What to Expect With a New Website from CMBell
It’s no surprise that the idea of building a new website inspires fear!
Cost overruns, lack of time to manage the project, delays, complexity of finding a reliable vendor, and lack of communication expertise can make a web launch or relaunch daunting.
This is why we’ve created a web package focused on your peace of mind.
Our web package was created in response not only to what we want on our site but what we’ve seen so many clients struggle with.
Our Peace-of-Mind Web Package
Here are the pillars we’ve built our package on:
You can make changes to your site in-house, quickly, and easily, without paying extra or waiting for a third-party vendor to make them.
You can (and should!) check analytics any time—to see where your visitors are going—without having to ask a third-party vendor for them.
You’ll know the exact financial commitment upfront—with no surprises later. There are no hidden expenses for upgrades and no required monthly maintenance fees.
Your site is sustainable and easy to change as your business grows or changes, allowing you to modify it without requiring a complete rebuild.
The Squarespace platform provides incredible uptime and a level of security expertise that is not possible from a sole web developer.
It offers feature add-ons like payment systems, calendars, email campaign integration, e-commerce features, and domains.
We develop websites as a team, bringing expertise in communication, as well as web design, to every project.
We take the fear out of the process, remove the obstacles, and sweat the small stuff so your journey to a new website is as painless as possible.
A Guide to Creating Your New Website with CMBell
THE PROCESS: WHAT TO EXPECT
After filling out an initial form that gives us a sense of your needs and the scope of your project, we’ll provide a proposal. Once signed, you’ll be ready to start.
LAUNCH MEETING
CMBell will meet with your team to review the scope, roles, and functionality and will establish a schedule.
CLIENT SUBMISSIONS
The client provides us with:
Analytics showing your most frequently visited pages
High-res logo
Photos and/or video footage, if available
Google email and password to set up Google Analytics for SEO
Information for any forms that you want us to build
Purchasing Squarespace site subscription, translation widget, and ADA widget (if you want the enhanced version; the basic version is free)
The company you purchased your domain from OR if you need a new domain
A list of names and emails for permissions to the new site
MILESTONE 1: CMBell provides a wireframe for approval. Purchase site.
Client finalizes all content on your current website, removing and updating content as necessary OR supplies a clean Word document with final content.
MILESTONE 2: CMBell will show you a sample home page layout and navigation and will refine it based on your feedback.
Once the look is established, CMBell will migrate/add the content.
MILESTONE 3: The client will review the entire website on desktop, mobile, and tablet.
Final revisions made by CMBell.
LAUNCH SITE
CMBell adds the new domain /or remaps the client domain and sets the site to live.
Youl’l will determine what to do with the old site since it will no longer be accessible.
CMBell provides one-hour Zoom meeting on website training (client has access to extensive SS training library as well)
What You’ll Get
Visual enhancement: We’ll develop a distinctive style with the use of images and design features that makes it easy for viewers to find what they're looking for—and that draws your viewers in.
User experience enhancement: We’ll create an intuitive navigation and structure for the new site, with a tireless focus on preventing viewer abandonment.
Content recommendations: Have you built out your story in the most compelling way? We'll make suggestions on content you might add if we think it would help sell your product.
Migration of content: We’ll migrate your content, strengthen message hierarchy, and apply the new template and style across the site. Before launch, this will be tested internally on mobile and desktop.
Message enhancement: We can offer a light edit of headlines on the main pages and messaging hierarchy recommendations to ensure that the most important ones are reaching viewers quickly and in a compelling way.
Responsive design: Your site will be optimized for mobile, desktop, or tablet.
Revisions: It's important to note that our focus during the revision process is on structure, images, success of delivering key messages, impact, flow, and hierarchy, rather than copy changes that may naturally occur with this kind of project—since those can easily and cost-effectively be done by your team. Generally, making changes to the copy once it is migrated (other than a few headlines) will increase costs.
Google Analytics set up for SEO: Requires client Google email and password.
Implementation of basic SEO features like alt text, page headers, descriptions, etc.
Installation of translation and accessibility plug-ins, if purchased.
We use the Squarespace platform and set up your subscription using your payment method, so it will auto-renew as long as your card is active. (It will be your responsibility to ensure that it is kept active once the project is completed.)
OPTIONAL: If you’d like on-going assistance in keeping your website current, we do offer monthly support packages—though these are fully optional.
We deliver a live, fully functioning site complete with analytics and a user interface that allows for easy updating. While we are happy to help with future enhancements or analytics-based recommendations as a separate scope of work, you have full ownership of the website once payment is received for the subscription and CMBell's fees.
Squarespace’s Peace-of-Mind Platform
Our sites are built on the popular Squarespace platform, which offers an all-in-one solution for hosting, domain registration, and web building. It's the platform we've used for our own business for years—and that our clients have been very pleased with.
Squarespace brings a large staff of knowledgeable web security professionals dedicated full-time to the work of addressing the daily security threats websites face. As a result, they provide a level of security expertise that is not possible from a sole web developer.
In addition to their ongoing security work, Squarespace includes these features:
A fully managed cloud hosting that supports billions of monthly views and provides outstanding uptime.
All domains correctly added to your Squarespace site are automatically protected with free SSL certificates to improve security, which secures connections and helps prevent impersonation.
You can also enable two-factor authentication and review the login activity panel to see active login sessions.
Squarespace has implemented solutions designed to protect against and mitigate the effects of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.
Squarespace's affordable monthly subscription model covers all maintenance, security, and updates so there are no "surprise charges"—allowing you a predictable financial commitment for your web services. While there are no additional maintenance fees charged by Squarespace or CMBell, you can purchase a monthly support package from us to help you keep your website curent. (The Squarespace agreement will be directly between Squarespace and you, and we will help you set up the plan you choose so you can be billed automatically.)
While no one can promise absolute security, Squarespace does perform at a high level around these issues.
