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Website Redesign & CMS Migration

VisitSanAntonio.com | TheSanAntonioRiverWalk.com

Platform migration, content strategy, information architecture, and cross-functional project leadership

 

Overview
 

Led the strategic redesign and CMS migration of Visit San Antonio’s primary digital properties to improve scalability, streamline operations, and create a stronger foundation for long-term audience growth.

The initiative included platform migration, information architecture, content strategy, and multi-site launch coordination across high-traffic tourism websites serving millions of annual visitors.

The Business Challenge

Visit San Antonio’s digital ecosystem was operating on a disconnected infrastructure. The public-facing websites were built on WordPress, while partner and member data lived separately inside Simpleview CRM.


As a result, updates to listings, business information, hours, and partner content had to be manually replicated across multiple websites, including:

  • the leisure site

  • meetings and conventions pages

  • Spanish-language properties

  • and additional supporting web experiences
     

The process was time-intensive, difficult to scale, and created operational inefficiencies that pulled resources away from strategic marketing initiatives.

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Before

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After

The Strategic Solution

 

While managing day-to-day content updates, I noticed a disconnect between the CMS and CRM systems that was creating hours of avoidable manual work every week. I made the case for migrating to Simpleview's native CMS, allowing partner and member data to sync dynamically across digital properties. This fix wasn't on anyone's roadmap until I proposed it.

The migration eliminated the need for ongoing manual updates while creating a more scalable and centralized content infrastructure.

 

I led the redesign initiative end-to-end, including:

 

  • sitemap development and content migration strategy

  • identifying pages for consolidation, migration, or retirement

  • content architecture and user experience planning

  • cross-functional coordination with the development team

  • quality assurance and testing across multiple properties

  • phased launch execution for Visit San Antonio and The San Antonio River Walk

Results

Within the first 12 months post-launch, the redesigned Visit San Antonio site achieved:
 

  • 15M+ annual pageviews, up 63% year over year

  • 8.9M+ sessions, up 71% year over year

  • 7.4M+ users, up 61% year over year

Beyond traffic growth, the CMS migration eliminated an estimated several hundred hours of manual update work annually, freeing internal resources for higher-impact content strategy and digital initiatives.

Ongoing Optimization - AI Search Optimization

 

Following the redesign, I identified generative AI search visibility as an emerging area of opportunity and partnered with an external agency to explore optimization strategies for improving discoverability across AI-driven search experiences.
 

As travelers increasingly use platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to plan trips and discover destinations, ensuring content is structured for AI-assisted discovery is becoming an important extension of organic search strategy.

Interested in how I approach content infrastructure and platform strategy? Let's talk.

© 2026 Shelly Basaldu

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