Horse Farm Website Critique?

Question

Hello,
We are opening a new farm in Holmes NY and would love to hear your feedback on our website! Any further information you think we could add? Missing information? Setup?

http://www.blackstonehorsestables.com/

Answer 1

First impression of the home page is really nice. The horses look happy, the facilities seem clean and safe, and the people seem approachable.



Facility:



I personal prefer bullet points when you're listing amenities, especially if the alternative is just to list them without a sentence structure. To me it seems neater and I get the opportunity to appreciate every amenity (right now they sort of run together a bit). Spacing them out a bit also helps make it seem like you have more! Fun little marketing trick ;) I would also list the dimensions of the stalls and the arena. And if you have a special type of footing in the arena, talk it up. The stalls especially though....I'm assuming there's either a difference in quality of construction or size between the two barns, and it would be nice to know what that difference is. Or is it just that the main barn is more convenient?



Board



I love that you post your rates...in my opinion it saves time for both you and potential boarders who don't actually have the required finances. In my experience a lot of people (especially serious competitors) want to know what type of grain and hay will be fed, so I would include that as well. And if retirement board is essentially a pasture board arrangement I would state that as well.



Lessons



I would definitely state what your discipline is and what experience the trainers can bring to the table. And for parents looking for lessons for a kid, nothing sells better than happy kids having fun in a lesson or bringing home a ribbon in a show!



Training



I agree with JSHalo...it's great to hear that you personalize training, but if I'm looking to send my horse to a trainer I want to know that they'll have results. I want to know things like the trainer's credentials, any successful horses they've ridden, and what they'll do with my horse. And I want to see pictures. When I sent my mare to training I ended up spending a good $300 a month higher than I initially budgeted because I came across a guy who clearly had the respect of the horses, which was visible just by looking at the pictures. If I hadn't seen him "in action" I probably never even would have called. I want to see horses in work that look happy and relaxed, not tense...it takes a lot for someone to trust their horse to a trainer, and the more you can do to prove early on you're suitable the better off you'll be. It would also be nice to have a "ballpark" price range for training. Something like "packages starting at x".



I love the "photos" page...especially the one of the little pony eating the snow! Adorable!



All in all, it's a great website, and these are just my opinions. Good luck on your new farm!

Answer 2

Good Answers from both Snezzy and JSHalo. I want to add a technical comment:



Your pics are lovely, but they do take some time to load. You currently have almost a meg of picture on your home page alone, including 300K just for the background image.



If you set the dpi of your images lower, you can get the same effect much, much faster. Most people don't have HD monitors (I have one, but it's so slow I set it to normal) so this won't affect what they see, just how fast they see it.



People only give a website a few seconds to load before they leave it. You may be bouncing viewers just because your site's a little slower than others, and you can easily fix that.



If you're going to advertise with Google AdWords or the like, the price of your ad is based in part on your bounce rate. So... it's going to cost you not just viewers, but real money, if your bounce rate is higher than it needs to be.

Answer 3

I did NOT experience any issues with photos taking a long time to load, but I am using a computer on our state internet connection, which is quite fast.



I would have liked to see photos of the tack room, arena, and turnout paddocks, since these were specifically mentioned in the ad. I also agree with posting a short bio about your instructor(s), and including photos of lessons in progress.



On an editorial note: when describing your training philosophy, don't say "feel" (i.e., "we FEEL it is important to personalize each training.") Feelings are emotional, irrational, and subject to change. Instead, say "We BELIEVE...."



Looks like a terrific facility!

Answer 4

When selecting an instructor, I always look to the students. I like to see pictures of them riding in order to get a better feel for what I might be getting into. Less importantly, I like to know a little bit about the instructor. What have YOU done, in your career, that makes you good enough to coach me (or my hypothetical child)? Though it may not be important to me (I realise that riding skill does not always transfer to teaching skill) a parent may not feel the same way.



Your facilities are beautiful.



You say you offer training packages from desensitizing to starting horses, but could I send my finished horse to you for tune-ups or behavioral issues?



It would be nice if you could expound upon which disciplines, specifically, you teach. Eventing? Hunters? Jumpers? Barrels? I can make an educated guess based on the tack used in the photos, but a parent looking to start their kid in lessons may not be so savvy.

Answer 5

It might be helpful to indicate that you are in the Lower Hudson area of NY, on the Connecticut side of the river between Poughkeepsie and Brewster, roughly halfway between NYC and Albany.



The first two questions that people will have are "Location?" and "Price?" Don't try to answer the price, because it'll depend, of course, on what your customers actually need, but getting the general location established will help people in Los Angeles, Banff, or Alice Springs from bothering you with questions.