Summary
Association Chat is a community of association professionals for news, videos, podcasts, and events. As Association Chat has grown it has become a repository of a huge amount of information.
The original website was unable to effectively present the depth of content and as a result, the site was disorganized and it was hard to find current and add new content.
The Challenge
As Association Chat grew in resources for its community, the website did not have the taxonomy structure to organize the vast amounts of information. Publishing a variety of content formats with different media (video, images, etc.) was frustrating and time consuming. Accessing the information was nearly impossible.
To support and grow its constituency, Association Chat has, and continues to produce, an extensive selection of unique and valuable information curated by leaders in the association space. To properly serve its community, Association Chat needs to make that information easily found and accessible by search engines and other channels.
The Solution
- Web Development Discovery
- Information Architecture
- Custom Website Design
- Custom Website Development
- Content Migration
Knucklepuck initially coached Association Chat on content and social media strategy, which generated an initial lift in traffic. However, the tools and features available in the existing site’s free theme were still lacking for the overall strategy. To reach the company’s short and long term objectives, Association Chat needed a complete website overhaul..
An assessment of the needs of the Association Chat’s content curators and community members resulted in a detailed step-by-step plan for the new site. The new custom theme:
- allows easy access to information by its community
- has a time-efficient and user-friendly content management system (CMS)
- highlights contributors
- drives funding
The Results
When Knucklepuck started with Association Chat, the site was not able to support the initiatives vital for maximizing reach of the plentiful content library. The new site is more suited to this community-focused brand, with:
- segmented email newsletter integration
- rich contributor bios
- a custom ad manager
- integration with social channels.
“My site was adequate at best. Over time there had been too many hands involved in add ons-and updates. Security was a concern and behind the scenes was a trainwreck. Things that should have been simple were not,” says Association chat Founder/CEO KiKi L’Italien.
“Now, adding content and other site updates, including Google Analytics tracking, is fast and simple. The efficiencies are incredible,” offers L’Italien. “Results? Just 3 weeks after the site’s launch we have our first sponsorship request through the site. One long-term goal of the site, driving funding, is already becoming a reality.”