Web sites....

[OH Breeder]

When you go to a web site to look at the calves let me ask you all something-
I am looking to put one together and I noted a couple of things.

Music....do you really want music or do you find it annoying? I kind of find it annoying.

PIctures... do yo spend time taking good ones of your calves or just snap them in their natural enviroment. Some folks like to see things raw.
Do you like video clips of the calves? Personally like that. Think that is nice way to see if they are sound.

What do you think?

 

[TJ]

I vote no music. 

I also think that a mixture of pictures is good... a few really dolled up ones & a few in their "working clothes".  However, when you take pics in their natural enviornment for your website, make sure that they are all still pretty good pics of the animals & that they never show the animal "in a bad light".  Supposedly, a pic says a 1000 words, so don't let one say 1000 bad things about your cattle.  Anyway, that is just my humble opinion.

I can also recommend a good web-designer whose rates are reasonable.  They are working on one for me right now & so far, I am well pleased!!  Gotta get them more info so they can finish it!! 

TJ

 

[Doc]

When you go to a web site to look at the calves let me ask you all something-
I am looking to put one together and I noted a couple of things.

Music....do you really want music or do you find it annoying? I kind of find it annoying.

PIctures... do yo spend time taking good ones of your calves or just snap them in their natural enviroment. Some folks like to see things raw.
Do you like video clips of the calves? Personally like that. Think that is nice way to see if they are sound.

What do you think?

NO Music
I like in the field, as far as the video clips I would be afraid some people would have internet service that might take to long to download & they would get frustrated and move on. Just my 2 cents worth & don't know if it's worth that. ;D

 

[ShowStopper]

I vote no music. 

I also think that a mixture of pictures is good... a few really dolled up ones & a few in their "working clothes".  However, when you take pics in their natural enviornment for your website, make sure that they are all still pretty good pics of the animals & that they never show the animal "in a bad light".  Supposedly, a pic says a 1000 words, so don't let one say 1000 bad things about your cattle.  Anyway, that is just my humble opinion.

I can also recommend a good web-designer whose rates are reasonable.  They are working on one for me right now & so far, I am well pleased!!   Gotta get them more info so they can finish it!! 

TJ

I like the way you think TJ.

Also vote no music.

I like the more natual pictures of the cattle, but they have to be good pictures. I have seen some pictures of calves that makes me wonder "why bother". I like the video clips. Doc said something about them taking too long to load, I think you could avoid this problem by making the videos of them a whole different page. I'm not a big fan of really crazy busy backgrounds. It kinda distracts me and takes my eye away from what i'm looking at...(or maybe thats the ADHD coming out in me or somthing (clapping) ) I always find personal e-mail helpful. Sometimes sending an e-mail is more convinent than calling on the phone.

I may think of some other things while browsing through sites. But those are what jumps out at me right away.

Brit

 

[DL]

OH Breeder
Remember half the world (maybe more, maybe less - who knows - ) have land lines -SLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOWWW, very slow

No music
No videos
No huge pictures that take eons to download
I am not a patient person - when I run into that stuff I back click and go elsewhere....JMHO

PS I also find all those flashy things very very annoying
PSS I agree with you Doc;D

 

[justintime]

In my opinion, music is a no- no, even if it is a catchy tune. I find myself leaving a website almost immediately if there is music playing. I find it most distracting.

I like pasture pictures the most. Fancy calves in fancy dress make me wonder what they are  hiding, however, I use show pictures if the animal(s) have placed well or won. I carry a digital camera in every vehicle and take literally hundreds of pictures when I check cows. You will be surprised how many times you will see an animal standing perfectly and you can oftentimes get a good picture without trying. The picture of Major Leroy, under my name at the side was taken out my truck window as I drove up to him. I got lucky as I snapped a few pictures before I got out of the truck as I thought he might move. It was  early in the morning, and I snapped several pictures in 15 minutes that we will be using on our website, and in advertising and sales  in the coming months.

Video clips are a nice touch, but I would agree that you may lose some interested people simply because the website will take so long to download. It may be a suggestion to use good pictures on the website, and mention that video is available. When someone contacts you to ask for the video, you know you have definite interest, and you can follow up following them seeing the video.

Our website has probably been the greatest promotional tool we have ever used. Within a week of getting our internet up and running, I had a commercail man email me about bulls. I ran out to the bull pen and snapped some pictures and emailed him back with the info. Sold two bulls that night to a guy I had never met and who had never seen the bulls. We have sold numerous embryos to 5 countries, from our website, and have never spoke with the buyers. Last week I sold $6000 of embryos to Scotland to a person I have never heard of  and never spoke too. His certified cheque arrived and the embryos are on their way to Britain and should be there tomorrow.  Your website literally allows you to market to the world without ever leaving home, and for very little costs. Quite frankly, I could have never dreamt that a website would generate as much interest and business.

It is very important to update your website on a very regular basis. We did this fro the first couple years, on a monthly basis, but are very guilty of not doing it for a few months now. Actually, I just finished writing out the changes and picked out some new pictures tonight, and hopefully, my wife can get these changes completed in the next few days. I am lucky in that my wife has some computer talents and does our websites along with a few others. We have been renovating our house and that has seemed to take more time than we planned.... but it certainly is not a good enough excuse.
If people like what they see on your website, they will stop back at it regularly to see if you have added some info. I get frustrated with some pretty big breeders who have not changed their websites for many months... some for years. Your website can act as a very good communication tool to an interested audience.

Use the best pictures you can get. If you aren't happy with a picture keep trying until you get a better one. Good pics will make you more money than anything else you can do.  

 

[afhm]

Music  : DEFINATELY NOT unless you have a way for viewers to turn it off like on myspace w/out turning off the speakers

Pictures : Take your time and get some good ones.  This is kind of like the old saying about your not going to buy fat cattle at a sale, but the skinny cattle will always sell cheaper than the fat ones that you end up buying.  People say they want to see them in the raw, but many can't see them in the raw.  When people come to your place they will pay more attention to the clipped vs the nonclipped calves, at least that is they way it is around here unless its a trader.  A good pic of a bad calf will still get people's attention and get them to your place.  A crappy pic of a great calf will cause people to pass on by because they can't tell any thing about the calf.  I'm not saying you have to have Christy Collins come take all your pics although she does the best job out there, just get a couple of people to help you and gets some quality pics.  It also helps if the calves are clipped at least roughed out.  Try not to have too many distractions in the photo, a tractor , person , etc... Don't take pics in real high grass, or deep straw people will think you are trying to hide structure issues. Another thing unless you are really good at it don't try to photoshop your pics.  If you are going to take a halter off make sure its not obvious. I could make a list of bulls that the editing overlooked something that proved it had been edited (i.e. no halter or person in the pic, but look at the shadows and there they are plan as day).  Look at Black Label's front leg you can see they tried to add bone to him.  Golden Child has 2 right ears.  We Got Him has a black line down the front of his right rear leg where they tried to straighten and add bone.  

Do you like video clips of the calves? These are good if everyone can view them.  I still to this day cannot view any of Brad Hook's videos.  I get an error message from quicktime (I think that is the program)that says the upgrade needed is not available for me to view the videos.  I have tried on several different computers at friend's houses and still can't see them.  That is very frustrating.  Use a program that people can get a free download/updates off the net.

Skip the corny and cheesy stuff that looks like a Jr high kid would do in computer class.  Make sure your writing is in a different color that will show up on the color of your background.

Sorry for the long post, I was just trying to help

 

[justme]

Calves don't have to be dolled up....BUT they need to be GREAT.  Bad pictures will kill you.  I like simple neatly made websites.  You want to catch there attention so they will come look at the calf.  Video wise, just my suggestion but how about video availible upon request.  Doesn't take much to burn a CD and send it.  That way people like DL don't have to battle trying to get the site running.

Good luck!

 

[JSchroeder]

Does anybody know someone who was impressed by a .midi version of Metallica on a show cattle website?

If you are selling show steers, there's no problem at all with video as long as you do it in a link and don't force every visitor to your site to view it.  Have a picture of the calf and underneath it add a button that says something like "Click Here for a Video".  You'd be surprised at the amount of people who sit a work with high speed connections looking for steers.  People on high speed also view a proportionally higher number of sites because of the ability to click your day away without waiting.

Watch Brad Hook's clip about taking pictures of calves.

And, ADWORDS - DO IT

I'm amazed at the lack of people using Adwords during the peak season for show steers up North.  I guess you aren't going to be told to use Adwords by most of the designers because they're only interested in selling their own services.

Remember half the world (maybe more, maybe less - who knows - )

Amongst the demographic you want to find to sell steers to (a.k.a. $$$$), much less.

 

[JbarL]

I vote no music. 

I also think that a mixture of pictures is good... a few really dolled up ones & a few in their "working clothes".  However, when you take pics in their natural enviornment for your website, make sure that they are all still pretty good pics of the animals & that they never show the animal "in a bad light".  Supposedly, a pic says a 1000 words, so don't let one say 1000 bad things about your cattle.  Anyway, that is just my humble opinion.

I can also recommend a good web-designer whose rates are reasonable.  They are working on one for me right now & so far, I am well pleased!!   Gotta get them more info so they can finish it!! 

TJ

i agree with tj.....after looking at the latest exibitor ....one of the things i noticed the most was the black haryies were very hard
(impossible) to really "see"....there were alot of pics on the podem and the back drop was in sharp contrast to the stock....very bad representations of "champion"  caliber stock considering the main objective was an ad for future buyers....never was much  for "professional" photography for stock or web sites....but in this case i would defenitly at least get a quote on professional services........either way your going to need a whole lot of pics  ( thank goodness for the digitals...)  and alot of edit time.....
once the site is set up....new pics can be added or removed.....your paying for quality of pics/ layout appeal  and the "time" it takes to put it alltogether.....if your short on time and not real familiar with some of the photo editing software.....time with be extensive and the project may become aggravating........and layout appeal that doesnt suit you in the end will make the whole project and objective compromised and timely.  good luck...jbarl

 

[RSC]

When you go to a web site to look at the calves let me ask you all something-
I am looking to put one together and I noted a couple of things.

Music....do you really want music or do you find it annoying? I kind of find it annoying.

PIctures... do yo spend time taking good ones of your calves or just snap them in their natural enviroment. Some folks like to see things raw.
Do you like video clips of the calves? Personally like that. Think that is nice way to see if they are sound.

What do you think?

I suggest to keep it real simple.  Find a web builder that is easy for you to update on your own & update often.  Keep adding pictures as you take better ones.  I started my site a little over a year ago and I have grown it from 4 pages to around 7 now.  It doesn't cost me to keep expanding. 

I went ahead and linked to a few well know cattle pages.  You will get the most hits the first few days that you update your site.  This is why I try and add pictures and new information as often as possible.

RSC

 

[Show Dad]

OHB - I'll go with the crowd on the no music.

As for pictures. Butts, butts and more butts. I'm sick of only seeing the profile shot. Anyone can do that. My idea would be to thumb nail the profile (quicker download for dial-up) then have it were a person can click on it and get at least three different pictures (front, profile and rear). And of course video is nice but why not show them as they move around the ring (if they're broke) or go to the bunk?

Also, the more information you provide the more comfortable interested people will be.

 

[knabe]

i agree 100% with show dad.  super low qualtiy thumbnail, with link to better pics, and a registration # with link to AMAA.  i'm thinking the profiles show dad is referring (front, rear)  to haven't had a good sifting as to how to do that that is as standard as the side profile. 

 

[OH Breeder]

Great feed back. I have looked at alot of sites. Some of you have sites that are easy to navigate. I also have found some sites that are absolutely irritating because you get blasted with country tunes or star wars etc.

Have a few folks in mind for web design, but I think that is a whole nother topic. Of the current, like Ranch House, who do you think is good. I know there are alot of commerically available web site buidlers. Just wondering.

Pictures and video- like the links to video for those who are not on high speed. That is understandable. I too have found on certain computers Brad Hooks videos wouldn't work. It was frustrating. I think you tick people off and they don't want to come back because it is too hard to navigate.

I am with most of you less is more. Clean simple and lots of pictures of calves. I also like to see front back and side. Very few sights do that. I know it is difficult to capture them from that angle. I think Christy Collins has video on select group of calves at sale time. For those of us far away, it does stimulate the interest.

Thanks a lot for the advice.
OH B ;D

 

[knabe]

brad hook's video's require the latest software players to work.  if you want them to work for people who refuse to upgrade their computer, revert to an older standard, supply a link to a new player, windows people may not want to upgrade/downgrade as dealing with that could cause trauma.  his video's are great, content is dense.  the bleeding edge of content providing is not necessarily a good place to be requiring that your customer base upgrade to view your content.  if you put too much content that is a hassle to navigate, you won't get navigated.  i would rate navigation pretty high on my list, almost equal to content and defineately over a thing that says updated and the update is one picture.

this site could use a little reorg, but it's content is one of my favorites.  has data, decent pictures in working clothes, history, commentary

www.touchstoneangus.com

 

[afhm]

If I were to get one I would go with either 1.Showsteers (downside is the music on so many sites can probably request it be omitted)2. edje (showcattlepage) 3. Show Circuit 4. Stephanie Cronin 5. Clubcalves 6. Ranch House.  They appear to do the most updates in a timely and professional manner.  Look at the times that Becky or Diana do updates at Showsteers, they put in the hours to get your stuff updated asap.  Edje is a M-F deal so no weekend updates.  Ranch House doesn't seem to get the updates done very quickly and most of them are done on only Sundays.  A real close friend of ours hired them to do all the advertising  for his sale, they didn't get it out until the week after the sale.  I like simple designs that get straight to the point their stuff is all about the clip art and the cute sayings, the cattle get lost.  I know I am in the minority on this board with those feeling about RHD from the discussion on bull ads a while back.  As the saying goes different stroke for different folks.  Clubcalves does good sites but their site is so cluttered with ads it is a pain to search for a site.

 

[JSchroeder]

Just buy a link from Showsteers if you are looking into having them design your site.  Between forgetting to even include a "title" tag, the use of music, lack of detailed tracking (hit counters were outdated about half a decade ago), lack of basic contact forms, and generally mediocre designs there's not much of a reason to pay for them to do the design.  Most tech savvy teenagers can put together as nice a site as their average design pretty easily and you'll be able to update it yourself with no waiting.

However, the link is worth paying for.

 

[cattlejunky]

I do not like the music on the homepage.  I do not mind the music with the video.  I really like the video.  If I am going to travel several miles or a state away I would hate to get there and find out they can't walk.  The video doesn't show everything in the walk, but it gives you a good idea and you can weed out some.  I have seen some really good videos that give you all angles.  I think that is very helpful.

 

[DL]

If I were to get one I would go with either 1.Showsteers (downside is the music on so many sites can probably request it be omitted)2. edje (showcattlepage) 3. Show Circuit 4. Stephanie Cronin 5. Clubcalves 6. Ranch House.  They appear to do the most updates in a timely and professional manner.  Look at the times that Becky or Diana do updates at Showsteers, they put in the hours to get your stuff updated asap.  Edje is a M-F deal so no weekend updates.  Ranch House doesn't seem to get the updates done very quickly and most of them are done on only Sundays.  A real close friend of ours hired them to do all the advertising  for his sale, they didn't get it out until the week after the sale.  I like simple designs that get straight to the point their stuff is all about the clip art and the cute sayings, the cattle get lost.  I know I am in the minority on this board with those feeling about RHD from the discussion on bull ads a while back.  As the saying goes different stroke for different folks.  Clubcalves does good sites but their site is so cluttered with ads it is a pain to search for a site.

Hey afhm - if I am reading you right I agree with you about RHD - too cute and too cluttered - I like edje - they are fast, thorough and do exactly what you want - if you have an idea in mind they will design from your description - if not they will create on for you. Seems to me that most cattle web sites seem to blend into one another because they were designed by the web designers with minimal input from the producer - I think you can pick out pretty quickly who had an idea of what they wanted vs who said I need a web site.

I don't know if a link to SS is worth the price or not - I guess it depends on your market $450 for a link strikes me as a hefty profit for the linker and a pretty good payout for the linkee!

ALso get your own name www.ohiobreederofgreatcalves.com (or whatever) - the indirect links are annoying  ;D - it has to be easy and simple and rapidly downloadable or the landliners will give up 

 

[afhm]

You read right DL.  What changed your mind about RHD if I remember correctly you were one of the ones who very strongly disagreed with me about their bull ads (Red Headed Stepchild and others) earlier?  I thought a link to Showsteers was only $250/year, maybe it has gone up.