Do You Need a Website?

Your dream client is reading the ads. She wants to take riding lessons or get help with her horse, or maybe she’s even thinking about getting a horse and has heard horror stories. She wants to buy the right horse and get help with him. She doesn’t have a clue where to start, so she uses the skills she has — she turns to the web. After reading the local horse newspaper, she scouts out the trainers with a website listed in their ad. That helps to narrow the search. Without a website, you’re out of the running, even if you otherwise are the best-qualified trainer for her.

But you may be trusting in word-of-mouth advertising or the quality of your reputation. After all, you did win that big competition last year, and you did coordinate a bar-b-que for the local humane society, so everyone knows you. Don’t they? They may, but they may not have any idea what your specialty is or that you are the right trainer for them. That’s where a well-written website can make all the difference. You have a chance to tell them your story – what’s important for them to know.

Okay. So you’ve been thinking that you ought to have a website, and this just confirms it. No sense paying for ads that don’t get answered. Experts tell us the statistics are overwhelming in terms the percentage of people who check someone out online before they do business with them. So you’ll call the computer guy in town who advertises a 24-hour turnaround website.

A few years ago, that would have been adequate. In our fast-paced world, just having a website won’t get the results you want. You have to be found when people Google you, and that takes some work, as I’ll explain in a minute.

It used to be that if you moved to town and drove by a church that looked inviting, you’d call to see what time services were (if the sign or Yellow Pages ad didn’t tell you). Then you’d show up for a service to see what if that church was a good match for you. Not these days. Overwhelmingly, people moving into an area check out local churches online before deciding where they’ll visit.

It’s even harder to be a horse trainer than a church. At least churches are listed by known denominations, and they even have their own section of many newspapers. Horse trainers, on the other hand, aren’t listed in one central place, since few trainers pay for a Yellow Pages listing. And unless your farm is easily visible from a main road, your potential client has to work to find you (such as finding your card among 60 others on a crowded tack shop bulletin board).

That’s why it’s important that your website not only represent you well, but includes “keywords” — the words that people are most likely to put into a search engine. You don’t want to show up on Google page 146 for horse trainers. No one’s going to look through that many pages. You want to get found right away, and for the reasons that are specific to you. Your clients will be looking for someone who trains jumpers or racking horses, teaches adult beginners, is a 4-H leader, or who barrel races.

So the answer to our lead question is, "Yes. In most cases you do need a website, but it has to be one that really serves you, not just a brochure in cyberspace."

For the answer to the second part, "Where do I begin?" You can begin by clicking here. That will take you to an explanation of the web services that I use and the reasons why I recommend it.