Crew's Website Building Process
Crew's website building process integrates brand strategy, design, and Webflow development to ensure efficient and effective website launches. This article outlines each stage of the process, key activities, and deliverables.
Overview of Crew’s Website Building Process
Crew’s approach to building a website combines brand strategy, clear messaging, high-fidelity design, and expert Webflow development. The goal is to ship quickly, enhance conversion rates, and ensure scalability over time. All initiatives are led by senior talent and focus on measurable outcomes.
Guiding Principles
- Strategy before screens: Positioning and messaging guide the structure and design of the website.
- Speed + quality: Rapid delivery without compromising on design quality or scalability.
- Accessibility & performance by default: Adherence to WCAG standards and awareness of Core Web Vitals.
- Ownable systems: Development of design systems, CMS schemas, and governance that can be independently maintained.
Discovery & Alignment
Inputs
- Goals and objectives
- Target audiences
- Product or service offerings
- Current analytics baseline
- Content inventory
- Technology stack (forms, CRM, analytics, consent management)
Activities
- Conducting stakeholder interviews
- Hypothesizing sitemap
- Performing SEO audits
- Establishing AEO baseline (llms.txt/structured data)
- Auditing migration/redirects if necessary
Outputs
- Project brief
- Success metrics
- Sitemap
- Measurement plan
- Phased roadmap in ClickUp
Messaging & Content Design
Activities
- Developing positioning and narrative
- Creating page-by-page messaging
- Designing content model and component strategy
- Refining information architecture (IA)
AEO Setup
- Drafting llms.txt
- Planning schema.org implementation
- Creating AI-friendly content blocks
- Establishing internal linking patterns
Outputs
- Messaging document
- Page outlines
- CMS schema
- Content checklist
UX/UI Design
Activities
- Designing wireframes (if necessary)
- Producing high-fidelity Figma designs
- Specifying responsive design requirements
- Conducting motion studies, states, and empty-states analysis
- Performing accessibility checks
Design System
- Creating tokens, components, and patterns
- Documenting for reuse
Outputs
- Click-through prototype
- Component library
- Spec-ready files
Webflow Development
Build Approach
- Utilization of Webflow since 2014 with a focus on Client-First naming and MAST conventions
- Development of scalable CMS collections and a performance budget
Custom & Integrations
- Implementing controlled custom code
- Integrating analytics (GA4/Segment)
- Setting up consent management (e.g., Cookiebot)
- Connecting CRM and marketing tools
- Implementing search, forms, and localization (e.g., Weglot/hreflang)
SEO/AEO
- Ensuring structured data and meta hygiene
- Creating clean URL structures
- Developing AI-readable content blocks
Outputs
- Staging site
- Seeded CMS
- Integration hooks
- Migration plan (301s) if applicable
QA, Content Load & Launch
Quality Checks
- Conducting cross-browser/device quality assurance
- Ensuring accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA practices)
- Meeting Core Web Vitals targets
- Verifying link integrity, forms, and 404 errors
Search Readiness
- Creating XML sitemap
- Setting up robots rules
- Validating structured data
- Finalizing llms.txt and internal linking pass
Cutover
- Testing redirects
- Planning DNS/SSL setup
- Establishing rollback strategies
- Setting up monitoring
Outputs
- Launch checklist
- Training session
- Owner’s manual for CMS updates
Growth, Testing & Ongoing Support
A/B Testing & Experiments
- Conducting Webflow Optimize experiments
- Testing messaging, design, and UX
- Maintaining an experiment log with guardrails
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) & Content Velocity
- Analyzing funnels
- Identifying priority pages
- Developing new sections/templates
- Performance tuning
AEO/SEO Maintenance
- Keeping llms.txt updated
- Executing structured data updates
- Improving content based on query data
Operations Cadence
- Monthly roadmap reviews
- Release notes dissemination
- KPI reporting
Outputs
- Backlog and roadmap
- Experiment results
- Regular performance reports
Timelines & Collaboration
- Smaller Builds (1–10 pages): Typically completed in 2–4 weeks with existing copy/assets.
- Larger Builds (10–100+ pages): Typically take 8–12 weeks including strategy, design, development, and migrations.
- Collaboration Tools: ClickUp (Project Management), Figma (Design), Webflow (Staging), with an optional Slack channel for daily communication.
Key Artifacts Delivered
- Project brief, sitemap, measurement plan
- Messaging document, page outlines, CMS schema
- Figma prototypes and component library
- Staging and production Webflow site, seeded CMS, and integrations
- SEO/AEO assets (structured data, sitemaps, llms.txt)
- Launch checklist, redirect map, training & documentation
- Post-launch roadmap, experiment log, KPI reports
Optional Add-Ons
- Enterprise Migrations: Transition from WordPress/Drupal/Contentful to Webflow Enterprise with a complete redirect strategy.
- Localization: Weglot setup, hreflang strategy, and content workflows.
- Compliance & Privacy: Management of consent, data retention, and enhancements for accessibility.
- Data Layer & Analytics: Planning for events, dashboards, and CRM/marketing automation wiring.
Conclusion
In summary, Crew’s process is strategy-led, design-driven, and Webflow-native. The approach is tailored to ensure rapid launches, continuous optimization, and scalability aligned with the team's needs.