Overview
Mantle is a growing technology, cybersecurity, and AI consultancy focused primarily on emerging and clinical-stage biotech companies.
We are looking for an experienced Squarespace 7.1 designer/developer with strong technical SEO and information-architecture experience to help us significantly improve our existing website:
https://mantlegroup.io
This is not a ground-up branding exercise. We already have:
An established visual identity
A defined business strategy and market position
Existing website content
A proposed site architecture
An SEO/content strategy
Initial concepts for new long-form research content
We need someone who can translate this direction into a polished, maintainable Squarespace implementation while protecting the SEO value and functionality of the existing site.
Primary Objectives
The project should:
More clearly establish Mantle's specialization in biotech
Improve overall site and navigation architecture
Create dedicated, search-oriented solution and capability pages
Establish a scalable Research/content publishing system
Improve internal linking and topical authority
Support substantive long-form research content
Improve technical and on-page SEO
Preserve existing URLs and search equity wherever practical
Give our team repeatable page and article templates we can maintain ourselves
Important: Staging and Production Approach
Because we are working within Squarespace, we are not expecting a traditional development → UAT → production deployment pipeline.
Our intended approach is:
Design / Staging Sandbox
We will duplicate the existing Squarespace site and use the duplicate as a safe environment to:
Develop the new information architecture
Explore navigation changes
Design page layouts
Develop global visual changes
Build representative page types
Develop the Research experience
Create reusable content patterns
Review desktop and mobile designs
Obtain internal approval before touching production
Production Implementation
Once layouts and architecture are approved, the selected freelancer will help carefully implement the approved changes within the existing production Squarespace site.
This may include:
Building replacement pages under Not Linked or using available Squarespace draft functionality where appropriate
Preserving existing page URLs
Updating existing pages rather than unnecessarily recreating them
Carefully restructuring existing Blog / Memo content
Implementing redirects only where URLs genuinely need to change
Applying approved global styles and navigation during a controlled cutover
Testing the production implementation after launch
We are specifically looking for someone who understands the limitations of Squarespace and can recommend the lowest-risk implementation method.
Proposed Site Architecture
Our current thinking is:
Solutions
Buyer- and stage-oriented pages such as:
Emerging Biotech
Clinical-Stage Biotech
Phase 3 / Commercial Readiness
Financing, M&A, Diligence & Exit Readiness
Capabilities
Dedicated pages for:
Managed Technology Function
Fractional CIO / CISO
Cybersecurity & Resilience
AI Strategy & Governance
Scientific Computing & R&D IT
GxP & Clinical Systems
Our existing /services page would likely become the overall Capabilities landing page while retaining its current URL.
Research
We currently have separate Blog and Memo content.
We want to consolidate this into a stronger Research experience containing:
Guides
Frameworks
Field Notes
Case Studies
Checklists
Primary research topics will include:
Biotech IT Strategy
AI Strategy & Governance
Cybersecurity & Resilience
Clinical, GxP & Data
Scientific Computing & R&D IT
Diligence, Transactions & Exit
The implementation will likely use:
A primary Squarespace Blog/Research collection
A deliberately controlled category/tag taxonomy
Topic/pillar landing pages
Summary Blocks
Related-content components
Strong internal linking between commercial and research content
We welcome recommendations on the cleanest Squarespace implementation.
Long-Form Research System
A major objective is creating a reusable article structure that allows Mantle to publish substantive, research-oriented content.
We want to move beyond conventional short company blog posts toward authoritative resources containing elements such as:
Direct answer / thesis
Author and last-updated information
Executive summary
Key takeaways
Table of contents
Structured headings
Original frameworks and diagrams
Comparison and decision matrices
Practical recommendations
Implementation roadmaps
Risks and limitations
Sources and further reading
Related Mantle research
Context-specific calls to action
The final implementation should make it easy for our internal team to publish future articles without requiring a designer each time.
SEO & Information Architecture
We need someone who understands SEO beyond simply populating Squarespace metadata fields.
Relevant work includes:
Site hierarchy and information architecture
Search-oriented page structure
URL strategy
Preserving existing URLs
301 redirect planning
Squarespace URL Mappings
Heading hierarchy
Internal linking
Blog / Research taxonomy
SEO titles and descriptions
Author attribution
Image optimization and alt text
Social-sharing metadata
Squarespace's native structured data
Sitemap review
Google Search Console
GA4
Mobile experience
Basic performance considerations
Broken-link / 404 testing
Post-launch indexing validation
We do not want unnecessary custom schema, JavaScript, or plugins added where Squarespace's native functionality is sufficient.
Representative Homepage Structure
We expect the redesigned homepage to include approximately:
Clear biotech-specific positioning
Solutions organized around company stage / business need
Core capabilities
Mantle differentiation
An original operating framework
Featured research
Relevant client proof / outcomes
Strong contextual CTA
We have copy and positioning direction and will work collaboratively on final presentation.
Repeatable Capability Pages
We want a reusable commercial-page structure that can be adapted across our capabilities.
Typical structure:
Clear H1 and value proposition
Who the capability is for
Business situations that create the need
Problems Mantle addresses
Scope / capabilities
Deliverables and outcomes
How the engagement works
Relevant proof or case example
Related Research
Contextual CTA
Reusable Squarespace sections or layouts should be used where practical.
Existing Content & SEO Preservation
The existing site has live pages and indexed content that should not be unnecessarily disrupted.
We need help with:
Auditing current URLs before changes
Determining which pages should be retained, rewritten, consolidated, or redirected
Preserving strong existing URLs
Consolidating Blog / Memo content carefully
Maintaining article slugs where practical
Updating internal links
Building a redirect map for URLs that must change
Avoiding unnecessary duplication
Validating the live site after changes
SEO preservation is an important part of the engagement.
Expected Deliverables
Final scope will be agreed upon before work begins, but we anticipate:
Duplicated design/staging sandbox
Finalized information architecture
Updated navigation architecture
Redesigned homepage
Updated Capabilities landing page
Approximately 5–7 core capability/solution pages
Unified Research structure
Research landing page
Topic/pillar page structure
Reusable long-form article layout
Reusable commercial-page layout
Author profile implementation
Controlled category/tag taxonomy
Internal-linking structure
SEO metadata for core pages
Existing/new URL map
Required 301 redirects
Responsive/mobile QA
Careful implementation into the existing production site
Launch QA
Search Console/indexing review
Brief documentation for our team
What Mantle Will Provide
We are not hiring someone to invent our strategy from scratch.
We will provide:
Existing site and Squarespace access
Brand assets
Overall positioning
Proposed information architecture
Existing content
New copy and content direction
Service descriptions
SEO/content topic strategy
Research article drafts
Feedback and approvals
We are looking for someone who can challenge and improve the implementation approach, particularly where Squarespace or SEO best practices suggest a better solution.
Ideal Candidate
Strong candidates will have:
Deep Squarespace 7.1 experience
Demonstrated Squarespace redesign work
Strong technical SEO knowledge
Experience restructuring existing sites without destroying URL equity
Excellent information-architecture instincts
Experience with Squarespace Blog collections
Categories, tags, and Summary Blocks
URL Mappings / redirects
Search Console and GA4
Responsive design
Content-heavy or thought-leadership websites
Ability to work within an existing visual identity
Strong attention to detail
Experience with B2B professional services, technology, cybersecurity, biotechnology, life sciences, or other complex industries is a plus.
What We Are Not Looking For
We are not looking for someone whose primary approach is:
Installing a generic Squarespace template
Proposing a full rebrand without understanding the business
Creating dozens of thin SEO landing pages
Keyword stuffing
Publishing large quantities of low-quality AI-generated content
Changing established URLs unnecessarily
Adding custom code where native Squarespace functionality works
Treating SEO as simply writing meta descriptions
We value simplicity, maintainability, strong information architecture, thoughtful design, and technical quality.