Project Execution

1. Design and Discovery Process

The discovery phase involved close collaboration between Innovative CBD and the consultant team to understand their business needs, target audience, and branding requirements. The consultant team:

• Conducted workshops with the client to align on the design vision and user experience expectations.
• Choose Shopify’s Stiletto Organic Style theme as the foundation for the website, which was flexible enough to meet the customization needs.
• Customized the theme’s design to reflect Innovative CBD’s branding guidelines, using the allocated 20 design hours to create custom graphics for the homepage and other elements.

2. Development and Customization

Front-End Implementation

The front-end was built using Shopify’s Stiletto theme. Customizations were made to align with Innovative CBD’s branding, and the site was designed for an intuitive and engaging user experience.

• The homepage was structured to showcase key product categories, promotions, and customer reviews.
• Mobile responsiveness was prioritized to ensure a consistent experience across various devices.

Feature Implementation and Setup

Key features were implemented using Shopify’s apps:

• Referral Program: The Referral and Affiliates app was integrated to encourage customers to refer new users, earning rewards.
• Subscription Management: The Appstle Subscriptions app was installed to manage and track customer subscriptions for products like CBD oils and tinctures.
• Order Invoice Generation: The Avada PDF Invoice app was configured to allow customers to download and print their invoices easily.
• SEO Tools: Yoast SEO was added to ensure the website’s SEO health remained intact during and after migration.
• Analytics Setup: Configured Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Pixel Analytics to track the website’s performance and gather insights into customer behavior.

3. Key Design Enhancements

• Visual Branding: The design was customized to match Innovative CBD’s brand identity, incorporating their logo, colors, and other brand assets to create a cohesive visual experience.
• SEO Optimization: SEO was a top priority during the migration. 301 redirects were set up to ensure that traffic from the old website was directed to the appropriate pages on the new Shopify site.
• User Interface: The layout was simplified for ease of navigation, with clear calls-to-action and a user-friendly checkout process.

4. Testing and Deployment

Quality Assurance and Responsiveness Testing

• The development team conducted thorough User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to ensure all features were working properly. This included testing the checkout process, subscription management, referral program, and invoicing system.
• Device Testing was carried out to ensure the site was responsive and displayed correctly on mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.

Domain Mapping and SEO Retention

• Domain mapping was completed seamlessly, ensuring that the client’s existing domain was pointed to the new Shopify store without any issues.
• SEO retention was closely monitored, with a detailed SEO benchmarking report being generated before and after the migration to track any changes in search rankings.

5. Launch

After the testing phase, the website was deployed to production. A final round of adjustments was made to the site based on the client’s feedback, and once approved, the Shopify store was officially launched.

• SEO Migration: All 301 redirects were properly set up to ensure that customers who bookmarked old pages would be redirected to the correct new URLs, preserving SEO rankings.
• Final Verification: The site was reviewed and verified by Innovative CBD to ensure all functionality was working as expected, including the new features like referral programs and subscriptions.