The online publisher offers environmentally friendly fashions, products and services. With its mobile traffic growing, the company has revamped its site using what it has learned about online and mobile shoppers to date.

 “Our content is about fashion and design and how that gets displayed on the screen, and viewed by our readers is extremely important to us,” said Kate Black, founder and editor-in-chief of Magnifeco.com.

“At the moment, only about 10 percent of our traffic comes via mobile and tablets,” she said.

“We want to stay ahead of the curve and make sure as more mobile readers find us, they enjoy what they see and that user experience is optimal.”

Content strategy
The new site, at http://www.magnifeco.com, has been designed to adapt to work on mobile phones, tablets and desktop monitors. It was under development for six months.

It also features three new content verticals, men’s eco-fashion, travel and sustainable living. There is also an expanded children’s segment.

The site design is cleaner and features bigger images than the previous design.

There is a featured story box that displays the day’s top story. In the right-hand column, users can find the site’s most viewed stories.

Additionally, each vertical has its own category homepage.

Other new content includes a glossary of terms for those new to and the Magnifeco guide to a conscious wardrobe.

Smart move
A second phase of the redesign will be introduced in the second quarter of 2013 and will include a curated shop, a paid directory of eco-fashion retailers and video and designer lookbook slideshow galleries.

Overhauling an online Web site using responsive design is a smart move for merchants as it improves the mobile user experience and can drive better results from mobile.

For example, shopping search engine ShopWiki saw a jump in mobile user click-through rates and weekend traffic from mobile devices following the redesign of its Web site using responsive design earlier this year (see story).

Undertaking a redesign using responsive design requires prioritizing content, understanding the complexity of such a project and getting the Web development and app development teams working together.

“Magnifeco stories are stories of design and fashion, and we want readers to enjoy the images to their full potential, regardless of the screen,” Ms. Black said.

“The lead story appears in a feature box at the top of both the homepage and each of the category pages, making reading top stories easier,” she said.

“The new category verticals – particularly men’s eco-fashion – look as good on the smaller screen as they do a big screen, plus on the story pages YARPP – Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – introduces readers to similar stories seamlessly.”

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York