# Website platform



## Goats.galore (Feb 24, 2019)

We will be needing a website when we start selling our goats & I wanted yalls opinions on what platforms are the best. We’ve looked at Weebly & a couple others.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Wix seems like an easy set up.


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## OpieDoodle (Nov 15, 2015)

I may not have the most popular opinion here but here goes, as I have been toying around with the idea of a website for a while for our dogs (we are dog breeders). I also have a huge background in graphic and web design.

The big issue with websites is #1 looking professional. The biggest turn off for me for ANY business/breeder is a unprofessional looking website that is hard to use. Most of the "free" platforms are hard to make look professional, some even have ads on them trying to pull the people on your website elsewhere. I also highly recommend getting a unique URL, having it say like weebly.YOURNAMEHERE.com isn't always the most professional and makes it harder to search, URLs can be cheap or super expensive depending on what it is. On the flip side getting a website professionally made and made well is often expensive.

#2 issue: Social Media. We live in a time where pretty much everyone is on some form of social media. Its hard not to have a "business" without using it. A good portion of people will search social media before resorting to google to search for nearby breeders.

#3 Driving traffic to your website. How do you plan to bring people to your website. It often can be hard to end up on googles top search results so you'll want to make sure you're considering how to bring the traffic to your page. 

I'm not saying websites are completely worthless but you really need to consider if the time and money you'll put into it will be worth it in the long run. That will really be dependent on your business. Like if you're showing a lot and have your name out there a website would be a good idea because local people are already learning the name. If you're a smaller scale breeder it may not be worth it and it may be more beneficial to look at social media advertising.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Well, just like anything else, your website is your business, you have to advertise it these days to get optimum traffic. 

Web search engines like Google can assist there. In terms of the beast known as social media, it can be a life saver or killer. 

Wix.com and Go Daddy are nationally know website building services.


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## OpieDoodle (Nov 15, 2015)

Oh I agree they are the biggest names for website building services. I was more just speaking from my business background. You get out what you put into something. So from a business standpoint you need to consider what benefit you'll get to know what you should be willing to put into it. 

Me for example, a website wasn't worth it when I considered costs versus benefit for the dogs. Down the road I may make a website as I can do it myself very economically. 

I guess my point was make sure to consider what impact you're looking for and how much time, money, and effort you'll have to put into it to determine if it is worth it. Most "free" websites aren't worth your time, so the costs need to be considered. You can make a very professional looking website yourself, trust me! BUT there will still be costs in getting it running, and likely even a yearly/monthly charge for the URL.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

I use WordPress. It's free, and you don't have to use their name in your URL. However, we have to pay for hosting. Others like Weebly, etc. host your website for you I believe. The "cost" is that you advertise their name in your URL. 

Websites are nice because you can post what you want, including animal sale pages, without violating someone else's policy. It's also safer to put your real name and phone number on your own site instead of sticking it all over social media where it's more likely to get spread around to people outside your target audience. I personally don't like it when businesses only have a Facebook page because I don't use FB. I don't have an account so I have very limited access to most things there, including supposedly "public" pages. I've never even looked at Twitter or Instagram so I don't know how to "follow" someone there either. Websites are nice for us "old skool" fogies who shun the more modern, be-tentacled forms of social media.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

OpieDoodle said:


> Oh I agree they are the biggest names for website building services. I was more just speaking from my business background. You get out what you put into something. So from a business standpoint you need to consider what benefit you'll get to know what you should be willing to put into it.
> 
> Me for example, a website wasn't worth it when I considered costs versus benefit for the dogs. Down the road I may make a website as I can do it myself very economically.
> 
> I guess my point was make sure to consider what impact you're looking for and how much time, money, and effort you'll have to put into it to determine if it is worth it. Most "free" websites aren't worth your time, so the costs need to be considered. You can make a very professional looking website yourself, trust me! BUT there will still be costs in getting it running, and likely even a yearly/monthly charge for the URL.


Im with this 100%.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Damfino said:


> I use WordPress. It's free, and you don't have to use their name in your URL. However, we have to pay for hosting. Others like Weebly, etc. host your website for you I believe. The "cost" is that you advertise their name in your URL.
> 
> Websites are nice because you can post what you want, including animal sale pages, without violating someone else's policy. It's also safer to put your real name and phone number on your own site instead of sticking it all over social media where it's more likely to get spread around to people outside your target audience. I personally don't like it when businesses only have a Facebook page because I don't use FB. I don't have an account so I have very limited access to most things there, including supposedly "public" pages. I've never even looked at Twitter or Instagram so I don't know how to "follow" someone there either. Websites are nice for us "old skool" fogies who shun the more modern, be-tentacled forms of social media.


LOL Old Skool fogies..hahaha


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

:haha:


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## Goats.galore (Feb 24, 2019)

Thank y’all!! We don’t have Facebook(too much drama & bleh) but we have talked about making a business page & a website. I will take all this into consideration.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

It really is a drama filled cess pool, that said its very easy to link with other farms.  Sounds like yall have plan. Do it Texas size!


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

MadCatX said:


> It really is a drama filled cess pool


My husband calls Facebook "The endlessly flushing toilet".

He still has an account there but I ditched mine almost ten years ago. Couldn't take the drama, and to be honest their tracking algorithms, their security breaches, and their intentional selling of personal data to third parties were creeping me out even back then. I hear it's even worse now.


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## OpieDoodle (Nov 15, 2015)

I will say I get a LOT of business with breeding animals through facebook. So it is valuable around me but not all markets are the same. The hardest part if you aren't already active on facebook tho is trying to keep it active and regularly post. My farm page I struggle to post updates often enough.


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## Goats.galore (Feb 24, 2019)

If we decide to get a business Facebook page we will post regularly & hopefully avoid the daily drama lol


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