30-second summary:
- The project in a nutshell: A magazine-type website, monetizing programmatic ads.
- Agency work scope: Build the platform from scratch, utilizing WordPress multisite functionality and RTK.io infrastructure plus numerous ad operation tools, migrate it to new hosting, and secure project scale.
- Time frame: One month.
- Success indicators: Stability to scale to 8+ million user sessions per month with a monetization increased 8.5 times.
The Brand: Digital Publisher in Need of scaling
The project is a digital publishing platform, based on WordPress, utilizing the RTK.io programmatic infrastructure and ad operations solution (Taboola and Outbrain). The website features authentic content оn popular topics like wellness, technologies, travel, sports, and entertainment. All articles are original and created by the media’s team of writers.
Since launching in April 2019, the website’s monthly traffic has exceeded 8 Million users per month. Presently the website ranks globally around 23,000 in Alexa.
How did the project start?
The client has been working with DevriX on a WordPress development retainer plan since July 2018. Initially, the website had an imperfect RTK implementation that dynamically assigned the ad unit slots according to some JavaScript logic. DevriX was hired to support and improve that old custom platform.
But the owners were not satisfied with the business results – the monetization did not work as expected. While working on the project DevriX got more closely acquainted with the client’s goals and business operations. Both parties became aware of a clear growth opportunity.
At that time DevriX was endorsed by RTK for building a super-fast and lightweight digital publishing platform for another major media. Soon after that, the client requested to upgrade their site with a similar solution. So at the beginning of March 2019, we started to build the whole platform from scratch, utilizing the Multisite WordPress feature.
The challenge
Rebuild the whole platform
When you run a digital publishing platform of this