Active Health Clinic: Unlocking Scalability with Shopify

Active Health Clinic (AHC) is a fast-growing health practice operating out of four clinics across Victoria. They specialise in supporting individuals with invisible illnesses, like Long Covid, Dysautonomia, Chronic Pain, Chronic Fatigue and many more.

On top of providing services like physical therapy and dietetics, they also run an online eCommerce business selling health and wellness products spanning compression apparel to hydration and dietary supplements.

Despite a growing business, their digital infrastructure was holding them back. They faced three core problems:

1. A Fragmented Digital Presence: Their website, store and online programs were fragmented across multiple URLs/subdomains and Wordpress instances.
2. Complex Website and eCommerce Management: This fragmented digital setup made routine tasks overly complex and technical to manage on the back end.
3. Compromised User Experience & Brand Identity: The site’s design and navigation hadn’t been optimised, leading to confused user experiences and undermining brand cohesiveness.

AHC reached out seeking a complete digital transformation. I was tasked with unifying their multiple URLs, subdomains, and WordPress instances into one centralised system, all the while simplifying their backend processes, improving site UX, and setting them up with tools to help them scale their digital strategy.

After evaluating several platforms, Shopify was chosen as the best solution due to its flexibility, extensive documentation and extensive library of best-in-class plugins and apps.

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With Shopify selected, we moved into project preparation. To meet AHC with the tools they were already using, I set up a detailed project Gantt chart on Google Sheets, a shared Trello board for task tracking, a solution design document. For effective collaboration, we set up regular check-ins, and I set myself up on their preferred internal-comms tool, Voxer.

The project was structured into four phases: (i) design, (ii) data migration, (iii) build & QA, and (iv) launch. This clear, phased approach ensured all stakeholders were aligned on timeline, deliverables, and goals from the outset.

For the eCommerce data migration strategy, we evaluated numerous high-to-low touch data migration solutions before settling on Cart2Cart for its affordability, speed and reliability in handling customer, order, and product data.

Additionally, we explored numerous Shopify page builders (Pagefly, Shogun), due to the added design flexibility they offer, in addition to the other benefits/use cases they provide (i.e. In-built A/B testing, advanced analytics etc). Eventually, we selected GemPages to meet both design flexibility and ease of use.

Phase 1: Collaborative Design

We kicked off with an inspiration and design workshop using Figma, Pinterest and Dribble, working closely with AHC to define the visual direction. After drafting multiple design concepts, AHC agreed on a concept and style guide. We set up an account on Envato Elements, and in our one-month membership, downloaded enough media and design assets to last a lifetime.

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Phase 2: Data Migration

We leveraged Cart2Cart to migrate key eCommerce data—such as customer records, orders, products, and categories—from WooCommerce to Shopify. A test migration was conducted first to flag any potential issues, and plan for data-handling and categorisation variances - thus ensuring data integrity and minimal disruption.

Phase 3: Shopify Build & Quality Assurance

With the data migrated, the next task was to build the Shopify store using GemPages, incorporating some custom HTML and CSS to bring certain key design elements into alignment with AHC’s vision. Due to the fragmentation of the initial store set up, only store data could be migrated to the new website automatically, meaning most of the pages shown in the sitemap below had to be built from scratch.

In addition, several design elements (i.e. staff cutouts, colour schemes & video freeze-frame templates) were also added to AHC’s Canva design system for easy ongoing management.

Once the build was complete, we carried out a joint QA process with AHC to rigorously test all functional and non-functional requirements including mobile friendliness across all device types.

Phase 4: Big Bang Migration, Launch, and Handover

In the final phase, we switched off the old site, unified all subdomains under a single domain under the Shopify store, and configured 301 redirects to maintain SEO rankings. We submitted the new sitemap to Google, got the site indexed, and set up tools like Google Analytics to monitor traffic and performance post-launch.

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Monthly performance results from the two months following the migration (July to September, 2024)

• Significant Improvements in Traffic: Monthly store traffic has surged by over 3.2X, while the count of monthly first-time purchasers has also more than doubled.‍
• Significant Improvements in Sales: Monthly sales ($) and total orders have grown by over 3X since July, reflecting significant growth in overall store performance.‍
• Conversion rates have improved by more than a full 1%.
• Significant improvements in SEO performance and rankingsome text
  • There were no noticeable dips in SEO performance as initially expected. Any friction from the DNS swapover was more than on-and-off-page SEO improvements across the site.‍
  • Organic keyword ranking lept 60% from 1001 in May to 1607 in September. The resulting boost in traffic volumes would have otherwise cost $4948 in paid keyword spend to attract.
  • Backlinks are up over 10% in three months from 545 (May) to more than 600 in September

Client Testimonial

"Working with Alex has been an incredibly smooth and collaborative experience. He guided us through a complete Shopify migration and redesign, making the process transparent and easy to follow. His strategic thinking and attention to detail have set us up for ongoing success. We’re now perfectly positioned to scale, and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome."

-Nathan Butler, Founder and Director of Active Health Clinic

Final Thoughts

AHC’s team now benefits from an easy-to-manage web and eCommerce solution, enabling them to launch previously unfeasible products (such as ongoing subscriptions) and explore advanced digital marketing solutions to attract more traffic, improve conversions, reduce operational costs all the while providing markedly improved customer experiences. 

This migration represented a full digital transformation, providing AHC with a unified digital presence and a robust toolset to help them stay competitive in an evolving market. With Shopify, they now have the flexibility to grow and reach more people living with invisible illnesses.

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