Sector(s)
Arabia Monitor is an independent economic and strategy research firm that specializes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Arabia Monitor boasts 80+ years of experience distributed amongst teams of native analysts that specialize in Iran and all 18 Arab countries.
This precise understanding of complex native dynamics is enhanced with a broader perspective and global expertise with Arabia Monitor offices strategically located in London, New York City and Beijing.
As an emerging market; the MENA region is rife with business opportunities and teeming potential risk as well. Arabia Monitor realized their laser-focused expertise will be needed by both regional and global interested parties (Governments, investors, existing businesses and etc.).
Given the nature of their industry trends and client expectations; the importance of establishing their depository of intelligence reports for sale in an accessible manner to their customers was not to be understated. The frequency of report development meant they needed a reliable CMS and media library that didn’t negatively impact the performance of their platform.
Key Challenges
Poor online customer experience
- No flexibility in editing or developing content needed for their target audience
- Various technical and performance difficulties encountered while browsing from various platforms and devices
Technology did not support their business goals
- Inability to engage in much needed e-commerce activities
- Inability to optimize online marketing and automation
- Inability to scale
About the project
Vardot recommended a comprehensive hassle-free solution to address the challenges and upgrade their technology to meet their business needs and enable them to realize their vision for growth.
Vardot’s Varbase® distribution was used to re-build the old Arabia Monitor platform; which was built using WordPress on Drupal and migrated all existing content from WordPress to Drupal 8 seamlessly.
Arabia Monitor Now Enjoys
A Search Engine Optimized (SEO) Multilingual Website
Arabia Monitor’s new platform is available in 4 different languages: English, Arabic, French and Mandarin. Their website search engine optimized for all the aforementioned languages.
Secure E-Commerce Capabilities
Arabia Monitor is able to provide their community and customers with a secure online purchasing system powered by Drupal Commerce. Drupal Commerce is renowned for the highest security standards.
Automated Marketing via Seamless Integration
Via integrating MailChimp; Arabia Monitor is able to automate their email marketing campaigns which heavily depended on keeping their database of partners, readers and customers up-to-date.
Editorial Flexibility
Since migrating their content and website to a Drupal content management system (CMS) Arabia Monitor's ability to design, develop, edit and upload content to their website has never been easier.
Smoother Customer Experiences
User experience is optimized across all devices. Arabia Monitor's mobile site page speed and browsing performance is boosted via Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).
Why Drupal was chosen
Arab Monitor were seeking a content management system which enabled them to handle their editorial needs in a smoother fashion. They were impressed by Varbase versatility in offering a range of multilingual editorial tools that made their content management process easier in addition to the desired features they needed in the form of enhanced SEO and Drupal Commerce.
Technical Specifications
Drupal version:
Key modules/theme/distribution used:
Varbase
Varbase is a website builder base distribution that combines powerful editorial features, mobile, lead-generation, SEO, social media integration, and beautiful bespoke designs. Varbase is packed with adaptive functionalities and essential modules.
Varbase was built to reduce the amount of time it takes any Drupal developer to build a high-quality website, it includes over 160 checklists item to implement best practices SEO, performance tuning, security considerations, and best practices in Drupal development.
Varbase is also built utilizing Bootstrap theme, and takes advantage of several Bootstrap-ready modules, all packaged with the base distribution.
Bootstrap
The Bootstrap theme is HTML & CSS, JavaScript framework that is used to create responsive website themes and outlooks. Bootstrap aims to make mobile-first web interfaces.
Drupal Commerce
This module is used to create e-commerce applications in Drupal. Drupal Commerce is used to build eCommerce websites and applications of all sizes.
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