The following article describes how to build a web site for a successful on-farm business, but the many of the same principles hold true for building any successful web site for online business.

From The Progressive Farmer | March 2008

http://www.progressivefarmer.com/websites

While you can advertise or rely on word of mouth, the best way to increase your visibility and attract visitors to an agritourism business is to have a presence on the Internet.

Although the results may not be quite as dramatic for every web site, Darla McElwee, owner/farmer of Magnolia Farms in Live Oak, Fla., credits her web site with saving her business. “If I didn’t get the web site, I probably wouldn’t be in business right now,” she says. “It was that impactful for me. The web site tripled or quadrupled the number of visitors to us.”

McElwee’s web site helped generate traffic from schools, scout groups and other visitors, and has even boosted membership of her CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) with an online registration form.

“It puts you on the map,” she says. “If you’re interested in agritourism, this is the way to go.”

“It’s just like your storefront,” says Jane Eckert, president of Eckert Agrimarketing and Farm Web Design.

A web site will represent your farm all day, every day, featuring your products, business hours, ripening season, special events and even offering directions, making a presence on the Internet an essential way to reach a broad audience.

“Most people think, ‘If [a farm] can’t even have a web presence, they must not have much to offer,'” adds Eckert.

Getting started

There are several ways to go about creating a web site. Here are the basics: You’ll need a domain name (the actual web address of your site), hosting (how the information on your site is presented to someone on the Internet), and a design (how your site looks, navigation between the pages, images, etc.).

First, choose a domain name that will not only represent your business, but one that will also withstand the test of time. “Choosing the right address for your web site is very similar to choosing a site for your farm—it needs to be flexible for any future changes you may make,” says Simon Huntley, lead designer of Small Farm Central.

There are many sites that allow you to search for and purchase available domain names, such as www.namecheap.com and www.google.com, and the costs are minimal—about $10 to hold your domain name for a year.

Next, choose a hosting plan. “Hosting is like to choosing a tractor: The type and power of tractor you choose dictates the implements you can utilize later,” says Huntley, and it’s the same with a web site.

As with domain names, there are many reliable and inexpensive hosts for your web site, and prices can range anywhere from $5 to $20 per month, depending on the size of your site and the options you choose.

Some sites, such as www.godaddy.com and www.uplinkearth.com, offer both domain names as well as hosting services. There are also web sites that offer comprehensive plans along with user-friendly design tools that allow you to create a basic web site, such as www.smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting or www.hostgator.com. Prices range from $5 to $20 per month, and sometimes incur a one-time startup fee.

If this sounds like a lot of work, another option is to go with a full-service firm like Farm Web Design or Small Farm Central that will create, design and maintain your web site for you. Prices vary: For a basic web site from Farm Web Design, expect to pay around $1,195 for a domain, hosting and maintenance for a year, plus a custom-designed web site, including content specially written for you based on a survey of what you’d like your web site to accomplish.

Small Farm Central operates differently—instead of getting a from-scratch web site designed only for your farm, you choose from three templates, which can all be customized to fit your specifications for content, colors, images and more.

For $20 per month, payable in six- or 12-month increments, you get a web site (domain, hosting, customizable design) and an easy-to-use content management system that allows you to update a photo gallery, current products, surveys and even a blog.

Then there are extras. Farm Web Design offers a newsletter service where they’ll set your web site up with online subscriptions and design an e-mail newsletter for you, including the writing.

This is a good way to inform those who visit your farm and web site regularly on what’s being harvested or of any special events you have planned.

Both companies offer e-commerce, the ability to sell products online, for an added fee, which varies depending on the amount of products sold.

Finally, you can look for a local web designer that can work with you face to face to help put together your site.

Eckert suggests trying a local college or your local chamber of commerce for recommendations. “Look at other local web sites, call up the owners, and ask them who designed their web site,” she says, adding that it’s essential to do your homework.

“Investigate before you sign a contract, get references, etc., so you can be assured the web site designer will follow through.”

See next page for more essential web site information.

After your debut

Once your web site is live, it can take some time before your site has regular visitors, but there are things you can do to increase traffic right away.

Let your customers know. Send an e-mail with a link to your site to all your current customers and friends. You can even include your web address on your business cards and in your e-mail signature.

Submit your site. “Google will find you and your content over time, but it is a good idea to submit your site when you first release your site into the wild,” says Huntley. (Visit www.google.com/addurl/ to add your site to Google’s search engine.)

List your site. Sites like LocalHarvest.com and New Farm’s Farm Locator (www.newfarm.org/farmlocator/) increase your web site’s visibility. If there are other local online directories that exist in your state or region, list your site there too.

Make connections. Ask your local chamber of commerce, farmer’s market web sites, member/customer blogs, farming associations you belong to and local farmer friends if they’ll add a link to your site from theirs.

Web Site Essentials

Now that you’re interested in a web site, here’s what your basic site should include:

• Contact information and directions. Nothing will frustrate visitors to your site more than not being able to easily locate your contact information. If possible, include your phone number and e-mail address on each page of your site. (And make sure you check the e-mail address at least once a week.)
• Photography. “Photos are the first thing that people look at when they look at a farm web site,” says Simon Huntley, lead designer of Small Farm Central. “Get a nice, cheap digital camera—you can get one for $100. Take photos, upload them and just make it a habit. Not only is it good for marketing, but it’s good for the farmers to get a look over the years.”
• Navigation. Make sure your site is easy to navigate, from page to page, and that you can return to the home page easily from anywhere on your site.
• Your specialties. Make sure your web site includes your seasonal hours, what you’re growing, when you’ll be harvesting, etc. An “About Us” page is also a great way to highlight the things that you’re passionate about and tell your visitors what you do well.