Terms

     The Code Company founder Ben May talks at an trade show (c) thecode.co    

The Code Company, a professional agency with a focus on publishing digitally and is one of the top partners. They're WordPress experts and conducting massive overhauls of the platform including migrations, integrations and migrations. They are creating hundreds of tech stacks to support many publishing companies.

The company recently relaunched Substack massive The Dispatch, a publication that provides news and analysis about politics, policies and culture , which is valued at $1.9 million and has the attention of hundreds of thousands of people. I talked to Stacey Astley Clark, in the partnerships and communications team regarding the business, and the services it offers:

"Our founder Ben May has been using technology to address issues from grade 10 onwards" begins Stacey. "He created his first website for a local company at the age of 12 and made $400." Ben realized that there was an opportunity for business in addition to a possibility for a future career and thus he launched his very first agency in the year 22.

The Code Company didn't deliberately get into publishing, but it did acquire a handful of publishing clients in the beginning. Stacey declares: "We've carved out a area of expertise in the creation of technologies to assist digital publishers. We also help them switch from other platforms to WordPress, building membership functionality and ad tech. Our initial strategy was to remain platform-neutral, but then realized that a majority did not work! We currently use WordPress There were just numerous'rescue' operations that were a result of platforms other than WordPress."

"The essential engineering aspects which is involved with publishing websites, is the thing we do," Stacey continues. The team assists publishers with difficult problems with WordPress and helps them use technology to "increase the revenue of their business, achieve more efficiency within their business and reduce the risks of business involving technology".

Stacey as well as I are believe that technology is getting less technical', which is essential to publishing. "Sometimes you have editors, writers of content and marketing professionals that are using technology and have to use it , without calling developers each 5 minutes.These are "wordspeople" and are not technical individuals."

The Code Company helps these people develop or transition to technological stacks that allow them to be completely self-sufficient "They need a solution to complete everything it did before, but in a less streamlined manner. This is because the Code Company often works with publishing companies with websites that are sagging with tech debt. A plugin may not give all the features they require We've discovered it to be much more effective to create an integrated system which is specifically made, which means that the users will get exactly what they want, and none of the stuff they don't."

Clients

The Code Company works with content organisations of all sorts that range from small-scale publishers to large entertainment companies. In the past, they have completed the high-profile launch of Wondermind, a content hub dedicated to mental health patronized by superstars Selena Gomez and Newsette CEO Daniella Pierson. It was well-received by Bhavik Trivedi who is the Chief Operations Officer for Wondermind said: "I've never had a seamless launch. Until now. It was launched and designed to be scalable to support high-traffic and our integrations worked flawlessly."

FuqQ9UfLAmNAKjVpzFCV The brand new Wondermind content hub (c) thecode.co

They also partner with Nine The biggest entertainment firm within Australia. "We developed their corporate site as well as publications drive.com.au which is the nation's top auto website in addition to Future Women which is a subscription site designed for professional women." Code Company also launched the Code Company also launched eBay's local ads site. "That was a big deal as they'd never seen regional leads before and they could get Australian leads through the help of that website," Stacey confirms. "We recently launched a brand new site called Science Alert, which is an important magazine in the US. The website is run by Australia, but most of the readers are from the US. The website was in development for more than one year, and a quarter of one year!" She recalls.

However, it appears that the firm's most effective fit would be with smaller, established publishers that want to grow. "We are asking, 'How can you prove that you're ready to create content? How do we get your organization and technology stack in the most optimal shape to grow your business?'" Stacey says. This is probably where the majority of the clients from The Code Company lie; this might include non-traditional media organizations like news websites Crikey and Her Campus, which is a college-level media organization within America. US (that The Code Company has moved from Drupal in order to switch to WordPress).

PC0CpapgDKohJvS2XTfd The HerCampus.com Hub for content is available to several gadgets (c) thecode.co

"We assist creative and ingenuous creators that are unhappy or trapped by their existing platform as well as CMS (content management system)," Stacey adds. "They're looking to us seeking alternatives as they're discovering that their current platform is limited in terms of the things they are able to achieve. It's not flexible enough and also they earn the majority of their earnings." Additionally, it's becoming increasingly important for creators of any level to collect first-party information. "They're only able to access that data through platforms like Substack. We're developing custom creator stacks that allow them to own their own audiences," she explains.

Solutions and Services

The clients from The Code Company may have created their own website or perhaps requested someone to create the website. Whatever the case they're using many plugins. "As the site's popularity has increased and expanded, the site is finding that certain things are starting to break and they're unable to fix the problem on their own. The result is inefficiencies, customer complaints, and the fact that they're not able to perform what they'd like to achieve. There are many different ways to add things to the menu." She affirms.

Mike McPhate at the California Sun says: "The biggest problem with my previous membership website was the fact that it was stuffed with errors and also had a confusing set of instructions about how it was used. I would receive emails nearly daily from angry users. The site was created in conjunction in conjunction in conjunction with The Code Company and , I'm not getting those mails from users, and it's a huge relief!"

The California Sun (c)thecode.co

We all know that the speed and performance of websites is crucial for publishers "If there is a drop in the performance of a website, it may lose thousands of dollars," Stacey continues. "And they're constantly hacking away at one application before settling on the same one. The site's performance keeps declining until their business just isn't successful anymore. They'll come with us, carrying this massive technological stack creaking behind them, aware that they could see the site being unable to function due to its performance."

More publishers are wanting to diversify their revenue so many are looking at memberships as well as subscriptions. "We need to find the best solution to make it effective and safe. The majority of our work is to find solutions that will be life-changing for publishers," she says. The Code Company works specifically with subscription solutions to prevent what Stacey calls "leaky payment walls". Stacey states: "We've worked with other subscription services in the past and it's very easy to bypass the payment wall. If your model of business is built around publishing that relies on paid content, this presents a large challenge."

There are new events and projects coming up

"The market for creators has exploded," Stacey notes. "Creators are becoming aware that SaaS platforms come with limitationsand they are now looking at other alternatives. The need for diversification will not go away for publishers, but neither is the need to kind of keep looking at new ways to engage with audiences by providing specific and targeted content. Subscribers don't just generate income, they provide opportunities to connect to viewers as increase their the number of people who subscribe."

"There remain print magazines available which aren't available online, and we're still getting interest from those who are realizing that, to succeed in the competition, they'll need convert to digital, and an subscription service will be one of those."

With regard to recent developments "Ben is an extremely well-known name on the stage of conferences," adds Stacey. Recently, Ben spoke at the Mumbrella Publisher Conference in Australia in Sydney and also at WordCamp US in San Diego. The presentations covered the creator economy and focused on 'the minimalist publisher' and how publishers can make more use of the resources they possess. Also, it is possible to get inspiration from creators at bigger publishing organizations and, often by using membership programs.

     Founder Ben May is a familiar name on the circuit of conferences (c) thecode.co    

The man who started the company knows the industry inside out. "Ben's worked in this field throughout his career; there's not an question he's unable to answer," says Stacey. "The knowledge I get from conversations with customers are that if they're having an issue, they may have to pay another agency for 2 weeks to go to and examine. Tech staff from The Code Company will solve the issue within twenty minutes over the phonebecause he's dealt with each and every one of these. This is a huge benefit for businesses being able to use this kind of ability to solve problems."

In conclusion, Stacey says: "Publishing or operating a website doesn't require as much effort as some people think it should be. Our whole ethos is anti-complexity." We're both of conviction that it's simple to get lost in latest tech or theme and plugins "these flashing lights don't have the potential be able to change the direction of your needle in any significant way," she smiles.

The Code Company revels in "smart simplicity" it seems. Stacey states: "We offer the chance to locate a technology partner who can help you attain the success you want with the most simple method which is efficient, not simply dumping any current buzzwords."

More details

To learn more on The Code Company, to review case studies from previous implementations and migrations, in addition to to know more about their services go to their website thecode.co.

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