What to Expect with your New Punchmark Website
Congratulations! You've taken the first step in improving your website presence by signing up for a new Punchmark website. Now we'd like to share a few thoughts on what you can expect during the onboarding process.
Initial Onboarding
Your Project Manager - At the start of your project, you will be assigned a dedicated Project Manager, who will be your point of contact. All communication about your website project will be handled through your Project Manager until your website is launched. After launch, you will be assigned an Account Manager. Read more about the post-launch process here.
Creative Strategy Assessment (CSA) - Every project begins with a brief questionnaire that helps our design team create a beautiful and functional website that meets your goals and requirements for your website project. Once you submit your CSA, our team can begin setting up your website to match your brand and project goals. To see your CSA, please log in to your Punchmark account.
Project Timeline - Since every website is unique, timelines will vary between projects, but the average launch time is roughly 60-90 days. Because we are familiar with the slower response times due to the nature of our clients working in retail, your Project Manager will stay on top of what you need to review to keep the project moving along. We have completed and launched websites as quickly as 18 days.
Design Process
Punchmark’s Design Team - If you've signed up for a Custom or Premium website, you will have a Design Consultation Meeting, which will involve your Project Manager and the Design Team. You will interact with both your Project Manager and the Design Team during the Design Process.
Theme Websites - If you have a Theme website, our Design Team will translate your feedback from your CSA into your website. This process typically takes about 2-3 weeks.
Custom Websites - If you have a Custom website, our Design Team will begin an Initial Design in Photoshop that will take into account all your feedback from your CSA. There are revisions built in to this project, so if you have changes, which are likely, our Design Team will continue to make revisions until you feel your design represents your brand and your store. Once approved, our front-end developers will implement your design into HTML and CSS of your actual website. This entire process typically takes about 3-4 weeks, but can be longer depending on client feedback and the number of revisions.
Premium Websites - If you have a Premium website, our Design Team will commence the Initial Design process similar to that of a Custom Design. Once approved, the Design Team will then move on to your Interior Pages, while our front-end developers implement your design into HTML and CSS of your actual website. Once your Interior Pages are approved, these will also be created on your website as well. Since you have a Premium Website, additional work will be spent on your navigation and mobile user experience. This entire process typically takes about 4-5 weeks, but can be longer depending on client feedback and the number of revisions.
Expert Websites - If you have a special website project that has a different scope outside the projects that are outlined above, your proposal will outline the various milestones throughout your project timeline. These websites may cover the following milestones: Discovery, Onboarding, Design Phase, Development Phase, Deployment Phase and Post-Deployment Phase. If you have questions about this process, please contact your Project Manager.
Website Content
Migrated Page Content - Included in every website project are a few key pages from your previous website that can easily be transferred over by our team. These may include static pages such as your About page, Store Services, Company History, and others. What is not included in this list is any page that requires custom design or development, or anything that is listed below.
Modular Page Content - Included in your website project are several modular pages, such as your Bridal Ring Designer, Diamond Search, Meet our Staff, Jewelry Education Section, Custom Jewelry Design Wizard, and more.
Brand Pages - Punchmark works with over 300 brands to incorporate their logo, write-up, and some key details about each brand. When filling out your onboarding checklist and CSA, you can select the brands you carry so that Punchmark can install these pages on your behalf. Once installed, you can can easily install additional brand pages with the click of a button.
Blog Articles - If you have a blog, you can send us your blog URL and we can attempt to import the latest 10 blog articles into your new website. There may be certain cases where this process may include additional billable design hours, or you can simply add each blog post yourself. If you have an extensive blog with a long history of articles, talk to your Project Manager about how we can import your entire blog and what fees may be involved.
Social Media & Reviews - When you fill out your CSA, you can select which social networks you'd like to incorporate into your website. Some networks, such as Facebook or Instagram, will allow you to include a feed of your most recent posts. Others, such as Google, will allow you to integrate your latest reviews.
Custom Page Content - Any page that is not in the above list will be considered custom page content. Punchmark can create any page you would like, and the standard design rate starts as $500 per page. Costs may be higher if the page includes additional copywriting, a complex design system, or custom web development.
Product Implementation
Product Images - To get the best product images, we recommend getting images from your vendors whenever possible. When this is not an option, such as custom & estate jewelry, we recommend using a product such as the GemLightbox by Picup Media.
Post-of-Sale Integration - The most streamlined way of managing your website products is to integrate directly with your POS. This enables you to operate your business as you normally do, and your website will listen in on your changes, ensuring your products are in-stock and prices are accurate. Since your inventory will be visible to the world, it is important that your product photos and descriptions are web-friendly. Some POS integrations require third-party costs, so please check with your software provider. To see the costs for our partners such as the EDGE, please go here.
Premium Brands - Included in every Service Plan is an allotment of Premium Brands. By subscribing to a Premium Brand, you will be able to automatically feature the brand's products at your markup and availability, configured the way you want. Please note that some vendors have restrictions such as minimum or maximum markups, or only allowing MSRP. For more information on how to subscribe to brands, go here.
Diamond Vendors - Included in every Service Plan is an allotment of Diamond Vendors. By subscribing to a Diamond Vendor, you will be able to feature each vendor's diamonds in the same inventory list, using your markup. You have the option to allow natural and/or lab grown diamonds, and set your markups separately. You can also import your own diamonds using a CSV file. To learn more about implementing diamonds on your website, go here.
Product API - If you would like to automate your products, Punchmark allows clients and developers to connect to the SiteManager Product API. This option is typically done by retailers who have an in-house developer, or utilize a POS company that is familiar with APIs.
Manual Uploads - In addition to the integrations listed above, you can also import a spreadsheet via CSV format. This is not as turn-key as the above options, but you can read the documentation here.
1x1 Products - If you ever need to add a product one-by-one, this can always be done from the Manage Jewelry page in SiteManager. Please note that it is not advised to use this method if you are importing several products, as this process can be very time-consuming.
E-Commerce - Activating e-commerce is a generally easy process, but does require some thought and administrative setup. To learn more about the administrative process of managing your products, categories, orders, diamonds, please visit this article about commerce. In order to drive the right amount of traffic to your website and physical store, we strongly recommend enrolling in one of Punchmark's Digital Marketing Programs if you do not currently have a digital marketing strategy.
Vendor Iframes, Embeds & Microsites - If any of your vendors send you code to embed their products on your website, this can be done very easily. While this is one of the most turn-key ways to incorporate vendor products outside using Premium Brands, it is not advised if you take your products seriously. The biggest drawbacks are that these products aren't available for checkout, they're not searchable in your site, visitors can't add these products to their wish lists, you get no SEO for the content in these pages, and visitors can't share or navigate to any of the products directly (with the exception of some vendor embeds).
Administrative Responsibilities
Your project timeline includes several steps that fall under your responsibility, and many of these are just administrative steps that will require a decision or communication around how you would like to configure a certain page, feature, integration or module. Below is a list of these general responsibilities, which may or may not apply to your project. For a full list of your specific responsibilities, you can navigate to your CSA, which will show you all of your tasks that have not yet been completed.
Verify Your Email Address
Fill out the Creative Strategy Assessment
Choose Platform Features
List Featured Brands
Decide on Product Preferences
Decide on Content Preferences
List Company Services
Submit Company Logo
Choose Brand Colors
Choose Fonts
Send Website Examples (for Custom & Premium Designs)
Attend Design Consultation Meeting (for Custom & Premium Designs)
Send Design Feedback / Approve Designs
Pay POS Provider (if activating POS Integration)
Schedule POS Upgrade
Subscribe to Premium Vendor Feeds (if installing Premium Vendor products)
Subscribe to Diamond Supplier Feeds (if installing Diamond Search)
Choose E-Commerce Processor (if activating e-commerce)
Submit Domain Registrar Login Information
Grant Access to Google Analytics
Confirm the following information is correct:
Notification Email Addresses
Store Information & Addresses
Store Hours
Confirm Premium Vendor Markups (if installing Premium Vendor products)
Confirm Diamond Markups (if installing Diamond Search)
Confirm POS Category Map (if activating POS Integration)
Confirm POS Vendor Map (if activating POS Integration)
Import Product CSV & Upload Product Images (if manually uploading products)
Write / Migrate Blog Articles
Create Shipping Methods (if activating e-commerce)
Create Page Redirects
Schedule Website Launch