A seamless migration

The key goals for this project were scale, stability, and self-sufficiency. XWP was looking for a partner that aligned with those goals and ultimately decided on WP Engine.

With a significant amount of content that needed to be migrated, WP Engine helped the team at XWP identify potential risks with migration, allowing the team to put together a clear plan that minimized any possible risks.

Utilizing AMP + PWA

Over the last two years, XWP has been working with Google on the development of the AMP Plugin for WordPress. With this expertise, XWP quickly saw alignment for AMP with NOVA’s web properties, with Native AMP identified early as the ideal implementation. As opposed to “transitional or “reader” modes, Native AMP means all theme templates are AMP-only, allowing for simpler development with only a single code base.

They also added the PWA feature plugin (that XWP helped build with Google) as well as using AMP install service worker, one of the newer AMP components, to further improve the user experience. Configuring the PWA’s app manifest to have a “network first” caching strategy enabled offline viewing of articles previously visited.

Incorporating ads

The nature of the implementation presented a unique opportunity to work with AMP and header bidding ad-tech. When ad loading is not configured properly it contributes towards poor page performance, especially on media-rich sites like GOAT. Working with AMP, a highly opinionated and performance-focused web component framework meant the approach XWP took to implementing GOAT’s ad stack had to adhere to AMP standards.

Whilst some concessions had to be made to accommodate ad providers that were not fully AMP compatible the overall net effect was a highly performant ad-reliant media site. The best of both worlds: a good user experience that isn’t degraded through sub-optimally loaded ads.