# websites- what do you like?



## tallgirl (Oct 15, 2009)

So I'm thinking of making a website, and wanted to know what you all thought was the most important things to include. What *do* you like, and maybe a few pet peeves of what you *don't* like. What do you think?


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

someone did a topic like this before but I havent tried to fine it 

I like seeing where the farm is located -- basic location that is, like Im in Atco NJ 

Pet peeves -- no contact information, no separate pages for bucks does, no information about the farm or the owners etc (I like info )

Try to have pedigree -- number of kiddings, good pictures, pros and cons about your goat.

Also keep it updated and have a place where you give the date you last updated. So that people know the website is current. When I was first looking for goats I would find websites that looked great but then woudl realize they said "last updated XXX" and it was 1-2 years prior, so I knew that information was probably not accurate. But then I would go to other places and couldnt tell. It wastes my time if I go through the effort to contact the people and look through their site only to not get a response or find out they are out of goats. (so if you sell out -- please put that on your site too)


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I think Stacey said everything I like to see in a website. I too have looked through a website and really liked the goats...email them and they no longer have goats! I like to see a frequently updated site...like at least twice a month. I like lots of information and one or two pictures per goat is usually enough. I've seen some website with like 8 pictures of one goat and it is to much, imo. I think another important thing is to put your location on the front page. Sometimes you can look through the entire website until you finally find the location. I also have a seperate "contact page" so it's easy to get ahold of me.

I've been working on getting my website finished to where I want it, but it's going to take some time cause I have so many goats, but for goat pages I want to have:

Good set up side view of the goat (shaved if possible)
Udder shots (2 is usually good)
Birthdate
Kidding History
Pedigree
What association they are registered with. 

Hope that helps a little!


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

good pictures!
---you arent doing your goats any good by having terrible snapshots. my 2 cents
informations
---location, why your raising, if you show
other pics
--- i think its neat when they show pics of where theyre at or, set-ups


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Everyone said it all..... :greengrin: :wink: :thumbup:


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## tallgirl (Oct 15, 2009)

Good points. Thanks for the input!


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## TXsouthrngrl (Sep 25, 2009)

Even though I'm still new to goats I have checked out a lot of sites lately, I really like pics of where the goats are kept, barn, etc...nothing major but a brief view. I also like an about me page. It's nice to know that you are a person who enjoys your goats and not just a goat selling machine.

Ease of movement in your site is also good. I like sites that have the links to the other areas on every page, not just a home page button.

Ummm, what else...Oh and some one said it earlier but where you are located is good to have on your home page. Nothing is more irritating than searching just trying to find out where the person is. You see all these nice goats and then find out they are on the other side of the world 4 pages later.

And yes an updated on such and such a date is REALLY good to know.

Everyone else touched on the "professional" points (which I'm still far from learning) but thought you might like a newbies point of view...lol

Oh and I saw a few sites that had a "goat tips" page which were helpful. Even the smallest thing can help out beginners and earn respect. Pictures in your goat tips is a major plus to me as I'm a visual learner.

I've been researching LGD's lately so if you have one or experience with them, that might be a good thing to put in.

Also look into the web rings which promote each others sites but watch out whos in them as one bad apple messes up the whole barrel.

Well you asked so I threw my 2 cents in.... :shrug:


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## nutmegfarm (Dec 23, 2009)

I agree with most of what was said. I like seeing "professional" type pictures (goat setup properly, trimmed, clean, not like it just rolled in off the field in 6 inches of mud!!! huge pet peeve) I also like to see a little info on the farm, who runs it, etc. Show results are nice if you show. A seperate kidding chart is nice so you don't have to root through all the doe info to find pricing and info. Thats just my opinion though...

-Meagan

http://nutmegfarm.webs.com/


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## trefoilqueen (Sep 28, 2010)

I like to see websites that stay on topic and are clean I have seen quite a few goat sites that have lots of animated gifs of good morning and smiling faces, while I can see their use on a forum like this where the conversation is ongoing on a website they are distracting


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

I've been working on a website too so this information has been helpful! I agree with most of what's been said so far. :thumb: 

1. IMO you shouldn't put all your pictures of all your goats on one page. It looks cluttered and it's hard to sift through. Put 1 good side picture of each doe on your "does" page, and say the most basic things about her to the right of her picture (or wherever looks the best). Then link to a separate page for each doe, where you have more information, extended pedigree, kidding history, and/or more pictures. That way people can see all your does at a glance, and if they are more interested in one they can visit her page to find out more about her. Same thing for bucks and "for sale" goats. I hope that makes sense. :chin:

2. One thing I really like for each goat is a table pedigree, as opposed to a simple list of "S, D, SS, SD," etc. It's SO much nicer looking and easier to analyze.

3. If you can, include pictures of dam's udder and SD's udder on each buck's personal page. Careful not to clutter up the pages though!

Some things I don't like:
- Lack of an extended pedigree (or lack of pedigree altogether!)
- Poor pictures (they're better than no pictures though!)
- Words between pictures with no clear distinction so you don't know to which picture they belong
- A bunch of "sold" goats mixed up with the "for sale" goats. This is okay if the word "SOLD" is visible at a glance - and they aren't left there too long.

Hope this helps...


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## Polarhug (Jul 1, 2010)

Try not to make a SLOW Loading website! I navigate away from those (impatient I guess!)

Nice clean pics but not too big - maybe click to enlarge? See 1st comment lol.

An "About Us" Section. Love those!

A "Fun Pics Page" 

A section with updated news or a blog about what is happening on your farm in the last month. I hate going to websites that haven't been updated since 2005....


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## GoldenSeal (Sep 14, 2010)

I like this topic. Gives an idea of what the buyer likes to see on a goat website. Thanks for the ideas and asking this question.

HUGE pet peeve. Spelling mistakes or run-on sentences! Blah! I see it so often and you have to re-read again to figure out what they're trying to say.


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## tracyqh (Aug 9, 2010)

Your homepage should be basically short. Contact info, address, maybe a short mission statement or slogan. Make the links quick and easy to find without having to scroll down the pages. I agree with all the "cutiesy" stuff. Leave it to the the forum, not a webpage. Also, scale your pics down to web friendly pixels with photoshop or something. If you're pics take a long time to load or they are huge, people get turned off. Remember, your webpage is the 1st impression. keep it neat and updated.


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

i agree, i do not like animations and clip art on sites


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## Mully (Jun 23, 2009)

Make sure all page links work ...it is so very annoying to click on an image or text and get a dead link. To help you draw out the site on paper... home page (images and links) this way you will know how many pages to make and on paper you can make boxes for pages and link them with lines ....helps the thinking process


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## GoatGirlMO (Aug 13, 2010)

I've been maintaining our website for 5 years now and it is nearly a full-time chore. Ours is fairly large as we have several species that we produce. Not every page needs a lot of updates, but in order to make it as clear as possible, we do small updates nearly every day. We have a LOT of information about our dogs on their pages, too much, perhaps, but we feel that it is a simple way for people to get all their questions answered. 

A few tips that I've followed:

No picture is better than a bad one. I prefer to not even add an animal on the site until I have a good picture, but occasionally I get one that I feel really needs to go on ASAP ( a new buck, awesome new pedigree, etc.). When that happens, I put a full description of the goat and add "Picture coming soon!" Better to have someone leave the site with no impression, then to have them see a bad picture and be left with a bad impression. 

I like to have one good set-up picture of the animal, either at a show or at least clipped and presented, as well as a field picture.Don't just go out and snap a pic-- planning on sitting in the field for an hour or so. They can look really, really impressive when they stand themselves-- you want people to see how nice they look without human intervention. 

Check out the site on a few different computers-- the library, or several friends. Sometimes the formatting looks fine on your computer but is wonky on others. 

Similar to above-- try not to use regular text as a caption for photos. Most site builders have a way to attach text to a photo so the caption stays permanently with the photo. If you don't, the text might get separated strangely.

Have a few friends who like to surf and are grammatically inclined scan over the site every few months. They can send you an email with suggestions on things that are grammatically incorrect or just don't sound right, as well as notify you about broken links. Bonus if they are very familiar with your herd/farm-- they can catch silly mistakes. 

Ask for feedback, feedback, feedback-- the public is your way of knowing what is good and what is bad. If anyone comments on it, thank them and ask if there is anything they would like to see changed. And don't change it for a single person-- make sure that the majority feel the same way. We had one lady who wanted us to put all the information about our dogs on the homepage-- she didn't want to have to click on links to go to another page. Unfortunate for her, but we can't/won't change it. 

Someone mentioned this above-- put the links to every major page on every page of the site. It makes things much nicer for those surfing.


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## Kfin (Jun 23, 2010)

This is all some good stuff. I just added all of these suggestions to my site . Thanks :clap:


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Kassie....you did a wonderful job on your site! Looks great!


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

yes I agree, your site looks very clean and VERY professional


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## Bellafire Farm (Jan 5, 2010)

I absolutely LOVE this post!

And I absolutely LOVE Kidding's Website noted above! Looks gorgeous, beautiful pics...love the title logo... just very clean and nice!


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## Kfin (Jun 23, 2010)

Thanks for the compliments on my site  . I LOVE to do websites. I have done close to about 50 now. I make a website for just about anything and everything lol. I personally have like 7 sites :type: its a lot of work to keep them all up to date, but I enjoy it. I just can't wait to get some kids on the ground so I can start getting new pictures on my site, better ones


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## Kfin (Jun 23, 2010)

Oh and you know whats funny, the little kid on the home page was not a lamancha, I purchased the picture from a stock photo website then I removed the ears and put my Padme's ears on the kid to make it look like a Lamancha, I think it was an alpine kid, its temp just until I have some kids next year so I can get my own picture up there. :slapfloor:


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

YOU'RE KIDDING!!!

that's a really great photoshop job, didn't even notice.


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## Kfin (Jun 23, 2010)

Lol yes I even surprised myself at how well it came out. Here is a link to the original kid 
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-kid-image2307009

Just a little blending and cropping and color editing and I got a Lamancha kid lol


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

lol too cool
I can do that with my program, just never would have thought of it


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