Terms

The Code Company founder Ben May talks at an industrial event (c) thecode.co

The Code Company, a specialization agency that concentrates on publishing via digital media and is among's most preferred partner. They're WordPress experts , and they work on large-scale redesigns as well as migrations and integrations. They are building hundreds of tech stacks for hundreds of publishing companies.

The company just launched a relaunch of Substack the giant The Dispatch, a publication for reporting and commentary on policy, politics and culture, valued at $1.9 million, and boasting many thousands of subscribers. I talked to Stacey Astley Clark who is part of the communications and partnerships team, about the company as well as its offerings:

"Our chief executive Ben May has been using technology to tackle problems since the age of 10," says Stacey. "He made his first website for a local firm in the year 12 and earned 400 dollars." Ben noticed that there was a growing possibility for a career in all of this and therefore launched his first company at the age of 22.

The Code Company didn't deliberately get into publishing, but it did win a couple of publishing clients in the beginning. Stacey says: "We've carved out a niche in building technology for digital publishers as well as migrating from other platforms to WordPress and building membership capabilities, and ad tech. We were initially platform agnostic and then discovered that the majority of platforms did not work! We now work solely with WordPress; there were too many 'rescue operations on different platforms."

"The essential engineering aspects, that goes into the publishing of websites is exactly what we do," Stacey continues. They help publishers solve complex problems using WordPress and find ways to use technology to "increase the amount of revenue they earn, generate better efficiencies in the company and reduce the risk of business involving technology".

Stacey and I agree that 'tech is becoming less technical', which is really important for publishing. "Sometimes you will have writers, editors and marketing professionals who are using technology, and must have the ability to utilize the technology without having to call an engineer every five minutes.These are "wordspeople", not 'tech people'."

The Code Company helps these people create or migrate to tech platforms that allow them to be fully self-sufficient "They require a system that is able be able to perform the same tasks as previously, but in a easier method. The Code Company often works with publishers that have websites that are creaking with tech debt. Most plugins don't offer the features they need, so we find it better to design an integration that is custom, to ensure users get what they want with none of the things they do not."

Clients

The Code Company works with content businesses of all kinds, ranging from independent publishers to large entertainment groups. They recently successfully launched Wondermind the mental health content hub supported by famous Selena Gomez and Newsette CEO Daniella Pierson. The launch was praised by Bhavik Trivedi who is the Chief Operating Officer of Wondermind stated: "I've never had a smooth launch. Until now. It was launched in the middle of the day, and it was gradually scaled as the increase in traffic and our integrations worked perfectly."

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The new Wondermind media hub (c) thecode.co

They also partner in conjunction with Nine, the biggest entertainment firm in Australia. "We developed their corporate website, plus publications drive.com.au one of the top auto website and Future Women, a membership group for women who are professionals." The Code Company also launched eBay's local ads website. "That was a big deal because they had never regional leads prior to this and began to receive Australian leads as a result of that site," Stacey confirms. "We just launched a brand-new website Science Alert, which is an important science magazine within the US. The website is run by Australia, but most users are in the US. We worked on that project for about a year and quarter of a year!" she remembers.

But it seems the company's most successful area is working with smaller established publishers who are seeking to grow. "We are asking, 'How do you prove that you can publish? What can we do to get your company and the tech stack to be in the best shape so that you can grow your business?'" Stacey says. This is probably where most of The Code Co's clients could be located. This includes small media companies like news website Crikey and Her Campus, the female-led college students' media company located in America. US (that The Code Company moved from Drupal in order to switch to WordPress).

PT0CpapgDKohJvS2XTfd The HerCampus.com content hub across many platforms (c) thecode.co

"We assist creative and innovative creators who feel frustrated or trapped with their current platform as well as CMS (content management systems)," Stacey adds. "They're reaching out to us for alternatives because they're finding their current platform is restrictive in terms of their capabilities. The platform isn't very flexible, and also they earn a huge chunk of the revenue." Furthermore the need is becoming increasingly important for creators at all levels to gather first-party information. "They're only able to access that data via platforms like Substack. We're developing custom creator stacks that allow the creators to have their own market," she explains.

Solutions and Services

The customers of The Code Company may be the ones who built their site themselves, or might have asked for help from someone to design it. Either way they're using many plugins. "As they've advanced, issues are beginning to show and they can't fix things for themselves. The result is problems, and complaints from the 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 that are as easy as adding something on the menu." She confirms.

Mike McPhate at the California Sun confirms: "The biggest problem with my previous membership website was that it was riddled with errors and confusing prompts on how to navigate the site. I'd get emails almost every day from angry users. When I created the site in conjunction together with The Code Company and , I no longer get those emails from readers and that's great!"

The California Sun (c)thecode.co

We all know that performance is critically important for publishers "If the performance drops, they can lose thousands of dollars," Stacey continues. "And they continue to hack out an application and sticking with another. They're losing performance until their business just isn't successful any more. They'll join us, carrying this massive technological stack creaking in the background, conscious that they could risk their website going slow due to the performance."

More publishers are wanting to diversify their revenues, which is why they are increasingly exploring subscriptions and memberships. "We must find a solution that is efficient and secure. The majority 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 what Stacey calls "leaky paywalls". Stacey explains: "We've worked with other membership solutions before and found it simple to bypass the paywall. If your business model is based on publishing, and relies on content that is paid for, this presents a large challenge."

New projects and events coming up

"The creation economy is booming," Stacey notes. "Creators are realizing SaaS platforms come with limits, and they're looking to consider other avenues. Diversification isn't going away for publishers, but it's also important to keep looking for new ways to connect and connect with their audience by providing more targeted and personalized content. Subscriptions don't only generate income, they provide opportunities to be closer to audiences as well and increase engagement."

"There remain print magazines available that aren't on digital and we are receiving interest from the ones that realize that in order to be successful it will be necessary to shift into digital and subscriptions will be a part of it."

On the note of recent events "Ben is well-known in the world of conferences," adds Stacey. Recently Ben gave a talk at the Mumbrella publisher conference in Australia as well as WordCamp US in San Diego. The talks covered the creator economy; focusing on 'the minimalist publisher' and ways publishers can achieve more from little. This includes taking lessons from creators for bigger publishing organizations which often use membership-based solutions.

Founder Ben May is a familiar name at conferences. (c) thecode.co

It seems the company founder knows the industry inside out. "Ben's had this job for all of his life and there's not a question that he can't answer," says Stacey. "The information I gather when I speak to customers is that in the event of a problem, they might need to shell out another agency for two weeks to visit and investigate. The tech staff at the Code Company can literally solve it in twenty minutes via phone, because he's seen all of these. It's a great thing for businesses to be able to do that type problem-solving capabilities."

In conclusion, Stacey says: "Publishing or running a website doesn't have to be as complex as people make it. The whole purpose of our company is to avoid complexity." We are both of the opinion that it is easy to get distracted by the latest gadget or theme or plug-ins "these flashing lights aren't going to move the needle at all," she smiles.

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

More details

For more information on The Code Company, to see case studies on previous migration and integrations, and for more information about collaboration with them, visit their website thecode.co.