About Great North Agency
I build and host websites for local businesses, and you see yours finished before you decide.
No jargon, no agency. One person, a flat monthly price, and a site that works on a phone.
The person behind it
Hi, I'm Matt
Great North is me. I scope your site, build it, host it and answer your email.
I grew up in Kitchener and live in Bruce County now. I spent years inside big technology companies, and I served in the Canadian Armed Forces. These days I build websites for people who are busy doing something else.
If this sounds familiar
You're good at the work. Your website shouldn't be the weak spot.
- Customers look you up before they callOn their phone, usually. If what they find is an old page, a Facebook link, or nothing, the call goes to the next name on the list.
- Quotes in the thousands, in jargonAgencies talk about “brand strategy” and “conversion funnels” and send a bill to match. You just want a site that works and a price you can read.
- The person who built it is goneA phone number change takes weeks, or nobody can find the login. A website you can't change is a brochure you can't reprint.
- You're on a job, not at a deskYou're good at the work. You don't have the evenings to learn hosting, certificates and search rankings, and you shouldn't need to.
Why I started this
Small businesses deserve the same quality of tools that big companies use, without the price, the jargon or the delays.
After years inside enterprise security, retail and banking systems, I saw how good those tools are and how much they cost. Then I saw what a plumber or a roofer usually gets handed instead.
So I started Great North to give trades and local businesses a fast, secure, modern website at a price that makes sense, kept up to date, and explained in words you don't need a dictionary for. I'd rather do that for the business down the road than for a corporation.
How I do it differently
Look first. Pay only if you like it.
Most agencies ask you to trust a proposal. I'd rather show you the finished thing.
- I build it first. You decide second.Instead of a proposal, you get a real, finished website for your business to look at on your own phone. It costs nothing to look, and nothing changes unless you tell me to go ahead.
- You deal with the person who builds itNo account managers, no handoffs to a junior team. Whoever scopes your site writes it and answers your email.
- Flat monthly price, nothing hiddenHosting, your own domain, backups and updates for one monthly fee, with no contract. If you ever leave, the site and the domain go with you.
- Secure and backed up, without being askedHTTPS, spam protection, monitoring and backups come standard. Years around enterprise security and banking systems teach you to plan for the bad day.
Every site, no extras
Built properly, and you can check
No score to take on trust here. These are the things that are true of every site I build, and any of them you can ask me about.
- Secure by defaultHTTPS on every page, and spam protection on every form.
- Backed up every nightYour site and its photos are copied nightly, so a bad day for a server is not a bad day for you.
- Watched, not forgottenThe server your site lives on is checked every five minutes, and I get an alert if it goes down.
- Made for phones firstMost people will find you on a phone, so that is what every site is designed for first.
- Written to be foundPage titles and descriptions use your trade and your town, so search engines know who you are and where you work.
- Your photos, your wordsBuilt around your own business, your own pictures and your real reviews. Not a stock page with your name pasted in.
- You own itYour domain and your content are yours. If you ever leave, they go with you.
- No contractOne flat monthly price, and you can cancel any month. No cancellation fee.
- One person, one inboxWhoever builds your site answers your email. No account managers, no handoffs.
Want to see for yourself? Open any example site on your phone, or run it through Google's free speed test. I'd rather you checked.
A little more about me
Where I'm coming from
Before this
Enterprise security software, retail and banking systems, and regulated financial services, then the Canadian Armed Forces. Places where downtime, security and sloppy work all have a price.
What stuck with me
How much better the tools at a big company are than what most small businesses get, and how much the big company pays for them. I wanted to close that gap for the people I grew up around.
When the laptop closes
Mostly still making something: a wall of 3D printers and two small quality-control inspectors who live in my house. That became 3D Ontario, a family shop printing articulated dragons and desk creatures.
The examples, and where I've been
Judge the standard for yourself
Why these businesses are made up
I'm just getting started, so I built example sites to show you the exact standard I deliver.
The businesses are fictional. The speed, the security and the quality are real: it's the same build and the same hosting your site would get. Real client sites are coming soon, and they'll appear here as they go live, with their owners' permission.
The experience behind it
Habits picked up in places where downtime, security and sloppy work all have a price.
BlackBerry
Enterprise security software
NCR
Retail & banking systems at scale
Definity
Regulated financial services
- Canadian
Armed
ForcesCanadian Armed Forces
Service, discipline, teamwork
Logos and names are the trademarks of their owners and appear here only to describe where I've worked. Nothing on this page implies their endorsement of Great North Agency.
See your website before you decide
Looking is free and takes about two minutes. Answer four quick questions and I'll show you a real site for your business. Nothing happens unless you say so.