1. The Brief
GadgetGuy.com.au is one of the top Australian gadget review websites in the Australia. The current website they had was about 4 years old and outdated. The site had some issues such as the Google search engine indexing and responsive design which made a Google and Alexa ranking very low.
2. Our proposition
We wanted to create a modern looking website in order for readers to find out the latest in news while being able to find product reviews they may be looking for. Reviews are a huge part of the website‘s editorial strategy. It was important to have a website which was searchable using search engines and was optimised using SEO. This is the reason for making a more attractive site and especially for the prospective advertisers for the site.
3. Personas and research
We conducted an online survey using Survey Monkey to both users of the site but also advertisers. We asked the users about what they liked about the current site and what improvements they wanted to see. We also reached out to advertisers and technology brands about what they wanted in a technology news websites. This was critical in the way we thought of the site on how we can better promote brands but also maintain editorial integrity with the GadgetGuy brand.
4. Sketches and mock-ups
From the results of our research, we looked at the design of the website with, both, readers and advertisers in mind, when we did the redesign phase of the website. Additionally, we looked at other popular technology websites such as Engadget and The Verge.
5. Prototyping and testing
We worked with an external development company to produce the GadgetGuy‘s website. Then, we had to work with our sales department while also testing the prototypes with the technology PR companies. We also tested it with internal Gadget Group staff in regards to the development of the final website for its deployment.
6. Final stage
After testing, we made updates to the BETA site which included expanded advertsing options such as website takeovers, increase banner placement and additional editorial content based off industry feedback and user testing sessions
