--- title: NAED.org Scheduled Migration for Jan 1 description: NAED.org Scheduled Migration for Jan 1 image: https://2859863.hs-sites.com/hubfs/MT%20Blog/Front-end-dev1.png --- (…) ![M&T-Header.jpg](https://2859863.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/MT%20Blog/M%26T-Header.jpg?width=1000&name=M%26T-Header.jpg "M&T-Header.jpg") ## [NAED.org Scheduled Migration for Jan 1](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/website-transition-scheduled) ** Oct 27, 2017 8:30:00 AM / by [Rene Serot](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/author/rene-serot) # New Look Coming Soon! After many Think Tank Friday workshops and hours toiling through how best to undo and rebuild NAED's technology stack overall, NAED.org will be ready to launch with a new look and feel by January 1st. Additionally, 80% of the website will be migrated over to Hubspot and fully trackable with known member activity. This is an agressive goal but one the M&T Team feels confident will be ready by January 1. Since the web property itself is connected to so many other parts of the NAED technology stack, it's a lot more difficult than most websites. We know, we get it, you're high schooler could make a new website faster–but there's many reasons why that's just not the best option and why NAED.org is far more complicated than the typical website.   ## NAED.org is Connected to a Database (iMIS) When a website this massive is connected to a database there's hundrends of web calls (yes, like phone calls the database is in a constant dialogue with the website) so that users who have an iMIS login or an LMS login can participate in activities that write back to their iMIS records automatically. The conference section of the website is one of THE most complicated sections to unravel and rebuild in a new event platform called [etouches](https://www.etouches.com/event-software/). They'll be a blog post on that platform specifically too.    ## The Front-end Conundrum What's front-end and why does the M&T Team constantly refer to this when talking about the website? Front-end development is basically programming that makes up a website and all the activity that magically happens on that site. Check out this [post](https://www.upwork.com/hiring/development/beginners-guide-to-front-end-development/) and visual from Upwork to learn more about front-end development work and design.   ![Front-end-dev1.png](https://2859863.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/MT%20Blog/Front-end-dev1.png?width=711&height=303&name=Front-end-dev1.png) Now that you know what front-end development is and how it relates to the NAED website, take a look at this visual that shows NAED's Front-end platforms working with the technology stack overall. This diagram does not fully demonstrate additional technology that is part of the overall technology stack but definiately shows that "it's complicated!"    ![Front-End-Architecture.png](https://2859863.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/MT%20Blog/Front-End-Architecture.png?width=711&height=1459&name=Front-End-Architecture.png) There's A LOT going on! But don't worry, the M&T Team has got it! It really does take a village! Our team of 8 is tackling all parts of this project to deliver what we will be calling a "transitional" website.   ![4359725-120921doozers.jpg](https://2859863.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/MT%20Blog/4359725-120921doozers.jpg?width=700&height=509&name=4359725-120921doozers.jpg)   ## What is a Transitional Website? Building a website that is transitional has nothing to do with Kaitlyn Jenner–but it will be 'prettier' once it's complete! The goal of this transitional phase is to move all sections of the website (that do not have login access functions) out of the iMIS/RiSE [content management system](http://www.wpbeginner.com/glossary/content-management-system-cms/) and into Hubspot's content editor. This is not necessarily a website redesign and has more to do with website stability. It's a necessary step in order to have better analytics, better search results, more functionality and many other benefits that are more technical in nature.    The sections of the website that will still remain in RiSe will be minimal and only the ones connected to access levels and private information that our login protects. The best part about this transitional site is that it will start to give the company MUCH better user data that's very easy to understand and shown in a way that marketing can utilize insights for strategic targeting.    ## What Will it Look Like? The website will have an enhanced new look and all [UX/UI](https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/the-difference-between-ux-and-ui-design-a-laymans-guide/) best practices applied. UX and UI are also two topics for a later blog post! In the website world, there's a term called "re-skinning" a website and it's more or less putting lipstick on a pig for a minimal cost. The "skeleton" of the site will remain the same-meaning the navigation has to stay the same (for a few reasons) and the post-login section of the site might still look like the old website or have a similar color scheme in general. You have probably visited many sites that are transitioning too, and maybe didn't notice much–a good example is when you log in to a site and you notice a few older-looking parts/dated design. This is actually a necessary step so that the marketing efforts done on the website can charge forward while some additional technology stack and ID functions can be resolved for long-term success.    ## Why a Transition and Not a Redesign? The main reason is, website redesigns for sites this expansive can take over a year to complete–sometimes longer. At NAED we want to get to that data as quickly as possible and clean up our search ranking with Google (and our internal searchproblems). In 2016 NAED had over 6,000+ pages indexed by Google! The current tally is closer to 5,000 now with some diligent content clean-up in RiSE that is still ongoing. These issues have been identified and known for the last year–but the project's scale and amount of careful and tedius investigations of the site is what is taking longer.    Another important reason to do a a re-skin/transition over a full redesign is to gain useful user behavior that will lend more data to a redesign project. If you are going to spend the money on a brand new website–having good, clean data and some pilot tests on users behaviors overall is the best place to start a rebuild. Don't worry–NAED will get there! In the meantime, stay tuned for a new look and feel coming soon!    ## Search Matters Most In another blog post we can discuss the many layers of search and how much effort a company needs to dedicate to search just as an operation cost of business now. Until then just know that "search" on the NAED website cannot be seen/visually shown easily but it is the driving force behind why this solution is an absolute must in the temporary transition of the technology stack overall. The joke around the office is that we've been 7 years behind, but truly there's 7 years worth of search clean-up, content organization, meta-data and many other search-related tools that need to happen overall! With 5,000 pages indexed by Google no wonder our members are having a hard time getting to the information that is relevant to them! Stay tuned for more exciting updates and releases with this project overall!     ## What Has Been Done? - The [NAED blog](http://blog.naed.org/) has been migrated into Hubspot completely (we bet you didn't even notice!) - Press Releases, Government Affairs and News updates after 2016 have been deleted - Press Releases are now migrated into the [blog](http://blog.naed.org/) - User journey mapping around keyword clusters has been plotted - New campaigns, emails and landing pages all happen on Hubspot pages currently - Many forms in IMIS are slowly being replaced by Hubspot (approximately 5 out of about 15-20), also some forms will be replaced by etouches platform for events - Keywords are currently tracking and ranking in Hubspot - 4 keywords have been identified as good options for [Adwords](https://adwords.google.com/home/how-it-works/)/paid search - It's not a good practice to purchase keywords if you have not planned good content to direct your traffic–this is why getting the site migrated with strategic content mapping is a key part of content marketing.  - It's a better practice to clean up your organic search first (described above) - Competitive analysis of other websites is being analyzed in Hubspot - Don't get too caught up in this one, NAED is moving in the right direction to be in the search game soon enough!    Topics: [Digital Technology](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/topic/digital-technology) ![Rene Serot](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/b9ada3e4ae6ddf4f46d7e92031d8c53c) #### Written by [Rene Serot](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/author/rene-serot) [**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/renemcgrath/) ### Subscribe to Email Updates - Recent - Popular - Categories ### Lists by Topic - [Digital Technology (5)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/digital-technology) - [Technology (3)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/technology) - [APPs (2)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/apps) - [Case Studies (1)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/case-studies) - [Hubspot Tips and Tricks (1)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/hubspot-tips-and-tricks) - [Marketing & Multimedia (1)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/marketing-multimedia) - [NAED (1)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/naed) ### Posts by Topic - [Digital Technology (5)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/digital-technology) - [Technology (3)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/technology) - [APPs (2)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/apps) - [Case Studies (1)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/case-studies) - [Hubspot Tips and Tricks (1)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/hubspot-tips-and-tricks) - [Marketing & Multimedia (1)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/marketing-multimedia) - [NAED (1)](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/tag/naed) [see all](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/website-transition-scheduled#) ### Recent Posts Produced by The NAED Marketing and Technology Team [**](http://2859863.hs-sites.com/tech-talk-blog/website-transition-scheduled#)