website

[judge0707]

i need a website. Any suggestions on people to go thru? Is it stupid to try to do it yourself?

 

[gocanes719]

I use Stephanie Cronin.  I have been really pleased.  You can look at mine @ www.Turnerclubcalves.com    She also does Caldwell's Austin's, Meier's,Dunk and a few other nice sites.  She is great to work with and I think she is fair on the price for the qulaity work she does.

 

[TJ]

A good friend of mine & I are going to be designing websites soon & we are going to offer real good deals to start out. 

I hired someone to design a site for me last summer, but they passed away before it got started good.  MY friend wanted to build a site for himself & he knew that I was in a bind,  so he began to study & learn html, java script, css, etc.  He's still learning, but he's pretty good at it now.  He actually designed his own site, "railroadkeys.com", without any type of site building program whatsoever!!  He is ex-special forces (Army Ranger/Secrect Service) & he has had a lot of advanced specialized trainning, so learning how to manually build websites, without a cheat program, was a piece of cake for him.  I helped him a little his website & he is now helping me redo & finish my site.  We ran into serious snag making the buttons change colors because the original designer had several of the files on her computer & we couldn't access them, so we had to do some serious "custom enigneering", we couldn't just make the buttons load, we had to make the entire picture reload which is the hard way.  But, we have learned a great deal because of it.  Also, we recently purchased some software programs to help speed up our productivity.   

My site is in the early construction stage, but I am currently ranked #1 in the yahoo search engine for the keyword "lowlines", despite 100's of Lowline breeders in the USA & Australia having well established sites.     I'm also currently #3 in Google for "raising lowlines" & 60 something people visited my page a couple weekends ago because they found my site by using that search phrase on Google.  Just remember, anybody can put together a website & get it online, but very few people can get their site ranked on the first page, in several search engines, for several primary keywords or phrases, while their site is still in the construction stage!!  If nobody can find your website once it's complete, what good is it?  Just like with any advertising, traffic volume is the key.     

I've got a lot going on until March 16 & I have been spending most of my free time experimenting with some of the new programs that we purchased, so I haven't devoted too much time writing my text or gathering pictures, etc. & because of that, most of the content that currently have on my webpages was just thrown onto the site just to give people something to look at.  If you look at the composite page... we did all of that in about 30 minutes, including my writing the paragraphs from scratch, so it was real "quickie."  It's nowhere near the finished product.   

With all that in mind, you can check out my site @ www.kylowline.com  Just remember to check back every week between now and about March 20th to see the changes.

My buddies site is www.railroadkeys.com   He just wanted a simple basic website & his website more than serves it's purpose.  I'm more worried about design & he's more concerned about the technical stuff, which you can see from his website. 

If you would like a quote... send me a PM.  I'll do it for about 1/2 what my orginal designer was going to charge me & she was giving me a serious discount to help her get started.  About the only way you will get it done any cheaper is if you do it yourself or you can talk a friend or family member into doing it for you. 





   

 

[aj]

I went through edje technologies. I just sent them pictures and stuff and they throwed it together. I was impressed but I am computer illiterate. It was like 425$ setup and like 125$ quarterly update. I think the website is cost effective advertisement. Mine has been up two days.sodhousecattleco.com ;D

 

[TJ]

I'm going to be charging MUCH less than $425 & I think that I can do a pretty good job, especially starting from scratch. 

BTW, getting the pics & writing the info about the pics is the hard part & it is by far the most time consuming...   

 

[AAOK]

I've had mine hosted at Club Calves for several years.  Janey does a good job, but long distant changes are always a problem.

I office at two different Technology Centers in Oklahoma.  Both schools have a person in their Business & Industry sector devoted to assisiting Small Businesses.  Much of what they do is host, design and instruct in building/maintaining websites.  Most States have a similar setup in thier Community/Junior Colleges.  These people are local, and paid by the state, so there is no charge for anything they do other than tuition for classes you might want to take.  Look into it.

 

[DL]

I went through edje technologies. I just sent them pictures and stuff and they throwed it together. I was impressed but I am computer illiterate. It was like 425$ setup and like 125$ quarterly update. I think the website is cost effective advertisement. Mine has been up two days.sodhousecattleco.com ;D

I'm with you aj - I really like EDJE - I told them what I wanted and they did it - they make changes additions fast and there is never an issue if you want something changed ....I've had it for some number of years and am very pleased

i have a friend who found a program to do her own website without knowing html etc it is pretty easy - I'll try to find the link 

 

[shorthorns r us]

we do our own.  ours are through yahoo for $20 a month.

 

[TJ]

we do our own.  ours are through yahoo for $20 a month.

If I was going to do it all myself, didn't want to spend much money up front (wanted to spread it out), if I didn't know what I was doing & if I just wanted a website, I would go with Yahoo.  Here is a link to a Lowline friend of mines website that he threw together in just a few hours on Yahoo's site builder, with absolutely no prior experience...

http://www.rivercityfarmsmo.com/

He loves it, but over a 2 year time period, he's going to spend $480... which I can beat, easily... webhosting, domain name, design & all.

 

[TJ]

I went through edje technologies. I just sent them pictures and stuff and they throwed it together. I was impressed but I am computer illiterate. It was like 425$ setup and like 125$ quarterly update. I think the website is cost effective advertisement. Mine has been up two days.sodhousecattleco.com ;D

I'm with you aj - I really like EDJE - I told them what I wanted and they did it - they make changes additions fast and there is never an issue if you want something changed ....I've had it for some number of years and am very pleased

At a rate of $425 just to set up 1 page & an additional $125 to update that page (quarterly)... EDJE better be awful good!! 

 

[justintime]

My wife quit her job last October and has been doing websites, sale catalogs and breed magazines ever since. She is loving it and gets to work at home. Her website is www.ricochetwebdesign.com.  She is pretty good at doing websites if I may say so myself ( I may be a little barn blind! lol)

When she quit her job, she was unsure how much work would come in but it has been very steady. She has lots to do in the spring, fall and winter and should have lots of more free time  in the summer.... just the way she wants it! If you are interested in getting a quote, contact her at [email protected]  Her name is Chris.

 

[ZNT]

If you have decent computer knowledge, using Frontpage or Publisher can save you a ton of money.  My wife designed our website using Frontpage.  I am very happy with it, especially since it is maintained by us, we can update it as often as we want, sometimes daily when we are getting fall borns in and ready to sell.  We would have to pay someone a small fortune to put new pictures up every few days.  Of course, our website has been a work in progress.  As we learn new skills and features, we try to incorporate them into the site.  We are hoping to have a completely revamped site in the next few months.  Our site is www.zntcattle.com.

We also save quite a bit by going through Godaddy.com.  I am not sure what the domain cost was, but we spend $3.99/month to keep the site.  I think the domain was $20 or so.

So if you are willing to do a LOT of trial and error, and are good with computers, I would sure give making your own site a shot.  We are just getting used to Microsoft Publisher, and my wife has already designed flyers and magazine ads for our Private Treaty sale this spring, along with postcards that were printed with VistaPrinting for just the cost of shipping.  Next to try out with Publisher is a new web look.  Wish us luck!

 

[JSchroeder]

If you do your own site...

1 - Sign up with Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics).  It will provide you with extremely detailed traffic information including extremely 'cool' maps showing you where your visitors are coming from.  It's free and not very hard to setup at all.

2 - Use some of the money you save to advertise your cattle with Adwords.

 

[TJ]

I threw this together tonight just playing around a bit.  This wasn't hard to do at all & it could actually be a working home page with working links right now, if it was published. 

TJ

 

[DL]

I went through edje technologies. I just sent them pictures and stuff and they throwed it together. I was impressed but I am computer illiterate. It was like 425$ setup and like 125$ quarterly update. I think the website is cost effective advertisement. Mine has been up two days.sodhousecattleco.com ;D

I'm with you aj - I really like EDJE - I told them what I wanted and they did it - they make changes additions fast and there is never an issue if you want something changed ....I've had it for some number of years and am very pleased

At a rate of $425 just to set up 1 page & an additional $125 to update that page (quarterly)... EDJE better be awful good!! 

I guess it depends a bit on how you want to spend your time - I could change the oil in my tractor, I could change a tire on my skid steer, I could hang my own gates and I could learn to do my own web site - I don't want to. Doing it doesn't flip my minnow and my time is worth money - if I spend a ton of time not doing my job but doing something a pro could do in 10 minutes  - I am, in the long run, losing money. I think EDJE is awfully good - TJ - if you think those prices are high you should look at some of the other sites- and last I knew a link to some of the sites was $400 - I think you also need to consider traffic - if you are hooked with an ag server you will be listed in their various categories...JMO

 

[BCCC]

DL whats your website?

 

[TJ]

I went through edje technologies. I just sent them pictures and stuff and they throwed it together. I was impressed but I am computer illiterate. It was like 425$ setup and like 125$ quarterly update. I think the website is cost effective advertisement. Mine has been up two days.sodhousecattleco.com ;D

I'm with you aj - I really like EDJE - I told them what I wanted and they did it - they make changes additions fast and there is never an issue if you want something changed ....I've had it for some number of years and am very pleased

At a rate of $425 just to set up 1 page & an additional $125 to update that page (quarterly)... EDJE better be awful good!! 

I guess it depends a bit on how you want to spend your time - I could change the oil in my tractor, I could change a tire on my skid steer, I could hang my own gates and I could learn to do my own web site - I don't want to. Doing it doesn't flip my minnow and my time is worth money - if I spend a ton of time not doing my job but doing something a pro could do in 10 minutes  - I am, in the long run, losing money. I think EDJE is awfully good - TJ - if you think those prices are high you should look at some of the other sites- and last I knew a link to some of the sites was $400 - I think you also need to consider traffic - if you are hooked with an ag server you will be listed in their various categories...JMO

DL, I don't disagree. 

$425 really isn't all that much, especially compared to most full page magazine ad's done in color.  I think that my reaction was due to the fact that I was going to get mine designed for quite a bit less than that & I thought that the person designing mine, was doing an excellent job.  Also, I was planning to do them cheaper than what she was going to do mine for.  Regardless, I probably don't need to be designing anything until after March 16 & I'd like to have mine completely done first to use as an example.           

Also, I agree that traffic is a BIG factor, because if people don't see your site, it's doing you no good to have one & that's the usually the problem with a lot of the "do it yourself" sites.  However, if you can get your site listed on the first few pages of Yahoo & Google for mutilple search phrases, you will get plenty of traffic.  Besides, there are plenty of AG related sites that will allow you to place a free link to your site, including most breed associations that you belong to. 

 

[the_resa86]

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations on where to go for free website hosting.  I know how to design the page but am looking to get it up on the web for free, rather than having to pay for a domain name.

 

[shortyisqueen]

Just like with any advertising, traffic volume is the key.     

This can be true, but usually...its not. The essence of good advertising is that not only people see it, but that it strikes a chord with them that makes them react to it. Thousands of people drive by hundreds of billboards every day, but because they don't connect with billboard's message, they don't remember it and they don't buy. With a website, its even more difficult - Instead of just situating your advertising where someone might happen to go by, you have to actively draw them to it. That's tough!

Being good at advertising is knowing your product, your image and most importantly, your audience. In advertising-speak, it is good to think about your "unique selling propositon." If you end up doing your website yourself, thinking about this will help you. Who are you selling to? How old are they and where do they live? What about your product will they find appealing? Having a page geared towards a club calf audience if you aim to sell 200 commercial bulls will do you absolutely no good. Having a page with tiny type if your audience is over 60 won't do you any good either. Having a page with an extremely long loading times will turn off more of your audience than it brings in. This is likely why you find web pages done by professionals such as Ranch House Designs, Stephanie Cronin and others appealing. These people have done the research and they make money off their ability to solve communications problems for their clients. Simply being able to piece together a web page is not enough. Connection with the audience, not traffic alone, is what translates into sales. As an advertising genius once said, "if you invest in your brand from the beginning, it will pay dividends forever.'

This doesn't mean you have to spend a tonne and go through the roof with your budget, but sometimes a little piece of mind is worth alot. The brilliant thing about advertising is that some of the best, most memorable campaigns were done on a shoe-string budget. If you get it right the first time, it can be the easiest sell you never had to make.

 

[aj]

It looks like to me the keys to traffic may be 1.Being googled easily and 2.having links.    The google deal is interesting to me(almost scary). It is amazing what you can google up. I googled durham reds and got 250,000 results. There are a couple of durham red breeders that googled in the first page of results. How did they do that? Is it guerilla marketing? I would think naming a ranch would have marketing issues. How many diamond d outfits are there out there. How do you differentiate your product? How do you do phrases to get your site googled. Will it change over the years? Could you put a bussiness card size ad in your breed magazine with only your website address on it. I think you could. You could get your web site address out there and then let the website do your sales pitch. Marketing can be a honorable proffession. I once heard Jim Leachman do a KLA program. He said teachers, preachers,  and mothers are marketers. They try and market ideas and concepts. Interesting topic I think.