Issues With Starting and
Maintaining a Web Site
For Your Farm
Don Day
Ag. Eng./Info. Tech. Spec.
University Outreach and Extension
Top ten reasons for having a
web site:
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10. I don’t have enough to do
otherwise.
9. My neighbor has one.
8. Sales have been down lately.
7.
My grandson did it, why can’t I?
6. I wanted an excuse to update my
computer.
Top ten reasons for having a
web site:
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5. I wanted an excuse to purchase
some neat equipment.
4. I have all the equipment, why not?
3. Everybody needs a web page.
2. The only way I can sell my cattle
is over the web.
1. I can make a fool of myself faster
over a wider area.
Starting the Web Site

What type of web site?
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Information only
Business Card
 Business Card Plus
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Advertising and Marketing
Farmer’s Market
 ShoMe Farms
 Missouri Whitetail

Type of Web Site
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Catalog

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Hummert
Auction
Ebay
 Farm Auctions
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Selling

Westerns
What Do You Need?
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Computer
Internet Service Provider
Software
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Web editing
FTP
Photo editing
Digital camera
Scanner
More Important
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Time
Skills
Design
 Page Editing

What Makes a Good Web
Site?
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Design Useful Pages
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Know your audience - What will they
use your page for?
Content - Is it content that they
want?
Timely, current and relevant
Accurate and trustworthy
Appropriate links for your farm
What Makes a Good Web
Site?
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Design for Readability
Design for Attractiveness
Design for Easy Understanding
Design for Efficiency
Design to Meet Your Goals
Don’t Use Every New Development
Examples of Bad Pages
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Site 1
Site 2
Examples taken from:
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Webpagesthatsuck.com
Other Issues
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Domain name
Marketing your site
Search engine placement
Are you prepared to handle
increased business?
International Sales?
Respond rapidly
Do It Yourself or Hire
Someone?
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Your Skills
Your Time
Web Developer:
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What services
Maintenance
Fees
Look at their work
Experience
Staff
Web Developer
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Content and graphics
Host
Statistics
What if they go out of business?
How easy are they to work with?
Top Ten Reasons to Have a
Web Site
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10.
I want to have a presence for my
business on the web.
9.
I want to be listed with other like
businesses.
8.
I want to expand the area where I sell
products.
7.
I want share information on farming
with others.
6.
I think this might be a way to pursue a
value-added enterprise.
Top Ten Reasons to Have a
Web Site

5. I need to do this to remain
competitive
Don Day
Ag. Eng./Info. Tech. Spec.
Boone University Outreach and Extension Center
1012 N. Highway UU
Columbia, MO 65203
(573)445-9792, ext. 310
Daydr@missouri.edu
http://outreach.missouri.edu/boone