Genealogical Publishing

Genealogical Publishing

URL: http://www.genealogical.com

Technologies Used: Apache, E-Commerce, E-Commerce, MySQL, PHP, Zen Cart

Challenge: Genealogical Publishing Company was an early adopter of e-commerce. Its e-commerce site had been re-written several times on different platforms, including Cold Fusion and Microsoft ASP. The site had been custom written with little documentation and was primarily supported by only one developer. The company recognized the need to add functionality and more sophisticated search engine optimization tools (SEO) to increase Internet sales.

Solution: VMT proposed that the new e-commerce site be built on an open source platform called Zen-Cart. Working in conjunction with a graphic design and SEO firm, Zen-Cart was configured by VMT with the new company branding, a user friendly navigation scheme and easy to understand content. Significant customizations were made that allow customers to perform sophisticated searches in genealogy to find their CD's and books of interest. Zen-Cart also offers a content management system (CMS) component that allows the company to customize their content at will.

Results: Genealogical Publishing has been able to minimize support and maintenance costs associated with its web presence as non-technical users can make changes to content without the assistance of a developer. Product sales are up and web traffic has increased-- two of the organization's major objectives.