by Grant Sharp | Apr 21, 2017
Background
LA Travel Group is an established local travel agency that has been in business for over 15 years. Specializing in group travel, LA Travel Group focusses on Health and Wellness excursions, Student trips, Destination Weddings and so much more.
Problem
Initially, LA Travel wanted to better understand how their digital marketing dollars were being spent as well as promote an upcoming culinary travel tour. Interestingly, this initial consult has now expanded to include some truly fascinating projects.
Solution
Dalilu reviewed LA Travel’s analytics and optimized their promotional site to better handle incoming traffic, through reducing image sizes, minifying their JS and CSS files as well as verifying and fixing how the site rendered on all common screen sizes.
Next steps for our work with the LA Travel Group
There are several exciting projects coming down the pipeline for the LA Travel Group. Along with ongoing Analytics and Reporting work, Dalilu Communications has agreed to partner on the development of a new online discount travel booking engine. Although the market is competitive, we believe there is room in the market for more one more player. Existing competitors are old and tired. They are not offering anything new that meets today’s customer’s needs. Customers expect more and we will make sure to oblige!
by Grant Sharp | Apr 21, 2017
Background
Evolution Hockey is the story of a company that was born out of passion. Interestingly, the company’s founder Riley Dudar has been working with players of all levels for many years. Using a methodological approach to honing his craft, the company began to grow and acquire more and more training contracts. Over time, Evolution’s growth progressed to the point where the company was working with several top local organizations without a public presence.
Problem
Ultimately, Evolution Hockey needed to organize how it interacted with the public. Considering the pace of the company’s growth, simply answering phone calls and replying to emails was not going to cut it.
Solution
Dalilu worked with Evolution create a website to function as a brand statement, information resource, and online point of contact. In addition, it was important to organize the information in a way that made sense for both current students and potential clients.
What is next for Evolution Hockey
Evolution Hockey will continue to grow its reputation as a program that develops elite athletes. Additionally, Riley is looking to expand his offerings beyond hockey. Evolution Living will provide information and resources to individuals seeking to learn about healthy living.
by Grant Sharp | Apr 21, 2017
Background
Squirrel Construction was founded in 2007 and has been building premium decks and fences for clients locally for many years. Focussing on using quality materials and methodical building techniques, the company is a local gem.
Problem
The construction business is competitive. Interestingly, although Squirrel Construction has a tremendous reputation generated through word of mouth. It ultimately lacked a way for clients to communicate with them in a consistent way.
Solution
Remember, appearances can be deceiving. A simple project on the surface, this site was in the pipeline for over a year. Truthfully, branding is always an important element in any project and design is not one of our “core competencies”. Generally speaking, Dalilu does not do a lot of design work. Instead, we work with our Agency Partners or rely on the client to provide the creative. With that said, some clients simply do not have the capacity or time to deal with several marketing contractors.
Accordingly, we were able to work with Derek and eventually settle on a design. From there, Dalilu built out the site which now functions as the primary showcase of Squirrel Construction’s work. On top of this, the site functions as a brand statement and provides Derek’s clients a way to connect with him directly.
What’s next for Squirrel Construction?
As Squirrel Construction continues to grow, Derek is constantly looking for new ways to engage with his clients. A creative person, Derek is always pushing the envelope in terms of how his brand presents itself. Ultimately, during the next stage of development, our focus will be on streamlining the gallery. Derek wants his clients to visualize what they want and a defined catalog with a list of options will help.
by Grant Sharp | Apr 21, 2017
Background
Ecolicious Equestrian is a web-based retailer and local producer of sustainable high-end ecologically friendly equine care products. Established in 2010, and launched in 2011, ecoliciousequestrian.com is the primary touchpoint for many of the company’s distributors and direct retail customers.
Problem
As mentioned above, Ecolicious Equestrian was launched in 2010. By January 2016 it was firmly established among the leading equine care product producers in the continent. With that said, times have changed and individual digital consumption habits are constantly evolving. Accordingly, what started as a contemporary design in 2011 was now outdated. Today’s customers expect a quality mobile shopping experience.
Solution
Develop a new site that incorporates existing brand elements and allows users a full shopping experience on mobile devices.
Challenges
This project had a number of logistical challenges. As an established site, it was critical to preserve the customer database. It was also equally important to minimize development costs. Operating as a small business competing against much larger companies, there was not an endless budget.
After some research, we presented the client with an assessment of available mobile friendly platforms and associated development costs. After some discussion, we made the decision to build the site using WordPress and Woo Commerce.
As with any transition of this size, there have been some bumps along the way. As it turns out, where your site is hosted, and who you share your server can have a huge effect on your site’s performance.
In addition, a stable end product at the time of launch does not eliminate the need for future maintenance. After some unexpected software challenges, we made changes to the payment gateway, the web host and upgraded the version of PHP. Today the site is now running smoothly.
What’s next for Ecolicious Equestrian?
As protocols and requirements continue to change, ongoing site maintenance should not be taken for granted. Whether you are printing off pdf invoices or incorporating US based pricing, everything requires ongoing maintenance. Our stretch goal with Ecolicious Equestrian is to transition away from 3rd party app dependencies. Having said that, it is also important to keep your design fresh. Essentially, as devices evolve, how they display information also evolves. As such, it is always important to keep an eye forward while staying true to your brand’s roots.
