A Tale of
Transforming 300+ WordPress Websites
Introducing
Designstudio
A creative agency that crafts stunning websites for businesses from different domains. Their mission is to ensure these businesses and brands are up to date in this digital age, across all channels. They want to give them a fresh and modern look!
So, what's their secret to success? Well, it's a perfect blend of creativity, strategy, and the latest cutting-edge technology.
Their objective is crystal clear - to create stuff that not only looks amazing but also works like a charm. They put in the effort to optimize everything, making sure that their websites attract, engage, and convert people like magic.
In a nutshell, DESIGNSTUDIO is all about making businesses look awesome in this digital landscape.
Grand vision
One of their projects, where the expertise of Virtual Employee came into play, was the creation and management of over 300 WordPress websites, with a special focus on Hot Tubs and Spas. Can you imagine the sheer scale and excitement of that task?
The project started with a grand vision - they needed a full-stack developer who could handle all 300+ websites with finesse. And who did they bring onboard for this? None other than Puneet Sharma, a Sr. Software Engineer from Virtual Employee.
The tech wizard
Puneet has over 7 years of experience planning, supporting, implementing, and deploying leading-edge Web-based solutions. A result-oriented web-based application professional having experience working on e-commerce, informational, social, and many other popular domains.
The three wishes
of the client
A performance-
enhanced journey
Our client wanted a smooth and seamless user experience across all websites. Loading times were to be swift, responsiveness enchanting, and render-blocking issues vanished from sight.
The magic of
new technologies
With the wave of a wand, the client desired to incorporate the latest web development technologies. Vue and Tailwind CSS were chosen to sprinkle their magic on the websites, enhancing both visual appeal and functionality.
The quest for SEO and
accessibility
The client aimed to make their digital realm accessible to all visitors by adhering to Google's Accessibility Audit guidelines. Their goal was to achieve great SEO results and improve user accessibility.
A tale of two
frameworks
90% of websites were built using WordPress, which is known for being user-friendly and having excellent content management features. This choice allowed for easy management and updates of the website's content. For the remaining 10%, he went with Laravel, a framework that offered flexibility and powerful backend capabilities, allowing them to create more complex and customized functionalities.
Let's dive into the details of the development process for each type of website:
WordPress website development
PHP Utilization
In the WordPress world, PHP was utilized as the backbone for handling server-side processing and data management. By using PHP effectively, Puneet ensured that the websites had robust functionality, making it possible to have dynamic content updates and seamless data management.
HTML and CSS for Design
HTML and CSS were employed for designing visually appealing and responsive layouts. HTML provided the structure and elements of the web pages, while CSS handled the presentation, styling, and layout. So, the combination of these technologies made sure that the websites looked polished, consistent, and visually engaging across various devices and screen sizes.
SCSS for Efficiency
To make the development process smoother and more efficient, SCSS (Sassy CSS) was implemented as it has some cool features like variables, nesting, and mixins that made Puneet's life easier in writing cleaner and more organized CSS code. This saved time and effort in managing styles, and it made the websites easier to maintain and update in the long run.
JavaScript and jQuery for Interactivity
Puneet brought the WordPress websites to life with dynamic and interactive elements using JavaScript and jQuery. JavaScript enabled interactivity, while jQuery is a popular JavaScript library that simplified DOM manipulation and event handling. By using these technologies, captivating animations, smooth transitions, and an enjoyable user experience were created for the website visitors.
Laravel-Powered websites
Tailwind CSS for customizability
Now, for the Laravel-powered websites, Puneet expanded his toolkit by incorporating Tailwind CSS. This powerful CSS framework provided a wide range of pre-designed utility classes. With Tailwind CSS, Puneet had more flexibility to create highly customizable and responsive user interfaces, making it easier to design and style websites.
Vue for interactive components
To boost interactivity on the Laravel websites, Vue, a progressive JavaScript framework, was used. This enabled advanced UIs, reusable components, real-time updates, and smooth data handling. The result was a seamless user experience, elevating engagement and satisfaction.
Designing
for the future
The project had three main goals: scalability, performance, and maintainability. So, guidelines given by Google's Accessibility Audit were followed to make sure the websites were not just user-friendly but accessible to absolutely everyone.
Now, let's talk about how he ensured a smooth and efficient development process.
A clever strategy for creating mock designs for each task was implemented. This means he prepared visual representations and layouts of how the final websites should look before diving into the actual building phase. Having these clear mock designs helped to get a comprehensive understanding of how everything should work together once completed. It kept things on track, made sure everyone was on the same page, and added that touch of professionalism to their work - a real game-changer!
And then, Puneet focused on optimizing website performance. He worked tirelessly to make sure the websites loaded super-fast, giving users a smooth and seamless experience. That's something we all appreciate, right?
But Puneet didn't stop there. He also knew that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) was crucial for making the websites stand out. So, he made sure the websites were searching engine friendly, making them more visible and easily discoverable.
Journey to peak
performance
Diving into the nitty-gritty of how Puneet worked his magic to boost the project's performance
and efficiency!
Optimizing Images and Data Files
Dealing with bulky images and data files can be a hassle, but Puneet had a solution. He meticulously reviewed each website, identifying hefty files. Using clever techniques, he optimized them without compromising quality. It's like trimming the excess weight, leaving them sleek and efficient. He even transformed certain images into the WebP format for maximum efficiency.
Minifying CSS and JavaScript
Here comes another cool move from Puneet! He minified the CSS and JavaScript files. It's like zapping away all the unnecessary stuff like comments, spaces, and line breaks from these files. You know what that means, right? Smaller files load way faster, and that's like a smooth ride for the users on the website.
Deferring CSS and JS Loading
Now, this was a sneaky trick! Puneet knew that not all CSS and JavaScript files need to load at the same time. So, he cleverly deferred the loading of non-critical ones. That way, the essential stuff loaded first, giving users a snappy experience. It's like making sure the most important guests get VIP treatment at a party!
Monitoring and Evaluating Performance
Puneet was on a roll! He used tools like GTMetrix, Pingdom, and Google PageSpeed Insight to keep an eye on how the websites were performing. These tools were like detectives, giving him all the juicy details about page loading times, server responses, and suggestions for making things even better.
Mastering
performance
With these tools in hand, Puneet could fine-tune his optimizations and make sure the websites were running like a well-oiled machine. He was like a performance wizard, casting spells to make things faster and more efficient!
Guarding the precious data
In this project, handling data was a big deal. A super secure and reliable system was required to keep everything in check. To tackle that, a handy web-based tool called phpMyAdmin was used. It's like a database management tool that made handling data a breeze for them. This gave a user-friendly interface to work with, which made the whole process smoother.
But here's the cool part - data privacy and security were the top priorities! So, Puneet decided to add a firewall to the mix. Think of it as a security superhero, always on guard and monitoring all the network traffic. Its job was to make sure no unauthorized access could get through, keeping the data safe and sound from any potential threats.
Epilogue
These websites went through a magical transformation! They glowed with newfound performance, charm, and accessibility, making everyone go "Wow!" The client and their visitors were totally mesmerized by these wondrous creations.
Here's the testimony
Director of Operations
So, that's how the story goes. The websites went from ordinary to
extraordinary, thanks to Puneet's expertise and dedication.
