Drupal + AI = ♥: How We Stopped Worrying and Learned to Trust Automation
Client's Challenge
In September 2024, a major media company approached us with several critical issues:
"Our content team is drowning in routine tasks. We have 15 editors managing content in 4 languages, but they spend more time on technical tasks than actual content creation. Our site is slow, and we're losing readers. Can you help?"
Initial Situation
- 15,000+ articles requiring manual URL and meta tag creation
- 3,000+ monthly support requests handled manually
- Site loading time: 2.3 seconds (causing 23% bounce rate)
- 4 language versions (EN, ES, FR, DE) with inconsistent URLs
- 40+ hours monthly spent on routine maintenance
Technical Environment
- Drupal 10.2.x
- PHP 8.1 (outdated)
- 8GB RAM server (insufficient)
- Basic caching setup
Our Solution
Phase 1: Infrastructure Upgrade
First, we optimized the technical foundation:
- Upgraded to PHP 8.2
- Migrated to 16GB RAM dedicated server
- Implemented Redis for caching
Phase 2: Content Workflow Automation
URL Management Transformation
Before:
After implementing Pathauto:
AI-Powered Content Enhancement
We integrated GPT-4 for automated:
- Meta descriptions generation
- Image alt text creation
- Initial support response drafts
Phase 3: Support Process Automation
The client's support team was overwhelmed with requests. We implemented:
Results After 3 Months
Performance Improvements
- Page load time: from 2.3s to 0.8s
- Bounce rate: from 23% to 14%
- Server response: 43% faster
- Cache efficiency: 94% hit ratio
Time Savings for Client's Team
Content Team Benefits
- Editors now spend 80% time on content creation (was 40%)
- Support team response time: under 2 hours (was 24 hours)
- URL structure consistency: 99.9%
Client's Feedback
"The transformation has been remarkable. Our editors can finally focus on creating content instead of wrestling with technical tasks. The site's performance improvement has directly impacted our reader engagement, and the automated support system has significantly improved our response times."
— Sarah Johnson, Chief Digital Officer
Challenges We Overcame
Content Migration
- Challenge: 15,000+ URLs needed restructuring
- Solution: Custom migration script with URL redirection
Multi-language Support
- Challenge: Inconsistent URL patterns across languages
- Solution: Language-specific Pathauto patterns
Implementation Tips from Our Experience
- Start with Analytics
- Install monitoring before changes
- Document current pain points
- Set clear KPIs
- Gradual Rollout
- Week 1-2: Infrastructure upgrade
- Week 3-4: Basic automation
- Week 5-8: AI integration
- Week 9-12: Optimization
- Team Training
- Custom documentation
- Hands-on workshops
- Regular feedback sessions
Future Plans
Based on client's success, we're now implementing:
- Advanced analytics dashboard
- GPT-4 powered content recommendations
- Automated social media integration
Want to Know How We Did It?
We understand that every project is unique. But if you're tired of:
- Hearing editors ask "why is everything so slow?"
- Waking up to site crash alerts at night
- Explaining to clients why their request is "in progress" for a week
- Spending hours on routine tasks instead of project development
Want to see how we solved these issues? Fill out a form on our website and we'll arrange a live session to demonstrate:
- How we configured Redis for optimal performance
- Our approach to AI integration
- The migration process we used
- Our implementation workflow
P.S.: If you'd like, we can think together about how to adapt this to your project. But first, take a look at how it works for us 😉
This case study covers implementations made between October 2024 and January 2025. Results may vary depending on specific requirements and infrastructure.
