developers expertly migrated ten years of
SpaceNews’ archived content, ensuring that information was merged successfully without any loss in the integrity
of article content.
Propelling Publishing into the Future
Another significant element of the project was giving SpaceNews’ editors a
simplified method for creating, curating, and publishing content. Using custom templates on the WordPress CMS,
WDG designers ensured Spacenews editors the functionality to write and organize related articles to portray a
connected story-arc. We also featured author pages to highlight the strength of the editorial team. To help
writers and editors stay on top of the latest industry news, we also created a post-by-email feature to ensure
easy content workflow due to the high speed nature of the industry.
Developing an Industry Resource
WDG strategists wanted to highlight SpaceNews’ value as an industry resource,
creating a Wikipedia-like function for developing informational pages about relevant topics, industry figures,
and important companies. To redirect users towards related content and keep them engaged in the site, these
pages also offer background information about relevant terms and are connected to other articles.
18
custom
landing pages
An Improved Reading and Discovery Experience
As a online news publication, SpaceNews’ updated website needed to cater directly to its specific niche of
readers, providing in-depth coverage of the latest in the business and politics of space. To achieve this, we
focused on the tablet reading experience as the baseline for other screen sizes. By creating a mobile responsive
design that fit with all three breakpoints, SpaceNews was able to more seamlessly integrate revenue generating
ads. This also eliminated any potential disturbances in the overall design, regardless of reading experience.
Creating Leaps in User Engagement
With a new site structure and improved publication workflow, SpaceNews has
experienced a dramatic increase in user engagement. Site visits have increased over 76%, with 64% more user
sessions and 44% more page views. This has resulted in almost a million page views per month.
WDG is helping move SpaceNews into the future of the publishing industry.
