Terms

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

The Code Company, a professional agency that is focused on publishing via digital media, is one of 's top partner. They are WordPress experts , and they work with large-scale design including migrations and integrations. building hundreds of tech stacks to support hundreds of publishers.

The company just launched a relaunch of Substack huge The Dispatch, a publication that provides news and analysis about politics, policy, and culture worth $1.9 million, and boasting hundreds of thousands of readers. I spoke to Stacey Astley-Clark from the partnerships and communications team, about the company and its services:

"Our chief executive Ben May has been using technology to solve problems since the age of 10," starts Stacey. "He developed his first site for a local firm in the year 12 and earned 400 dollars." Ben noticed that there was an possibility for a career from all this, and so launched his first agency at the age of 22.

The Code Company didn't deliberately get into publishing, but did win a couple of publishing clients in the beginning. Stacey describes: "We've carved out a niche in building technology to help digital publishers, and also moving from different platforms to WordPress, building membership functionality as well as ad technology. At first, we were platform-neutral and then discovered that the majority of platforms were a disaster! Today, we exclusively use WordPress as there were just several'rescue operation' from some of the different platforms."

"The crucial engineering work that is used to create the publishing of websites is exactly what is our job," Stacey continues. We assist publishers in solving complicated problems by using WordPress and discover ways to utilize technology to "increase their revenue, create greater efficiencies within the company and reduce tech-related business risk".

Stacey and I both agree that 'tech is becoming less techie' and this is really important for publishing. "Sometimes you will have journalists, content creators and marketing professionals who are using technology, and must have the ability to utilize it , without calling an engineer at every 5 minutes.These are "wordspeople", not 'tech people'."

Code Company helps people create or migrate to technology stacks that make them self-sufficient. Code Company helps these people develop or transition to tech stacks that can make them independent "They require something be able to perform the same tasks as previously, but in a easier way. The Code Company often works with publishers who have sites that are creaking with tech debt. A plugin may not give all the functionality they require, so we find it better to design an integrated system that's custom designed, so they get everything they want without sacrificing any things they do not."

Clients

The Code Company works with content companies of all sorts, ranging from independent publishers to major entertainment companies. Recently they have completed the high-profile launch of Wondermind the content hub for mental health that is that is backed by the likes of celebrity Selena Gomez and Newsette CEO Daniella Pierson. In the wake of the launch, Bhavik Trivedi, the Chief Operating Officer of Wondermind stated: "I've never had a seamless launch. Until now. The website went live, scaled up with high traffic, and all our integrations were flawless."

FuqQ9UfLAmNAKjVpzFCV The new Wondermind media hub (c) thecode.co

They also collaborate together with Nine The biggest entertainment firm in Australia. "We created their corporate website as well as publications drive.com.au one of the top auto portal in addition to Future Women, a membership group for women who are professionals." Code Company also launched the Code Company also launched eBay's local ads site. "That was a major issue because they'd never had regional leads prior to this and were able to get Australian leads as a result of that site," Stacey confirms. "We have recently launched a brand new website called Science Alert, which is an important science magazine within the US. It's operated from Australia, but most users are in the US. It was a project we worked on for over a year and half!" she remembers.

However, it appears that the company's most successful area is working with publishers that are a little smaller which are trying to expand. "We inquire, 'How can you prove that you can publish? What can we do to get your company and the tech stack to be in the best shape that you can scale your enterprise?'" Stacey says. It is likely that this is where the majority of the clients of The Code Company are located; for instance, non-traditional media organizations like news websites Crikey and Her Campus, a female college students media company in The US (that The Code Company moved to Drupal to WordPress).

PT0CpapgDKohJvS2XTfd The HerCampus.com content hub across several devices (c) thecode.co

"We assist creative and innovative creators who find themselves frustrated, or frustrated by their platform of choice as well as CMS (content management software)," Stacey adds. "They're reaching out to us for alternatives because they're finding their existing platform is limiting to the things they are able to do. The platform isn't very flexible, and they take a massive part of their income." Additionally that it's becoming essential for creators at any level to collect data from first parties. "They're only able to access that data through platforms such as Substack. We are building custom creator stacks that allow the creators to have their own audience," she explains.

Solutions and Services

The customers of The Code Company may have created their own website and/or asked somebody to build the site. Whatever the case they're using many plugins. "As the site has grown, they're finding that the system is breaking down and they're not able to repair things by themselves. It's creating a load of issues, as well as complaints from readersand the fact that they're unable to accomplish what they would like to accomplish. There are times when they're unable to do something like adding items to their menus," she confirms.

Mike McPhate at the California Sun affirms: "The biggest problem with my previous membership website was the fact that it was rife by errors, as well as confusing instructions about how to navigate it. I received emails every single day from frustrated readers. After developing the site together with The Code Company and , I'm not getting those emails from readers which is just amazing!"

The California Sun (c)thecode.co

It is well-known that the performance of a website is crucial for publishing companies "If they lose performance, they can lose hundreds of thousands of dollars" Stacey continues. "And they keep hacking out an application and sticking with the next. They're losing performance until their business just isn't efficient anymore. After that, they'll be with us, carrying this massive technological stack creaking in the background, conscious of the risk of the site being shut out of commission due to poor performance."

Publishers are looking to diversify their revenue so more of them are exploring subscriptions and memberships. "We must find an option that's reliable and secure. A large part of our task is looking into methods that could be life-changing for publishers," she says. The Code Company works specifically with subscription solutions to get around the issue of what Stacey calls "leaky paywalls". She explains: "We've worked with other services for membership before, and we've found it very straightforward to circumvent the paywall. If your business model is based on publishing, and is reliant on the sale of content to users it can be a huge issue."

New projects and events on the horizon

"The creation economy is booming," Stacey notes. "Creators have realized that SaaS platforms aren't without their limits, and they're looking to consider other avenues. The need for diversification will not go away for publishers. But it's also important to constantly look for new ways to connect with audiences through more customized and targeted content. Subscriptions don't only generate revenues, but they also provide the possibility of getting closer to the audience and increase participation."

"There remain print magazines in circulation that aren't on digital and we are still getting interest from those who are realizing that, if they want to survive it will be necessary to shift in some way to digital and a subscription service could be one of those ways."

On the note of recent happenings "Ben is a familiar face in the world of conferences," adds Stacey. Recently, Ben spoke at the Mumbrella Publisher Conference in Australia, and WordCamp US in San Diego. The talks covered the creator economy; focusing on 'the minimalist publisher' as well as how publishers can accomplish more using less. It is also possible to learn from creators for bigger publishing organizations, often using membership solutions.

Ben May is the founder. Ben May is a familiar name in the world of conferences. (c) thecode.co

It seems the company founder knows the industry inside out. "Ben's done this for the entirety of his life and there's not a question that he can't answer," says Stacey. "The information I gather through conversations with clients is that in the event of a problem, they might have to pay another agency two weeks and look into. The team at Code Company's technology is able to solve it within 20 minutes on the phone because they've seen every single one of these. This is a huge advantage for any business to be able to do that type ability to troubleshoot."

In the end, Stacey says: "Publishing or running a website doesn't need to be as complicated as some people think it is. Our whole ethos is anti-complexity." We are both of the opinion that it is easy to be caught up in the latest technology or theme or plugins - "these flashing lights don't have the potential make a difference at all," she smiles.

The Code Company revels in "smart simplicity" it appears. Stacey states: "We offer the chance to find a tech partner which can assist you to attain the success you're looking for with the most straightforward way that works, without using the latest buzzword."

Additional information

To read more about The Code Company, to look through case studies of the previous integrations and migrations, and to look into collaboration with them, go to their site thecode.co.