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Do-It-Yourself Web Sites.

Top Producer September 4, 2005 Byline: John Phipps The Internet is now so old-hat that late-adopters can jump on board easily and cheaply. This stage of progress is one of the most enjoyable because most of the kinks have been unraveled by pioneering souls whose trails we can follow safely and rapidly to catch up.

When I began to look into Web site hosting services, I was shocked to find that (a) I was overpaying for my own Web site and (b) I was doing it the hard way. Building and maintaining a Web site for your farm or business is now a job that requires as little as an hour of time, no special skills (unless you count grammar) and literally no money-that’s right, you can have a free Web site.

To help readers take the leap, Top Producer reviewed several Web site hosting services and selected three to show how literally anyone who can read this page can build and maintain a Web site. The cost varies from $0 to around $200/year, a far cry from the $3,000 projects some farmers have outsourced to design firms.

We have constructed three sample sites that you can visit to see how it would work as well: www​.tptest1​.com, www​.tptest2​.com and www​.tptest3​.com. (If your Internet service is provided by Agristar or a similar satellite service, try the free tests at each hosting site first. I experienced time out errors because of a technical glitch on www​.1and1​.com.) First some ground rules: see here public domain images

* No whining about not being able to type. Nobody cares. I have been a professional writer for more than a decade without using 80% of my digits. If you have to, write out the information longhand first. Best of all, much of the content can be cut and pasted.

* Broadband is better. Shifting to broadband from dial-up is the single most helpful step for Internet beginners. Prices are coming down, availability is increasing, and the rewards are immense. Launching a Web site via dial-up is certainly possible, however.

* Stay in your comfort zone. Publish what you want when you want. Happily, you can proceed at your own pace, in the privacy of your own office. Web sites need not be elaborate, animated, nor dazzling. In fact, simple is better.

Getting started. You will need a domain name: www.something.xyz. Regardless of your hosting arrangements, your domain name will be registered with the Internet governing body (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers [ICAAN]). This is done automatically and usually complete within a few hours.

You will be asked to select both a domain name and a suffix. Tip: Go for a “dot-com” suffix. Other extensions– .net, .biz, .name, etc.-are becoming more commonplace, but the vast majority of people will assume your site ends in “com” when they have forgotten. Make finding your site as foolproof as possible.

Using your farm name is a great way to be memorable, especially if your farm also shares your family name. Have a plan B ready, though (maybe C, D and E). The hosting site will search to see if your proposed domain name is already taken.

Use short words or phrases. Avoid dashes, abbreviations and cute spellings. Remember, this is your e-business name and it will be hard to change later. For more naming advice, check the sources in the box below.

Prepare your content. Compose your message, gather biographical information, list your main points. Decide what images (if any) you want to use-and reduce them to manageable size. Use your photo handling software for this (I like Picasa2-a free download from Google​.com). Don’t make customers wait while an enormous picture loads.

Construction. Visit any of the three sites below to begin your design. Each has its own easy Web site builder program. The best way is to just plunge in-you can change everything later (and you will). Don’t feel like you have to use all the available pages, but definitely have a clear, inviting home page, an “About Us” page, and a “Contact” page.

Before you start your design, you will have several template choices. Select the best match for a traditional business like agriculture. Stay conservative on fonts and type sizes. Too large or unusual is like shouting, too small can be frustrating for readers with smaller monitors. Remember, you are not painting a barn-every square inch doesn’t need text.

Buy a digital camera. Start taking some pictures now-nothing has the impact of current photos in a Web site. You can also use appropriate public domain images that fit your Web site. Charts, such as yields or growth curves, can be powerful graphics, as well.

Stay involved. Think of your Web site as another field to be tended. Visit it at least weekly and refresh the content as often as possible. New photos, ideas, accomplishments, enterprises, etc. will draw visitors back and enhance your image as a timely manager. web site public domain images

What good is a farm Web site?

* Sales. Like it or not, we’re all in sales. Either we’re selling what we produce or what we can do (sidelines like trucking, drainage, excavation, etc.). A well-maintained Web site is like an always-current brochure that anyone in the world can pick up to learn about you. And it works 24/7.

* Communication. With new Web site services, anyone-really anyone-can update a site with fresh pictures, information, links, prices, etc. This means your cousin in California can stay active in the farm, promoting a stronger family and commercial interest. Your kids at college or a third-grade class in an urban area can see how things are going during the crop year. Best of all, you may never again have to give phone instructions on how to get to your farm!

* Visibility. To grow your operation, you need to stand out from the crowd. Careful construction will make your site pop up on major search engines like Google. If you don’t know what this means, don’t worry. The thing to know is that your service or product can achieve a name-brand status.

* Competitive position. Web sites will be a standard part of commercial farm operations in the future. Now it’s not much harder than using an ATM to access your bank account. Building a site demonstrates you are serious about keeping up with the leaders.

John Phipps, JohnWPhipps@direcway.com, farms near Chrisman, Ill Web Connection *www​.easy​-business​-websites​.com/​?​p​a​ge=17 Web site host reviews *www​.websitewizard​.com/​H​o​s​t​/​b​u​ilder *www​.websiteadvice​.net/ site advice *www​.davidweston​.com/​q​u​o​t​e​s.htm website advice *www​.webdisplays​.com/​g​u​i​d​e​-​w​e​b​-​d​e​s​i​g​n​-​t​i​p​s​-​t​u​t​o​r​i​a​l​-​h​e​l​p​/​c​o​m.htm domain name advice.

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