MedLink Neurology
Redesign and modernization for a trusted medical resource
MedLink Neurology is an industry-leading medical information resource for physicians and clinical educators with 1,200+ reliable articles that are updated and reviewed regularly by over 500 expert authors. They collaborated with Happy Cog to help modernize their digital platform, help them reach the next generation of clinicians, and lay a stable foundation for future growth. The new responsive platform is built on Craft CMS with custom functionality to integrate with MedLink’s subscription management software, maintain the editorial workflow for manuscript review, and track article interaction for users to accumulate continuing education credits.
At a Crossroads
MedLink was at a crossroads. While their previous platform was functional and continued to generate revenue, their list of bugs, inefficiencies, and platform constraints was growing. Their fixed-width desktop-only design was feeling dated, the reading experience wasn’t up to par with the rich experiences subscribers had come to expect on other online publications, and the publishing workflow for authors existed on a completely separate platform with different authentication.
Invest and Reinvent
MedLink wanted more flexibility, more functionality, and wanted to grow their business in new ways, but the platform couldn’t keep up. Together, Happy Cog and MedLink crafted a vision for a single platform that would serve their subscribers, authors, and MedLink staff alike. A customizable solution where MedLink could highlight what’s new, unique, different, or important. A fast and simple organizational structure where readers could find what they’re looking for. And a modern, functional design that would allow their content to shine, and better convey their stature in the industry.
Together, Happy Cog and MedLink crafted a vision for a single platform that would serve their subscribers, authors, and MedLink staff alike.
First Impressions and Follow Through
MedLink didn’t have a strong attachment to their previous design or branding, leaving Happy Cog a wide runway to take things in a new direction. The new logo and design aims to elevate MedLink’s brand to meet its stature in the industry, and set a reliable foundation for the core reading experience of the platform.
The unified platform is built on Craft CMS, allowing a single home where subscribers read articles, where authors collaborate with editors to write articles, and where MedLink publishes, categorizes, and features those articles. Having everything in one place dramatically streamlines the workflow from idea to article, and simplifies MedLink’s business processes.
The new logo and design aims to elevate MedLink’s brand to meet its stature in the industry, and set a reliable foundation for the core reading experience of the platform.
In addition to a revitalized brand providing a better first impression for new users, the new platform supports curation of featured content on the homepage to help promote new, unique, or timely content. MedLink also has full control over a set of targeted, visually appealing landing pages that provide the canvas for MedLink to articulate their value and drive conversions.
For any publication, the reading experience is crucial, so Happy Cog worked closely with MedLink to refine and enhance the article templates to provide a top notch reading and research experience, no matter what device the subscriber is using. Media is elevated and more obtainable, the article structure is clearly outlined to make it effortless to jump between sections, and citations and related content are appropriately prioritized in the layout to ensure they’re accessible and useful.
To make evaluating MedLink even easier for potential subscribers, Happy Cog proposed a revised subscription trial strategy that relies on users redeeming a limited quantity of free articles, versus limiting their trial to a specific timeframe. In this new approach, redeeming a free article is an explicit action, so users have full control over which articles they want access to, while maintaining the ability to browse article previews for the full catalog.
Finally, subscribers often come to MedLink with a specific question or topic they’re hoping to find information about, so the platform features a fast and functional search powered by Algolia. MedLink can tune the search weighting algorithm, add explicit synonyms, and pin specific results for certain queries to ensure their most common searches return relevant results.
Improved Search Performance, Increased Subscribers
The launch of MedLink’s new platform has resulted in a significant improvement in search rankings for MedLink’s articles thanks to a concerted effort to ensure search engines could index full article content, even though the content may live behind the subscription paywall.
The improved search visibility has also driven an increase in organic search referrals; users are findinging MedLink easier than before, and deciding to create an account to redeem articles. This lead generation is an important piece of MedLink’s marketing strategy, and users are responding well.
You have excellent people – they are highly capable and competent, experts in their respective areas, and, perhaps most importantly, very responsive to a client's needs and great to work with. Even as the pressure built, the Happy Cog team kept their cool and worked methodically and efficiently to knock down challenges and obstacles as they arose. Your firm and your team have been a real pleasure to work with.
– Shael Wilder, MedLink Neurology