I originally founded WP White Security as a passion project when I noticed a gap in the WordPress market for an activity log plugin.
Back then, the plugin was called WP Security Audit Log and was dedicated to security logging.
In recent years, the plugin evolved with the brand, incorporating all kinds of user and system activity and becoming the highest-rated plugin of its kind. We’ve also developed six additional plugins since then.
In 2023 we rebranded from WP White Security to Melapress, merging our three websites into one new website — a move to which we attribute a large portion of our recent success.
Today, I want to share with you what we learned as a company during the rebranding process; the pitfalls, the pains, the planning and the pros.
Why rebrand?
A large driving force behind the move was that we felt our branding didn’t stand out, making us hard to recognize.
The obvious problem with our old name is that it’s a bit of a tongue-twister. And on top of that, it brings to mind web security services — firewalls, malware protection, etc. — whereas our products do very different things.
Essentially, we got tired of being asked, “How do you compare to Sucuri or Wordfence?” when these are very different solutions.
We wanted to highlight our unique features like 2FA security, user management, activity logs and login security.
On top of that, our sites were also due a redesign. Here’s our old main site wpwhitesecurity.com. And this is our new site melapress.com.
The catalyst for the change came when we sponsored WordCamp Europe 2022, in Portugal. From discussions with peers there, it was clear that our plugins were a known entity, but few were aware of the WP White Security brand.
Marketing was becoming a nightmare, too.
Whenever we decided to sponsor something, we couldn’t just mention one website. Instead, we had to link different websites for each individual plugin.
Adding fuel to the fire, having three separate websites meant three times as much SEO work.
For context, at that time we had:
- wpwhitesecurity.com — where we were selling CAPTCHA 4WP and the Melapress Login Security plugin.
- wpactivitylog.com — where we promoted and sold the WP Activity Log plugin.
- wp2fa.io — which promoted and sold the WP 2FA plugin.
- Blogs running on each of the above.
Acutely aware that we needed a change, we discussed rebranding as a team at WordCamp — and, despite the uncertainty involved, everyone was on board.
And so, on the final day in Porto, I shared my thoughts on the prospective rebrand with three people I felt confident could lead us in the right direction: Ben Usher Smith, an Edinburgh-based designer; and Markus and Paul from Pooka, an Edinburgh-based agency.
When is a good time to rebrand?
The short answer is that it’s never the right time. By its nature, a rebrand will prove disruptive to your business. Knowing this, I harboured doubts about the rebrand at the time.
I would think “It’s such a big task,” and, “There are so many risks involved and factors we would have no control over.”
However, in my mind, the potential benefits outweighed the doubts and uncertainty.
Yes, the websites were all ranking and getting traffic. Our WP Activity Log plugin, in particular, was performing well.
However the behind-the-scenes wasn’t efficient, beneficial or workable in the long term.
How we did it
Our first step was to get clear on the core changes we wanted to make before entering the research phase. The rebranding for us centered on three core elements:
- Finding a new business name.
- Designing all the branding (logo, colors, etc.).
- Designing the new website and migrating the three old websites into that newer, shinier one.
A word of advice we wish we’d received back then: The rebranding process will look different for every company and inevitably cost you more than you would have anticipated in both time and money.
The best you can do is have a watertight plan in the lead-in to minimize the potential for chaos.
Phase 1: Research and Planning
Even if you think you know everything there is to know, there’s always a benefit to researching successful (and unsuccessful) examples that came before.
It’s also useful to research and formulate a detailed list of pros and cons.
As it turned out, we didn’t unearth anything that would dramatically alter our course.
Every rebrand has unique and specific whys and hows, so locating documentation matching your unique circumstances is tough.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean I wouldn’t consider this step necessary. What we did learn was that we needed to plan and test as much as we could throughout, as well as closely monitor the effects afterward.
After the research, we decided on our ultimate goal: to rebrand under the banner of one solid and identifiable brand, uniting all plugins under that brand. And so, with that, we began to plan in earnest.
We started by compiling a to-do list, which looked something like this:
- Analysis of our current content across our then three websites, deciding which content was to be migrated, removed, merged, improved, etc.
- Design of the new website.
- Developing the new website.
- Migrating the websites..
- Admin (the legal, finances, trading names, etc.), naming who was to be responsible for these.
- Operations (new domain availability/setting it up, email addresses changes, changes in registered accounts, etc.).
- Marketing (affiliates, changing website links, etc.).
For each of the to-do items above, we then added three task lists:
- Pre rebranding.
- On the day/during the rebranding.
- Post rebranding.
Phase 2: The surprisingly difficult process of choosing a name
This phase is fairly self-explanatory — we had to choose a company name and decide on the branding (colors, style, etc.). Using the gung-ho approach many take, we would have kicked into this according to our preferences, but that’s not how we do things at Melapress!
So, we instead analyzed our customer base, learned about our website visitors' preferences, and created a few personas.
For each persona, we had a name, job role, age, gender, country, etc. This helped us better understand who our plugin users/blog readers are.
We then started working on ideas for our new company name; generating a few ideas of our own, paying services to suggest names, and working with a broad spectrum of different companies and creatives.
All shortlisted ideas were then forwarded to various people within the industry for their opinions. This became a surprisingly long process, but after a few weeks, we settled on our technical writer Joel’s idea: Melapress.
We’re often asked what it means, so I’ll save you the Google search here! Mela is a Maltese word — one quite tough to explain if you’re not a local — meaning a yes, no, or maybe.
The Press came about solely because we develop WordPress plugins. The name was fitting. In a stroke of luck, the domain name was available (other candidates had turned out to be either taken or too pricey), so we got lucky there.
Phase 3: Branding & Website design
This portion of the process focused on branding and website design. Before starting on the website, we had a logo developed which then formed the basis for the branding, including things like the color palette, fonts and general style.
Once that was all agreed on with our designer, we focused our efforts on determining the number of page templates we would need and thinking about the website's overall structure.
To get the wheels in motion, we sent our designer something resembling this, below, in mid-late July 2022:
- Home page
- Blog main page
- Blog post
- Category page
- Tags page
- Case studies
- Individual case study
- Product page
- Features/benefits page
- Testimonials
- Pricing page
- Support
- KB
- KB entry
- Open a support ticket
- KB
- About us
- Team members
- Careers
- Contact Us
- Blog main page
We also spent time and effort on things like our URL structure, what we wanted to include in our menu and footer, and which schema to include and where.
As this process ambled along, there was a lot of back and forth and feedback was provided by all team members. As we had an outline for the final product by then, it was the logical time to begin working on the website copy.
We still had plenty of copy from the previous three websites.
However, the rebrand allowed us to revise everything we had accordingly, improving it to suit our new brand voice.
We then shopped around for a suitable agency to work on our vision with us. In the end, we opted to work with someone we know; someone I had spoken to in person previously.
This agency also happened to be one that our designer, Ben, had worked with before, too — Pooka, in Edinburgh.
I met Ben, the designer, and Marcus from Pooka at the Edinburgh WordPress monthly meetups years ago when I lived in Scotland. Working with people you’ve worked with previously eases the process.
One knows what to expect, and how well you will work together. I would always recommend meeting those you intend to work with in person, if in any way possible. It builds stronger and more durable business relationships.
Once we decided to work with Pooka, we discussed and agreed on the terms and got going. Development of the new website started in late November 2022, once we finalized the designs with Ben.
We have in-house developers, but we decided it was more important to continue having them work on the plugins. We also specifically needed someone with more hands-on experience designing themes and working with the Block Editor.
With all of these separate wheels in motion, it seemed a better time than any to set a date to announce the rebrand and launch the website.
We were sponsoring WordCamp Europe 2023 in Athens and decided we wanted to attach the Melapress name to it. It was due to begin on June 8, so the rebrand and the new website would need to be done by then.
To add extra motivation, we even submitted our sponsor application as Melapress. A week or two beforehand — we thought — would be an ideal time to launch.
More on that later…
Phase 4: Testing, importing data and building hype
When we laid eyes on the first version of the website, we instantly began rigorous testing. There’s far more to this than you’d expect — infinite Trello cards and tickets, regular online meetings, and keeping the designer in the loop when changes need to be made.
I imagine this part of the process could have been much more drawn out but for one factor — the designer and agency knew each other and had worked together before. In terms of communication, that personal connection is gold.
It paved the way for them to resolve most emerging issues without us needing to become involved.
Once the website, which was built in a staging environment, was done, we began importing the data: the product pages, about us, images, blog posts, etc. It was really starting to take shape.
But as April approached, and we were becoming increasingly occupied with the WCEU sponsorship, it was apparent that Melapress couldn’t possibly be launched in time for WCEU.
It was unfortunate, but faced with the option of pushing for it and risking needless mistakes, we opted to finish the rebrand once the dust had settled.
So we designed and published a “coming soon” page on Melapress.com with a clear message: “We are WP White Security and this will soon be the new brand name.”
With the launch imminent, our next move was to ensure prospective customers knew what was happening. For this, we started publishing blogs and trying to generate hype on social media.
On the practical side, we began contacting all websites that mentioned our products or had links to any of our old websites, advising them that we would soon contact them to update these links.
Our affiliates also had to be informed of the coming rebrand and we needed to prepare all the redirect rules upfront and get to testing them.
Phase 5: Wrapping up
The closer the WCEU appeared on the horizon, the less time we had to dedicate to the rebrand, so it got moved to the back burner. But it wasn’t all bad.
WCEU finally allowed us to gather in one place as a full team, Ben and the guys from Pooka included.
On the evening of the last day of WordCamp, instead of going to the after-party like most do, we all met in the hotel’s reception area and spent hours discussing how to finish this project.
We stayed there until the wee hours, but we had to. It was the last good push to get the rebranding across the line.
Right after this, we set a July 12 release date; a day that no one from the team was on holiday, with everyone allocated two to three days for the rebranding project.
Again, I credit the power of in-person connections for making this part of the process so much easier than it could have otherwise been.
Phase 6: Rebranding day
All testing and prep work should be done at this stage. It’s not a brilliant time to double back on ideas and ponder what-ifs.
On this day, it’s just a question of executing — everyone following their to-do list, everyone doing what it takes, in unison. Melapress is a remote company, so Slack/online meetings are usually the order of the day.
However, that day — especially in the first few hours — it was dead quiet. Everyone knew what needed to be done and had locked in.
The order of the day went like this:
- Back up the old sites and create a staging copy.
- Launch the new website.
- Set up the redirects.
- Configure the redirects in Google Search Console.
- Test, test and test.
Each team member was allocated a section of the website to test, with some also testing the redirects. Naturally, this was a long day at the office — even with everything running smoothly.
Thankfully, the issues we encountered were easily dealt with; a few broken redirects and an occasional 404. Once all this was done, it was time to email all companies with links to our website or promoting our products, informing them about the rebrand.
Of course, we had given them notice, but it’s important to allow as little margin for error as possible. In these emails, we gave detailed instructions. For example:
“You mention our plugin WP Activity Log on this URL, and you link with the anchor text “WP Activity Log.” Can you please change that URL to the new URL: https://melapress.com/wordpress-activity-log/?”
If you want people to help you with things like this, the best chance you have is by making it as easy as possible for them to do so.
Phase 7: Dealing with post-rebranding niggles
At this stage, you still find yourself with loads to do but most of the pressure of the earlier stages has dissipated.
Our tasks no longer had strict deadlines, but we still established some — not to add pressure, but to maintain a sense of continuing importance.
To finish out the process, we:
- Changed the email domains.
- Contacted all the vendors we use and shared the new billing details.
- Updated the billing details on all the services we use.
- Sent a few follow-up emails to affiliates and other partners to ensure they had updated the necessary details.
- Followed up on websites that mentioned our products/had links to our website to ensure everything was updated.
- Updated all the team’s email signatures, social media channels, etc.
- Kept a close eye on all analytics/numbers and stats, ensuring traffic was being redirected and the website was working properly.
The post-rebranding process took a few months, and even now, almost a year after rebranding, something pops up occasionally. The hard work is done, but it’s still not a wheel you want to fall asleep at.
Discovery: The biggest rebranding challenges, nasty surprises and positives
Managing the chaos:
The toughest challenge you’ll face while rebranding is keeping all of the wheels in motion as it happens. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t stop spinning while you’re working on a rebrand.
Assessing the risks:
Entrusting vital rebranding elements to agencies and freelancers is a big, but necessary, risk. And while I understand that budget is always a concern, sometimes the cheaper a service is, the more the project will cost (in terms of manpower and resources).
Planning:
Plan as much as possible, because you will inevitably face technical and non-technical issues. The more you plan, the better you can handle/address these problems.
That said, you have to accept that there are some things you simply can’t control. So focus on what you can control, and prepare yourself to handle what you cannot.
Reigning in expectations:
Be aware that everything will take 1.5 times longer than you expect and thus cost 1.5 times more. Make sure you have an extra cushion. Savings make a big difference.
After a rebranding, the traffic will likely drop, and so will sales — hence why it is important to have a cushion to cater for it. In our case, it took almost four months for traffic to normalize and the dust to settle.
Was it worth it?
Solely for removing the overheads and headaches associated with running three sites, it was absolutely worth it. That’s not to say there weren’t moments where we doubted ourselves.
But looking back, we’re in a much better place: our traffic has increased, people remember the brand and not just the product, and we’re in a place where the brand finally represents our values and chosen voice. You can’t put a price on that.
Are you currently going through a rebrand and still have some questions after reading this post? I’m more than happy to have a chat. You can reach out to me at robert@melapress.com.
