The Hippocratic Post required a full website rebuild after years of expansion began affecting performance, maintenance, and long-term reliability.
The previous website relied heavily on third-party plugins and older development methods, resulting in:
- slow mobile performance
- increasing maintenance complexity
- growing server strain
- limited upgrade options
- dependency on outdated software (PHP 7.4) which was no longer supported
Rather than continuing to patch the existing website, the platform was rebuilt from the ground up using a modern, performance-focused WordPress architecture.
The rebuild
The new platform retained the established Hippocratic Post branding and editorial identity while modernising the underlying technology.
The rebuild focused on:
improving mobile speed
reducing plugin dependency
streamlining page delivery
reducing server load
improving long-term maintainability
simplifying editorial workflows
improving readability and user experience
Several premium plugins were replaced with custom-built functionality, reducing ongoing software licensing costs by hundreds of pounds per year while also improving stability and simplifying long-term maintenance.
Performance-heavy systems such as advertising placement and third-party scripts were also redesigned to reduce their impact on page speed and user experience.
Mobile performance improvements
The rebuilt platform launched in March 2026. Before launch, Google Search Console reported approximately 1,800 mobile pages classified as “Poor” for Core Web Vitals (Google’s real-world website performance measurements).
Following the rebuild:
- all “Poor” mobile pages were eliminated
- all tracked pages transitioned to “Good” on both mobile and desktop
- the platform achieved full Core Web Vitals compliance across 684 indexed pages
The improvement followed Google’s standard reassessment process over several weeks as real user performance data was collected.
The result was a complete transformation in mobile website performance.
Audience and engagement impact
The performance improvements translated directly into measurable audience gains across UK visitors.
Following launch:
- UK organic session duration increased by 34%
- Direct traffic engagement increased by 138%
- Organic social engagement increased by 105%
The strongest improvements came from mobile and socially referred visitors, where website speed and responsiveness have the greatest impact on user behaviour.
The website also maintained strong first-page visibility across several important healthcare-related Google searches.
Outcome
The rebuild transformed the platform from a difficult-to-maintain legacy website into a modern publishing system designed for long-term stability, performance, and growth.
The new platform:
- eliminated poor mobile performance ratings
- improved audience engagement
- reduced ongoing maintenance complexity
- lowered annual software costs
- provided a sustainable foundation for future editorial development
Most importantly, the website is now faster, easier to manage, and technically positioned to support the publication for years to come.