Expat Living

We embarked on a rebuilding journey with Expat Living to transform their website after a drop in search rankings. Our full audit and custom solutions boosted stability and revitalised their SEO, enabling them to better serve Singapore's expat community.

Logo with text 'Expat L' in blue on aqua background

Overview

Expat Living is a Singapore-based media company that provides information and resources for expats in Singapore, including a monthly print magazine and website.

Expat Living approached Chillybin to rebuild their website after experiencing a significant drop in their search rankings due to a previous developer's work. We conducted a thorough website audit, identifying technical issues impacting site stability and SEO performance. These issues included fundamental structural and 301 redirect problems caused by using an off-the-shelf theme that was not fit for purpose, causing inconsistent URL structures.

To address these issues, Chillybin rebuilt the site using the Genesis Framework, implementing best practices to improve its stability and SEO performance. This included utterly restructuring the site's URL architecture, post types, and theme template files.

Throughout the project, we worked closely with Expat Living to ensure that the site met their needs and aligned with their brand. The resulting website was faster, more stable, and better optimised for search engines, resulting in improved search rankings and increased traffic almost immediately on launch.

Ultimately, the project was a success, and Expat Living quickly climbed back up the search rankings. We stayed on to consult for several months afterwards to ensure Expat Living could better serve its audience in Singapore.

Screenshot of lifestyle website's homepage with articles
Article about best brunch places in Singapore
Collage of lifestyle and travel features in Singapore

The Problem

As a result of our technical audit, we identified one of the major issues as the previous development team's use of page templates instead of creating custom archive and category templates. This resulted in an inefficient configuration that caused a substantial amount of additional processing and an infinite number of 301 redirects.

To address this issue, we created a custom template that enabled the site to display archive/category pages efficiently, significantly improving its performance and eliminating the processing issues causing the SEO problems.

From there, our team set to work implementing best practices to improve the site's stability and SEO performance by restructuring the site's URL architecture.

Collage of various lifestyle and event articles.

Our Approach

Chillybin takes a strategic approach to website development, prioritising stability and search engine optimisation to ensure that our client's websites perform at their best.

When Expat Living approached Chillybin after experiencing a significant drop in their search rankings, we knew a comprehensive approach would be necessary to restore their website and improve their SEO performance.

We began by conducting a thorough website audit to identify technical issues impacting its performance. This audit was a critical first step, as it allowed the team to deeply understand the site's existing structure and identify areas where improvements could be made.

Screenshots of mobile site, featuring lifestyle articles

The Solution

To restore Expat Living's search rankings and improve its website performance, our team implemented a comprehensive solution that addressed the technical issues and SEO problems holding the website back.

First, we rebuilt the website on a stable Genesis Framework, optimising it for speed and performance. We also thoroughly audited the website's content and structure, identifying areas that needed improvement.

One of the main issues we identified was the inefficient configuration of the archive and category pages. To address this, we created a custom template that optimised these pages for search engines, making them more visible to users and reducing the required processing. This eliminated the issues causing the infinite 301 redirects and improved the overall site stability.

We also implemented best practices for SEO, including optimising the site's meta tags, image alt tags, and internal linking structure. These changes helped improve the website's search engine rankings and increase user visibility.

A comprehensive solution

Thanks to our comprehensive solution, Expat Living's website saw significant improvements in performance and search engine rankings.

The site is now more stable, faster, and better optimised for search engines, enabling it to better serve its audience in Singapore.

Ready to refresh your digital presence? Contact the team at Chillybin today to get started.

Chillybin did an amazing job revamping Expat Living’s website! They tackled complex design and SEO challenges with ease, delivering a fast, visually stunning, and user-friendly platform. Their expertise, responsiveness, and commitment to excellence made the process seamless.

Rebecca Bisset Editor in Chief

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