Freelancer magazine
How I Helped Level-up a Magazine’s Digital Presence
“I cried with happiness at
the first designs and (Hannah) tirelessly found solutions for us”
- Sophie, Editor at Freelancer Magazine
THE BRIEF
Client: Freelancer Magazine
Service: New ECommerce Website
Date of launch: March 2023
Freelancer Magazine is a quarterly print and digital magazine, as well as a thriving freelance community complete with events and marketing courses. The magazine launched two years ago as a 100-page print-first publication catering to creative freelancers through a successful Kickstarter campaign, becoming a go-to destination for freelancers worldwide. 🌍
Freelancer Magazine is the only dedicated publication for freelancers. It shares real stories and promotes inclusiveness by representing a diverse range of freelancers in terms of age, race, industry, location, gender, sexuality, and experience level. The magazine has managed to organically build a strong community of like-minded freelancers through real connections and high-quality content.
The Old Freelancer Magazine Website
“I always knew we needed a completely new site and that our current one was holding us back”
- Sophie, Editor at Freelancer Magazine
the problem
A Website The Team Couldn’t Count On
Though the Freelancer Magazine community was vibrant and growing at a fast pace, their Squarespace website had several limitations that were significantly impacting the customer experience.
LACK OF KEY ANALYTICS
The editor of Freelancer Magazine, Sophie, found that the e-commerce analytics offered by Squarespace were insufficient and lacked important information, such as churn and the number of active subscribers.
LIMITED SUBSCRIPTION MODEL
The website had a flawed subscription model that caused customer issues. The subscription would repeat every three months from the date of sign-up, leading to inconsistent delivery times for the magazine, with some customers receiving their issue up to two months late. It goes without saying that this wasn’t creating a positive impression among eager subscribers. 🤔
A WEBSITE THAT DIDN’T REFLECT
THE BRAND
The website was pretty basic, which meant that it wasn’t effectively communicating the purpose and offerings of the magazine and community. It relied heavily on text to explain the contents of each issue.
the client’s vision
an inspiring, Bold and Striking Website
Sophie’s dream was to create an inspiring, creative, bold and visually striking website that better represented the magazine and community. The ultimate goal was then to increase subscriptions and conversions.
With that in mind, I set out to start bringing Sophie’s vision to life and quickly learnt that the process wouldn’t be as easy as expected…
the process
Painstakingly Building
The Right Solution
1.
WORKING OUT THE BACKBONE OF THE PROJECT
The first thing I had on my to-do list was find a website builder that could actually support the preferred subscription model. I started conducting extensive research on various platforms, consulting with platform support and developers as well as looking for similar use cases. 👀
After careful consideration, we decided to go with Wordpress & WooCommerce because of its customisable set-up options such as:
A hidden membership area linked to active subscribers
A subscriber renewal schedule for synced dates
A gift subscription option
Direct connection to Mailchimp for new customer syncing
2.
STARTING THE DESIGN PROCESS
First, I designed two different options for the homepage in Figma – the aim was to establish an overall look and feel to flow throughout the whole website. The homepage is the first thing most visitors will see so it was important to get this exactly right.
Next, I created the website’s information architecture to help us figure out the best user journeys and ensure visitors could effortlessly move around the site.
I then built the wireframes for each of the pages so we could understand which content was relevant for each page. These would later serve as blueprints for me to start building the pages out.
Once the design and wireframes were tweaked and finalised, I got to building the pages directly into Wordpress using the Elementor builder. We put in place two rounds of changes to get everything just right.
It ended up taking us longer than expected to build the website due to the use of WordPress and the need to come up with solutions on the fly.
3.
THE TESTING PHASE
The testing phase took 2-3 weeks as it involved more than just ensuring payment processing, but also making sure that crucial elements like subscription renewals and the membership area were functioning properly.
With 15+ pages and multiple-page templates, ample time was also required for Sophie and her VA to add all necessary content. ⏳
4.
THE SOFT LAUNCH
A holding page went live a week before the official launch, acting as a soft launch, offering the option to subscribe to quarterly subscriptions so we could test the waters and father feedback.
This gave us the opportunity to fine-tune the website before its official unveiling.
“This website and everything you've put in place for us has blown me away. You've worked tirelessly to create systems and processes for us and tweaking everything with amazing attention to detail”
- Sophie, Editor at Freelancer Magazine
the result
A Website That Fully Supports Production and
Helps The Brand Shine
SUBSCRIPTIONS SEAMLESSLY SYNCED TO PRODUCTION
The site now allows customer subscriptions to be automatically synced to the publishing schedule, no manual action needed.
POWERFULLY ON-BRAND LOOK INTO THE HEART
OF THE MAGAZINE
The new website not only supports the production of the magazine but also enhances the brand's image. The design provides a powerful and on-brand look into the heart of the magazine, showcasing its content without revealing too much, acting like a teaser.
AUTOMATED DATA COLLECTION
Automated analytics allow Sophie to access plenty of data about each customer directly from the site.
GREAT FEEDBACK AND MORE SUBSCRIBERS
There was a lot of great feedback about the website and the launch day saw an increase in subscriptions with over 200 people subscribing. Additionally, the improved website design and integration of event information made it easier for customers to purchase tickets to events, leading to increased attendance.
The Long-Term Benefits
of the New Website
“Now we have our dream shop. And honestly, this website is now allowing me to dream bigger than I ever dared before”
– Sophie, Editor at Freelancer Magazine
Fewer customer service inquiries about missing magazines, as subscriptions are now delivered in a timely and consistent manner thanks to the new WooCommerce website.
Streamlined selling process, as all the information about the magazine and community is easily accessible and self-explanatory on the website.
Increased potential for growth, as the team can now confidently invest in and experiment with paid social media advertising, knowing that the processes in place provide the best chance of success.
“It changes everything for us. We finally have a site that does the magazine justice. We have incredible processes in place that will last us for a long time.”
– Sophie, Editor at Freelancer Magazine
DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF THE LAUNCH:
268
Subscriptions
(quarterly and annual subscriptions)
303
Items sold
(including event tickets, single products, and merch)
3388
Site views
1111
Site visitors