INKsta is an online social networking website developed to allow tattoo enthusiasts to connect with others persons sharing similar interests from around the world. The website is built around the premise that behind every tattoo is a story, and behind every story is someone ready to share their adventures. INKSTA is also for the tattoo artists – those who provide this special form of art.
Overview
JOI Media was approached by INKsta to design, develop and implement a new tattoo-themed online community website that is interactive, resourceful and easy to use. Specifically, the site needed to allow for interaction between visitors though private messaging, public forums, comment and note posting, and blogs.
To foster a climate of expression, INKsta requested members have the following capabilities within the website:
- Create personal user profiles
- Create tatto photo albums with descriptive text boxes
- Add friends to their profile pages
- Upload articles for other members in the community to read
- Share journals, interests, and take part in interactive contests
The Challenge
Developing a website almost entirely around user-generated content required a comprehensive administrative system for monitoring and reprimanding inappropriate behavior. JOI Media had to completely understand the concept behind the website’s existence in order to develop the functional tools necessary to generate the optimal user experience. The INKsta team also demanded that the website operate impeccably upon launch which necessitated rigorous testing and member usage after a lengthy development period.
Members to the website required a log-in system that would make the updating process of their personal webpages simple, including the addition/removal of photo albums and file uploading. However, the dynamic nature of the website content required JOI Media to build a secondary log-in accessible only by administers with unique settings and abilities.
The Solution
JOI started this project by determining all of the website capabilities, and then standardizing the navigation, design consistency, and selecting an appropriate CMS to act as the backbone of the website. We created a number of applications that were tailored to each of INKsta’s functionality requests including:
- A private communication system that allows members to send and receive messages from others in the community.
- Member profile pages which allow users to design/edit personalized webpages , navigate throughout the community to the webpages of other members, and search for other members via username.
- Comprehensive photo galleries to foster a sense of community between INKsta members. The photo gallery allows members to upload photos and create/delete photo albums. To coincide with the theme of the website, users are also able to upload stories explaining the origins of their tattoos.
- An administrator log-in system that will allow INKsta to organize and edit content posted by its members.
- A web traffic analytics solution that gives the Manning Center rich insights into its website traffic and marketing effectiveness.
In order to measure the success of the new website, JOI Media installed a web traffic analytics solution that gives INKsta rich insights into its website traffic and typical navigation patterns by visitors to the website. We also utilized its knowledge in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to aid in increasing the visibility of the INKsta’s website and the experience it has to offer.
Results
JOI Media pioneered an online community entirely from scratch including the conception of the idea through to the execution of the finished product. The website was received positively from the tattoo community which was lacking a strong online presence. The community is self sustaining as the content is user-generated, but the development is integrated with a custom built, tattoo-themed interface to provide an aesthetic appeal. By utilizing our diverse skill set, JOI Media created a unique solution to INKsta that exceeded all expectations.
Post-Launch Statistics
Within 30 days of launching the INKsta website, membership grew to 17,329 and added an incremental 1,541 members on average for the following five months, a total increase of 445%.
Over this same period the website received:
- 223,950 website visitors
- 146,249 returning visitors
- Average daily traffic increase of 56%
- 6,363,300 webpage views
- An average viewing time of 26.3 minutes
- Direct traffic accounted for 31% of visitors
- Search engine queries accounted for 27% of visitors
- Referred website accounted for 42% of visitors
Over a six month period after launching the website, INKsta’s membership grew up to 9,423 active members before the company eventually discontinued its service for undisclosed reasons.
