Tech Stack & Website Build Reference

1. Content Management System (CMS)

A CMS is the software platform that powers a website — it provides the admin interface for editing content, managing pages, and publishing updates without needing to write code. At Vye, every website build uses one of two CMS platforms: WordPress or HubSpot CMS.

1.1 WordPress

WordPress is the world's most widely used CMS, powering over 40% of all websites. It is an open-source platform hosted on your own server (or a managed host like WPEngine), giving full control over design, plugins, and functionality.

Why use WordPress

• Maximum design and development flexibility — virtually any layout, feature, or custom integration is achievable
• Enormous plugin ecosystem (50,000+ plugins) covering SEO, forms, e-commerce, performance, and more
• Lower platform licensing cost — WordPress itself is free; you only pay for hosting and premium plugins
• Best choice for content-heavy sites with a robust blog, resource library, or news section
• Ideal when a client does not have HubSpot, or HubSpot CMS is not included in their plan
• Works well for sites with complex custom functionality that HubSpot's templating system cannot accommodate

1.2 HubSpot CMS

HubSpot CMS (also called Content Hub) is HubSpot's native website platform, built directly into the HubSpot ecosystem alongside Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub. The website and CRM live in the same platform, enabling tight integration between web activity and contact records.

Why use HubSpot CMS

• Native integration with HubSpot's CRM — every page visit, form submission, and CTA click is tied directly to a contact record
• Attribution is seamless — you can trace a closed deal back to the exact web page that first converted the contact
• Eliminates hosting overhead — HubSpot manages all infrastructure, SSL, and uptime; there is no WPEngine to maintain
• Smart content capabilities — page content can dynamically change based on who is visiting (lifecycle stage, list membership, etc.)
• Unified platform for marketing teams — no switching between a CMS and a separate marketing platform
• HubDB (see Section 8) enables structured data management that powers dynamic content like team pages, service listings, and resource libraries

When Vye uses HubSpot CMS

Recommend HubSpot CMS when the client is an active HubSpot user AND reducing vendor count or improving attribution is a priority. It is especially strong for demand generation sites tightly integrated with HubSpot workflows.

Note: HubSpot CMS carries a platform cost. Confirm the client is on — or willing to adopt — an appropriate HubSpot tier before recommending. Any recommendation to move to HubSpot CMS requires senior review before presenting to the client.

1.3 HubSpot vs. WordPress — Quick Comparison
1.4 Platform Decision Guide
2. Website Hosting

Hosting is the infrastructure that makes a website accessible on the internet. The hosting platform stores the website's files and databases and serves them to visitors when they load a URL. At Vye, hosting approach differs by CMS.

2.1 WPEngine (WordPress Hosting)

WPEngine is Vye's standard managed WordPress host. All WordPress client sites must be hosted on WPEngine unless a documented internal exception has been approved.

What WPEngine provides

• Managed infrastructure — WPEngine handles server configuration, updates, and performance tuning
• Automatic daily backups with one-click restore capability
• Staging environments — every WPEngine site includes a staging URL where builds and updates can be tested before going live
• Built-in CDN (Content Delivery Network) that speeds up load times by serving assets from servers geographically close to the visitor
• SSL certificate management — WPEngine provisions and renews SSL for all sites on the plan
• Security scanning and malware detection built into the platform

Production, staging, and development environments

WPEngine supports up to three environments per site: production (the live site), staging, and development. Not every site will use all three — but at minimum, staging should always be in place. All development and updates happen in a non-production environment first. Nothing goes to the production site without being tested beforehand, which prevents client-facing downtime and broken pages.

Deployment: Bitbucket vs. LocalWP

How a site is deployed to WPEngine depends on its size and complexity. Larger, more complex sites are version-controlled in Bitbucket and deployed to WPEngine through Bitbucket Pipelines, ensuring every change is tracked, reversible, and reviewed before it reaches production. For smaller sites, Vye uses LocalWP (localwp.com) — a local WordPress development tool that allows developers to build and test the site locally before pushing it live to WPEngine directly.

2.2 HubSpot Hosting

When a site is built on HubSpot CMS, hosting is included as part of the HubSpot platform. There is no separate hosting provider to manage, no WPEngine account to maintain, and no monthly hosting checklist to run.

What HubSpot handles automatically

• Infrastructure, uptime, and performance — all managed by HubSpot
• SSL certificates — provisioned automatically for custom domains connected to HubSpot
• CDN — HubSpot includes global CDN delivery for all hosted content
• Security — handled at the platform level

The trade-off: you give up control over the server environment in exchange for zero infrastructure overhead. For most marketing-focused sites this is the right call — teams gain time to focus on content and conversion rather than hosting maintenance.

2.3 Vye's Hosting Packages

For WordPress sites on WPEngine, Vye offers three monthly hosting and maintenance packages:

3. DNS — Domain Name System

DNS is the internet's address book. When someone types a URL into their browser, DNS translates that human-readable domain name (like vye.agency) into the IP address of the server where the website lives. Without DNS, the internet would require everyone to remember numeric IP addresses.

3.1 DNS Record Types

DNS is made up of individual records, each serving a specific purpose. Here are the record types you will encounter regularly in website launches and domain management:

3.2 When DNS Changes ARE Required

DNS changes are needed any time the website is moving to a new server or host. This covers:

• Launching a brand new WordPress site on WPEngine for the first time
• Moving an existing site from one host to another (e.g., from GoDaddy hosting to WPEngine)
• Moving a site from WordPress to HubSpot CMS (or vice versa)
• Adding new subdomains (e.g., landing pages, a knowledge base, or a help center)
• Connecting email services or adding email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

3.3 When DNS Changes Are NOT Required

Not every website launch requires DNS changes. The clearest example: a client whose site currently lives on HubSpot CMS and is being redesigned and rebuilt — still on HubSpot CMS.

If the domain is already pointing to HubSpot and the new site will also be on HubSpot, no DNS changes are needed. The domain is already connected. The new site simply goes live at the same connected domain.

Other scenarios where DNS changes are not needed:

• Taking over a site already hosted on WPEngine — in most cases, Vye can transfer the site to our WPEngine account without any DNS changes. The exception is if the site is on WPEngine's Advanced Network, which uses different IP addresses and would require DNS updates to point to the new environment.

Always confirm the current DNS setup before assuming no changes are needed. Check where A records and NS records currently point and compare to the target hosting environment.

3.4 DNS Migration Best Practices

DNS changes carry real risk — a misconfiguration can take a domain offline. Follow these rules on every DNS change:

• Request DNS delegation from the client at least one week before the planned launch — never on launch day
• Before touching anything, document the registrar name, all existing nameservers, and every existing DNS record
• Do not delete existing records until the new configuration is confirmed working
• DNS propagation takes time — changes can take up to 48 hours to fully propagate across the internet, though most resolve within a few hours
• All DNS changes require senior developer review before execution

4. Domain Registrar vs. DNS

These two concepts are related but distinct — and confusing them is one of the most common sources of problems during a domain setup or website launch.

4.1 What is a Domain Registrar?

A domain registrar is the company where a domain name is purchased and registered. The registrar holds the legal record of who owns the domain and manages the registration lifecycle (renewal, transfer, expiration).

Common registrars you will encounter with Vye clients:

• GoDaddy
• Namecheap
• Google Domains (now migrated to Squarespace)
• Network Solutions
• Cloudflare Registrar
• Hover

The registrar is where you go to transfer ownership of a domain, renew it, or update its nameservers.

4.2 What is DNS?

DNS (Domain Name System) is the service that translates a domain name into an IP address so the internet knows where to route traffic. DNS records live on nameservers, not at the registrar itself.

By default, when a domain is registered, the registrar also provides DNS hosting (nameservers). But these can be changed independently. Many clients move their DNS to a separate DNS provider like Cloudflare without changing their registrar.

4.3 The Difference — Illustrated

Think of it this way: the registrar is like the deed to a house (ownership record), while DNS is like the GPS address (where to actually go to find it). You can update the GPS address without changing the deed.

4.4 Why This Matters for Website Launches

During a website launch, you will almost always interact with both. The workflow looks like this:

• Client logs into their registrar (e.g., GoDaddy) to either update individual DNS records or update the nameservers to point to a new DNS provider
• If updating nameservers (full DNS delegation), the DNS records then need to be recreated on the new DNS platform
• If just updating individual records, the changes happen directly in the registrar's DNS management interface
• Either way, the client needs access to their registrar account — Vye cannot make these changes without client login access

5. Static IP Address

When a device or server connects to the internet, it is assigned an IP address. That address can be either dynamic (changes periodically) or static (stays the same permanently).

5.1 What is a Static IP Address?

A static IP address is a fixed, non-changing numerical address assigned to a server. Unlike a dynamic IP that may be reassigned to a different server over time, a static IP always points to the same destination.

Example: If a server has the static IP 104.22.15.89, that number will always route to that server — today, next month, and next year.

5.2 Why Static IPs Matter for Data and Tracking

Static IPs are important in several data and security contexts at Vye:

IP filtering in analytics

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and other analytics tools allow you to exclude internal traffic — visits from Vye team members or the client's own team — from the data. This is done by adding an IP address to an exclusion filter. If the team's IP address changes frequently (dynamic), these filters break and internal traffic pollutes the client's analytics data, inflating session counts and skewing conversion metrics.

With a static IP, the filter stays accurate indefinitely. This is why clients with office networks — or agencies like Vye — benefit from having a static IP assigned to their network.

IP allowlisting for secure tools

Some marketing tools, CRMs, and client portals restrict access by IP address as a security measure. A static IP makes it possible to whitelist specific networks for access to admin panels, data exports, or third-party integrations.

Email deliverability

Dedicated static IPs for email sending are used by high-volume senders to build a positive IP reputation. If a shared IP has a history of spam, your emails inherit that reputation. A static dedicated IP builds a clean, separate sending record.

For Vye's purposes, the most common reason to flag a static IP is for GA4 internal traffic filters. When setting up analytics for a new client, confirm whether their office network has a static IP so the internal traffic filter can be configured correctly from day one.

6. Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Google Analytics 4 is Google's current web and app analytics platform. It replaced Universal Analytics (UA) in July 2023 and is now the standard for tracking website performance and user behavior.

6.1 What GA4 Does

GA4 collects and reports data about who visits a website, how they behave, and what actions they take. It is the primary analytics platform Vye uses to measure organic performance, understand audience behavior, and prove that marketing is driving real outcomes.

Core data GA4 captures

• Sessions and users — how many people visit and how often
• Traffic sources — how visitors found the site (organic search, paid ads, social, email, direct, referral)
• Page performance — which pages get the most views, where people enter and exit the site
• Events and conversions — specific actions like form submissions, button clicks, video plays, and file downloads
• Engagement metrics — time on site, pages per session, scroll depth
• Audience demographics — age, location, device, browser (where privacy settings allow)

6.2 GA4 vs. Universal Analytics

For anyone who worked with the previous version of Google Analytics (Universal Analytics / UA), GA4 has some significant differences worth understanding:

6.3 GA4 Setup Essentials (Vye Standard)

Every client site Vye builds or manages should have GA4 configured correctly from launch. Key setup steps:

• Create a GA4 property and connect it to the website via Google Tag Manager (not by hard-coding the tag directly)
• Set data retention to 50 months immediately after creating the property
• Configure internal traffic filters using the client's office IP address (and Vye's IP) to exclude team visits
• Define conversion events — at minimum, form submissions and key CTA clicks
• Link GA4 to Google Search Console for organic keyword data
• Link GA4 to Google Ads if the client runs paid search campaigns

GA4 data collection starts from the moment the tag fires. Historical data cannot be backfilled. Get GA4 live before the site launches — never after.

7. Google Tag Manager (GTM)

Google Tag Manager is a tag management system that allows you to add, update, and manage tracking scripts (called tags) on a website without modifying the site's source code. GTM acts as a container — you install one GTM snippet on the website, and then manage all individual tracking scripts through the GTM interface.

7.1 What GTM Does

Before GTM, every analytics or marketing pixel had to be hard-coded directly into the website's HTML. This meant every new tag required a developer, every update required a code push, and tracking changes were slow and error-prone. GTM solves this.

Tags

A tag is a snippet of JavaScript that fires when a specific condition is met. Tags send data to third-party platforms. Examples of tags managed through GTM:

• GA4 configuration tag (initializes GA4 on every page)
• GA4 event tags (fires specific events like 'form_submit' or 'phone_click')
• HubSpot tracking code
• Meta Pixel (Facebook/Instagram ad tracking)
• LinkedIn Insight Tag
• Google Ads conversion tracking
• Microsoft Clarity site recording and heatmap script

Triggers

A trigger tells a tag when to fire. Triggers are conditions — 'fire this tag when a form is submitted,' or 'fire this tag on all pages,' or 'fire when this button is clicked.'

Variables

Variables store dynamic values that tags and triggers use. Examples: the current page URL, the value of a form field, a data layer variable pushed by the website.

7.2 GTM at Vye — The Standard Approach

GTM is Vye's standard method for deploying all tracking and analytics scripts. Never hard-code GA4, Meta Pixel, or other tracking tags directly into the website theme or template if GTM is in place.

• One GTM container is created per client
• The GTM snippet is installed in the website's <head> and <body> sections — on WordPress this is done via the theme or a plugin, on HubSpot this is done through site settings
• All tracking scripts are then added, updated, and managed inside GTM
• Preview mode in GTM allows testing tags before they are published live — always use preview mode before publishing changes
• GTM has a version history, meaning every published version is saved and can be rolled back if something breaks

Think of GTM as the loading dock for the website. Rather than letting every vendor (Google, Meta, LinkedIn, Hotjar, etc.) cut a hole directly in the wall, you give them all access through one controlled entrance point. You manage who loads what, and when.

7.3 GTM vs. Direct Code Installation 8. HubDB

HubDB is HubSpot's built-in relational database tool, available to sites built on HubSpot CMS. It allows structured data to be stored in table form and dynamically pulled into website pages — without writing backend code.

8.1 What HubDB Is

Think of HubDB as a spreadsheet that your website can read and display in real time. You create a table with columns (fields like name, image, description, category, date), add rows of data, and then use HubSpot's template language (HubL) to display that data on a page in whatever format you design.

The data is managed in HubSpot's backend — not in the page editor — which means non-technical users can update content without touching the website template.

8.2 What HubDB is Used For

HubDB is best suited for content that is repetitive, structured, and needs to be filterable or searchable. Common applications at Vye:

• Team member directory — each row is a team member with fields for name, title, photo, bio, and department
• Service listings — dynamic pages for each service, with consistent fields pulled from the table
• Resource or blog-style libraries — filterable lists of case studies, white papers, or guides
• Location pages — store addresses, phone numbers, hours, and maps for multi-location businesses
• Job postings — structured listings that can be filtered by department or location
• Product or solution pages — feature comparisons and structured product attributes

8.3 Why HubDB Instead of Static Pages

Without HubDB, each team member or service would need its own manually created page. A 20-person team would require 20 separately maintained pages. With HubDB, you design one template, and the data for each person is stored in the table. Adding a new team member is as simple as adding a new row.

This also means content updates (a team member changes their title, a service description is refreshed) can be made in one place and appear everywhere that data is referenced across the site.

HubDB is only available on HubSpot CMS sites. It is not a feature of the WordPress + WPEngine stack. For WordPress sites, similar dynamic content functionality is typically achieved through custom post types or plugins like Advanced Custom Fields (ACF).

9. Additional Tools & Concepts9.1 SSL Certificates (HTTPS)

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates encrypt the connection between a visitor's browser and the web server, protecting data in transit. Sites with SSL show 'https://' in the address bar and the padlock icon. Sites without SSL are flagged as 'Not Secure' by Chrome and other browsers.

• Every Vye-built site must have SSL active before launch — this is a non-negotiable QA checklist item
• On WPEngine, SSL certificates are provisioned automatically once DNS is pointed correctly
• On HubSpot CMS, SSL is provisioned automatically when a custom domain is connected
• SSL is also a minor SEO ranking factor — Google gives a slight preference to HTTPS sites

9.2 Microsoft Clarity

Microsoft Clarity is a free user behavior analytics tool that records how visitors interact with a website — where they click, how far they scroll, and where they get stuck. It is Vye's preferred behavior analytics platform, deployed through GTM and used alongside GA4 to give a qualitative layer on top of quantitative analytics data.

• Heatmaps — visualize aggregated click, scroll, and move data across a page
• Session recordings — watch anonymized recordings of real user sessions to identify UX friction
• Rage clicks and dead clicks — Clarity automatically flags sessions where users repeatedly click with no result, or click on non-interactive elements
• Native GA4 integration — Clarity can be linked to a GA4 property, adding session recording links directly inside GA4's reports

Microsoft Clarity is completely free with no session or traffic limits. It is Vye's standard over paid alternatives. Deploy it on every new client site via GTM at launch.

9.3 Google Search Console (GSC)

Google Search Console is a free Google tool that shows how a website performs in organic Google search. It is separate from GA4 and provides data GA4 cannot — specifically, which search queries (keywords) bring users to the site.

• Shows keyword impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and average position in search results
• Surfaces crawl errors, indexing issues, and pages Google cannot access
• Required to submit sitemaps to Google so new content gets indexed faster
• Should be linked to GA4 to bring keyword data into the Analytics interface

9.4 HubSpot Tracking Code

Separate from GTM, HubSpot has its own tracking script that must be installed on every website connected to a client's HubSpot portal. This code is what enables HubSpot to identify known contacts when they visit the site, trigger workflows based on page visits, and populate contact timelines with web activity.

• On HubSpot CMS sites, the tracking code is installed automatically
• On WordPress sites, the HubSpot tracking code is typically added as a tag inside GTM
• Without the tracking code, HubSpot forms may still work, but contact-level page tracking and smart content will not function

9.5 CDN (Content Delivery Network)

A CDN is a globally distributed network of servers that caches and delivers website assets (images, CSS, JavaScript files) from the server location geographically closest to the visitor. This reduces load times for visitors who are far from the website's primary server.

• WPEngine includes a built-in CDN for all sites on their managed hosting plans
• HubSpot CMS includes global CDN delivery for all hosted content
• For WordPress sites, Cloudflare is a commonly used third-party CDN and DNS service that can be layered on top of WPEngine

9.6 Sitemaps

An XML sitemap is a file (usually at domain.com/sitemap.xml) that lists all the important URLs on a website. It tells search engines what pages exist and when they were last updated, helping ensure new and updated content gets crawled and indexed faster.

• WordPress: Most SEO plugins (Yoast, RankMath) generate sitemaps automatically
• HubSpot CMS: Sitemaps are generated automatically by the platform
• After a site launch, submit the sitemap URL to Google Search Console to accelerate indexing

9.7 reCAPTCHA

reCAPTCHA is Google's bot-detection system. It is embedded in website forms to prevent automated bots from submitting spam entries. All Vye-built sites use reCAPTCHA v3 (invisible, no user interaction required) as the default.

• reCAPTCHA v3 works invisibly in the background — it scores each form interaction based on behavior and blocks likely bots without asking users to solve a puzzle
• reCAPTCHA v2 (the 'I am not a robot' checkbox) is used only when v3 is not supported
• reCAPTCHA implementation must be verified during QA — it is a required checklist item, not an assumption

Quick Reference Summary