Without any previous online presence, the team at Shoppers RVA was concerned about the best and most cost-effective ways to update and maintain a new website. In response, we created a website with a system that complimented their current work and levels of experience with the web. First, we built a custom WordPress website, by far the easiest and most widely used content management system on the web. Then, developed a way for them to upload the most current shopper issues and have them optimized for web view, in file size, and view size. Lastly, we created 4 databases that controlled the main sections of the website - Shoppers (the online version of the newsletter), Recipes, Exclusive Offers, and Advertisements (from local businesses). We also created a short video tutorial on how to maintain the site, so Shoppers VA could have complete control of the site’s content, both text content and images.
To ensure all advertisers that submit ads each month were also included online, we created multiple areas where those printed ads could be highlighted on the website. We created an easy to update database specifically for this, so the ads would be pulled over from the newsletter and automatically show in the designated ad spaces. The ads are randomly generated and are run on multiple pages, adding an additional service to their advertisers, while extending their digital reach to potential customers.
We were able to seamlessly create a website that maintained their branded look and feel of the printed publications and recreate that in a digital space. By bringing the full monthly newsletters online, we extended their reach from print only to digital, not only for themselves but also for their advertisers.
