Web Design

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is all about standing out from the crowd.
A web design company should know how to get your sites exposed on the most popular search engines. Open up Google or your favorite web search and look for 'website Design Grande Prairie' or something similar.

If the company is skilled with SEO, their website should be on the first page.

If they couldn't do it for their own company how will they do it for yours?

digital-blues.com understands SEO. We can optimize your site for all the major search engines.

Portfolio

A Web Design company should have a great looking website, as well as a great looking portfolio.

Ask yourself a few of these questions while browsing a portfolio.

• Do all of the sites look similar?
• Are there only simple layout and color changes?
• Do the new sites look modern?

We take pride in each and every one of our sites being an original design.

How many designers?

The firm could have an absolutely wonderful design portfolio, but what if they only have one designer? What happens to your site when that designer isn't available? We all occasionally get sick and take vacations.

Make sure there is more than one person available to handle your site, or take care of your email and password issues.

At digital-blues.com, someone will always be available to help you.

A Home for Your website

We have all experienced internet downtime. This happens to internet hosting services too, but with a good host it's transparent.

• A good web host has more than one internet service provider (ISP) . In the event of a service outage, the alternate ISP will take over.
• Power Generators will also keep your site online in the event of a power outage.
• Regular data backups help keep your data safe in the event of a disk failure or hacking attempt.
• Hosting servers should be regularly scanned for security vulnerabilities and hacking attempts.
• Servers should only be maintained by IT professionals.

Down time with a service provider should not affect your business, should it?

digital-blues.com provides hosting in a high end facility with over 3 ISPs, numerous back up generators, fire prevention measures and a regular server wide backup system. Our servers are constantly scanned for security issues and kept up to date for maximum protection.

We host our own website and email services on the same servers we place your site, so if there's an issue we see it first and solve it.

Your Initial Meeting

There should always be a face-to-face meeting before the project kicks off. The purpose of the meeting is to gather all of the details for your project and determine the most cost effective path to take.

The representative from the potential design firm should take an authentic interest in your project as well as your company. If they are not interested in your business, it will be apparent in their final product.

Plan Ahead

Your website should be capable to grow with your company.

Be sure to mention items like:

• Future online sales.
• Ability to add more pages and sections.
• Expandable online portfolios.
• Being able to maintain the website yourself.

A good design firm will build the site with these items in mind. Neglecting to do so could result in a complete rebuild of your website in the future.

It's a good idea to ask for different pricing options for different scenarios.

Remote Email Access

If you are away from the office will you be able to easily access your email?

Some companies already have this functionality in house but if you don't, this could be critical for your off-site sales team as well as yourself at home or during vacation.

digital-blues.com provides web based email access, accessible from your web browser.

Determining Success

How can you tell if anyone is even looking at your website?

Good hosting providers can provide access to valuable statistical tools that can help you realize the success of your website.

Be sure to ask if this functionality is available, it may cost extra.

If it is available, ask for a live demo.

digital-blues.com provides access to comprehensive statistical tools at no extra charge. They're easy to use and accessible from your web browser.

And Then it Crashed

A robust backup solution is critical in providing peace of mind.

eCommerce and database driven websites rely heavily on their data. These types of sites are changing 24/7. In most cases, you will want to ensure that a daily backup is performed at a minimum.

If you're expected to take care of backups yourself, it's a good idea to ask for the required information and a manual that details the backup process.

The design firm and your company should work together to ensure everyone is educated and verify the site is backed up properly.

Some providers may charge extra for this service. digital-blues.com provides website backup services at no additional cost. Every night, each website is packaged and sent to a storage server at a separate location.


As an added security measure, our hard disks are backed up regularly in the event of unforeseen circumstances.