Project Description

Challenge

Common Cents is an established classified ads magazine publisher in Baton Rouge, LA. They were using an old WordPress website, which integrated with a legacy AdMaster system to publish their classified ads online. Aside from being very inefficient and difficult to use, this system could only publish the ad text and was not able to publish any images from their ads. Their website enabled classified ads to be ordered online. However, the payment transaction did not take place through the website and as a result, Common Cents account representatives had to follow up with ad orders, resulting in additional labor costs and missed sales opportunities. They needed a new, fresh web design that would bring them up to speed with digital best-practices and provide their audience with the kind of digital experience expected of a media publisher.

Solution

We worked alongside the Common Cents management team to design a sleek new look for their WordPress site that remained consistent with the Common Cents brand, and we developed the necessary features for digital leadership and a transition to greater focus on digital ad revenues. In addition to the complete redesign, we delivered the following improvements to the website:

  1. Significantly improved the interface for ad display
  2. Enabled classified ad pictures to be displayed alongside the text
  3. Allowed for website users to search for specific ad content
  4. Created proprietary, easy-to-use advertisement uploading & management capabilities allow an integrated data flow between the website and the complex, legacy AdMaster software.
  5. Provided secure, Ecommerce capabilities for every available Common Cents advertisement (including magazine display ads and website banner ads).

The Ecommerce development included the design of several new ad creation and review pages, custom pricing models for each ad type, extended validation SSL setup and installation to secure customer payment information, and merchant account integration with the Authorize.NET online payment gateway.