web design portfolio Yoga Journal

More web design graphics

The Yoga Journal wanted a website in which the magazine could feature some of its best content at no cost. The magazine's goal was to increase subscription rates by offering archived magazine articles online. (Current issues would not be posted while they were still on the newsstand.)

The business case for online advertising revenue generation had collapsed. The new thinking was that marquis websites would attract new subscriptions at a much lower fulfillment cost. The obvious advantages of reading print magazine over online reproductions would provide compelling reasons to subscribe, even when so much content would be available on the web site.

The model proved successful, and the magazine does save money on "subscription drops," generating thousands of new subscribers online annually. (If only we could tell!)

Our role in the project began early on, during an extensive project definition phase. The site that we ultimately built for the Yoga Journal was largely our own design and conception. We took part in strategic decisions (what kind of online directory listings to offer existing print advertisers) as well as in content (e.g. the yoga poses section) and navigation (a site organized around departments different from the magazine's). We helped to outline the weekly newsletter and assisted with several internal projects focused on teachers and other yoga professionals.

We also took on much of the project management, guiding various department heads through the process of gathering content, defining department goals for the site, and providing tips on how best to "web-ify" copy. As the company did not have in-house web staff at the time, we were also responsible for making sure that our web site and publishing system were not too technically un-wieldy.

Ultimately, we custom-built a content management system, ad manager, and searchable directory using Cold Fusion and SQL. The site itself is home to over 15,000 pages of content, as well as thousands of directory entries: studios, teachers, advanced teacher training, events, and resources. It receives thousands of visitors a day, and delivers well over a million page views per month.

We continue to provide the Yoga Journal with on-going design, maintenance, strategic consulting, CMS improvements, and more.