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Does Your Operation Need a Website?
- Helge By

A website is a good extension of your showing, selling and advertising programs. It is always there telling your story and is seen by people from across the road and around the world, if linked to prominent sites. It shouldn't replace the other forms of advertising you do, but will compliment it very well and make all you efforts more efficient.

More and more breeders are using this form of promotion as it is cost effective and has proven results.
I often get questions about what is involved with building a website and what are the costs, so I thought I would put together some basic information for you.

Most of the websites we do are totally inclusive with hosting, domain name, building, linking and maintaining. They will cost breeders about $500-800/year. If you want to have some other professional build your site, that is fine, just make sure that it gets linked to the industry.

I don't recommend the neighbour’s kid in grade 8 doing your site as these sites tend to be less attractive and user friendly. These kids then leave home and you are left to start over.

The best way to get started is to look at some other sites and see what you like and dislike. Then lay out exactly what you want on each page, on paper indicating colour etc. Be very clear on what you want so our designers don't have to guess and redo things over and over. We also try to keep the graphics fast loading so those on dial up will still be able to view these with little trouble. Then if you make sure we have all of the pictures we can have it up and running within a couple of weeks.

Here is an example of a basic website that I think works well:

Home page:
have a farm shot or two and a story of the operation and some history etc.

Female page:
Have pictures and information on your top cows and what they have produced or won and if you have embryos or progeny available.
This should be updated with new pictures every summer when the cows are on grass and looking their best. You should take off the females no longer in the herd and update the information on the ones that are.

Herdsire page:
Here you will advertise the bulls you are currently breeding with, both A.I. and walking sires. It is important to show bulls that form the foundation of your herd, even if they are no longer in use. As long as they have a strong influence in the herd, they should be there.

Sale page:
In the winter you can use pictures of bulls you have available for sale and in the fall promote the females you have for sale.
After the sales you can turn this into a thankyou until you have pictures to promote the next sale season. You could picture the bull calves in the fall on grass and just use those for the winter. The beauty of a website is that what is there today can be changed for tomorrow. So bull calf pictures can be updated as you get better or more mature shots.

Past Accomplishments Page:
This page can just be added to continuously. It can contain previous winnings, sale high sellers, you sitting on association boards, the kids doing well at 4-H etc. This can be as simple or complex as you want to make it.
I do think it shows where you have come from and your conviction to the industry.

Contact:
Have your contact information, email, mailing address, phone numbers, etc., direction to the farm and a family picture so people can put a face to the name I would suggest we use www.yourfarmname.com for you web address. On any advertising you do, on your business cards, on your stall signs at shows etc., you should have this listed. Some people at shows won't want to or can't get to talk to you but like to be able to go online and anonymously see more of your program. It gives them a chance to get to know you better, to see if they want to do business with you.

Another point that I will stress is you must make sure to keep your site updated. Sites that are there for years without updates are not getting the traffic or the sales that could be generated if they were kept current.

Three times a year is the minimum and often enough to keep it interesting.

The other thing that is absolutely necessary is that you have high quality photos. Just like advertising or sale catalogue pictures, the ones that create interest and generate the most dollars are the cattle with the best pictures. You spend a lot of time and money raising these quality animals, don't fall short in presenting and promoting them by using second rate pictures.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to drop us an email or give us a call.

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For more information, contact:
Helge By 306-536-4261
Candace By 306-546-3940
Craig Scott 403-651-9441