Many people believe that if you are starting a farm business you automatically must have a farm website and the truth is this isn’t always the case. The key is whether the website will benefit your farming business. There is no point in spending hundreds or even thousands of pounds on a website if it is not going to generate you a return on investment.
The benefits of a website can be indirect, which can make them difficult to quantify. Collecting data about the behaviour of your website visitors and what they look at while they are on your site, as well as where they go once they have finished viewing your site can help you tailor your solution to them.
It is rare for farmers to rely solely on personal relationships to sell their products. In today’s world almost all businesses need a digital presence beyond social media. But before you jump into the digital space, consider these factors:
4 Reasons you may need a farm website
- You sell products or services from your farm on a regular basis
- You have a desire to run a profitable farm
- You want to scale up your current customer base to increase profits
- You want to position yourself among the competition as a reputable farm
If you you fall into any of the items in the above list, then YES you need a farm website.
Defining the purpose of the website
If the purpose of your website is to raise awareness for the farm brand, then you need to make sure that people are finding the website. If the objective is to sell products, then again people must be able to find your website in the same way they need to be able to find your shop. So, the first question you need to ask yourself when considering a website for your farm, is to consider what the website is going to bring to your business. What is its purpose?
If you are intending to sell products online then a website needs to have E-Commerce capabilities. This will have an impact on the type of website that you choose and who can build it for you. If your farm diversification project includes something like glamping or an animal experience, then you might be looking to create a website where people can make bookings.
Tip: If you want people to make their bookings online, getting an automatic confirmation and cutting down on admin, then a websites for you. But if you’re just using the website to advertise the place, and bookings need to be made via email or phone call, then you might not need the website.
Key Points to consider when choosing a farm website platform
Platform Options
The mainstream platforms (Shopify and Squarespace) typically have a lower base price, offer more streamlined shipping and fulfilment processes, and have a wide variety of add-ons available, but may not easily accommodate certain niche functionality that a farm wants or needs.
Specialised platforms such as GrazeCart, and LFM are more expensive, but they are devoted to the specialised needs of food producers and offer niche functionality built right in.
Custom website builds such as WordPress can integrate with other solutions using plug-ins for your order processing, client communications and fulfilment processes. However, there is no set budget for this – it will entirely depend upon the website development company you choose, and how clear your functionality requirement is.
What functionality do I need on my farm website?
You don’t have a lot of extra time to spare, so you might be tempted to jump in with a new platform. But investing some time up front to fully explore functionality and book a few demos could save you time down the road and prevent the headache of having to switch platforms later. As you set out on the journey of picking the platform that will best suit your farm, you can start by asking yourself the following questions:
What is your plan for driving sales?
A new e-commerce website isn’t magic in and of itself, so don’t sink your whole budget into your website without a marketing plan. Just building a site that lets you ship orders around the country doesn’t mean you’ll instantly have all those orders (or even be able to instantly saturate your local market) without putting budget and effort into advertising, social media, email/SMS marketing, and other tactics.
How will the platform support marketing?
Don’t get too hung up on which platform says it supports search engine optimisation (SEO) or Meta pixels; the difference among platforms there is negligible. Likewise, all platforms should support responsive design, which is key as over half of online shopping takes place on mobile devices.
Think about and explore email integrations so you can understand what email/SMS tools are available to your framing business and if they’re compatible with your preferred website build.
Tip: Automations are a great bonus! They work behind the scenes to cultivate new leads and build customer loyalty – these are key to building a strong business.
You can also consider whether the website and store live together on a single platform and within one domain, i.e. yourfarm.com. Having the website and store under one roof can play a role in SEO, support consistent design and cohesive customer experience, and enable an integration of a product feed in the home page. GrazeCart, Shopify, and Square do enable this “one roof” setup. While LFM don’t allow for this.
Do you need a POS for in-person sales?
To avoid having to manually reconcile inventory between your in-person and online sales, it’s best to use a POS that fully integrates with your online sales platform. Shopify, Square, and GrazeCart, each have their own POS, WordPress can be integrated to the POS of your choice, and LFM integrates with Square POS.
Do you offer a CSA program or recurring subscriptions?
If your farm has a CSA, what type is it and how important is your model to you? Are you willing to adjust your model to fit into an existing system that you can plug into, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel?
You can easily offer a buy-down CSA on just about any platform. LFM is the only one mentioned that has the built-in traditional CSA functionality, although all platforms now offer some type of recurring subscription option with varying costs and levels of customisation.
Tip: Recurring subscriptions can be branded as a CSA or simply as a “Subscribe and Save” option.
Before choosing a website platform, be sure to explore the backend and understand how ongoing management will work for both you and the customer.
Do you sell any pre-order / bulk deposit products (like bulk restaurant orders or Christmas meats)?
This is a good time to stop and reassess the details of your model for holiday or bulk orders. How much time and headache does it take to manage these orders now? How will it change on your new platform, if at all? Whether or not you decide to change your model, you’ll want to understand exactly how the platform will support these sales, including your ability to take advance deposits and looking at how the backend and customer communications will work.
Do you sell wholesale?
GrazeCart and LFM have the functionality built in to make this a simple and streamlined process, so if you have high volume wholesale orders, consider those platforms. Shopify can also handle wholesale with an app for an additional fee.
Does your farm have any extra offerings? (e.g. concerts, farm stays, summer camps)
You’ll find varying support among the platforms for offering event tickets, farm stays, summer camps, digital products, etc. In some cases, using an app or a third-party system outside of your chosen platform can solve specialised needs. Having a custom website build (such as WordPress) will give you the flexibility and range that you’re looking for when adding on these individual requirements, without the need of additional integrations. So all your event information, signup forms and payment processes will ass be ‘under one roof’ on your farm website.
Pricing
Look beyond the base fee and consider…
- The price of the platform
- Any add-ons you need
- POS (if required)
- Ongoing maintenance and support costs
You’ll also need to factor in the cost of a companion website for your store, if you’re choosing a platform like LFM that is store-only. Consider the cost of any third-party systems needed to fill in any gaps of your chosen platform. Again, this is where WordPress or similar builds come in handy as you’ll be given one cost from your chosen website development company. Just remember to ask about any annual costs that may be required for plug-in functionality.
Other questions to consider
- Will it handle the payment methods you envision? Is there a click and collect functionality?
- How user friendly will it be for your customers?
- What is the reputation and reliability of the platform or company? What about their customer service?
- What do pick lists & backend reporting look like?
- Will it grow with you as your sales grow? What about if you add new sales channels or offerings?
- How easy will it be to change later? Will you have ongoing development support as part of your monthly fee or is it another addition to the costs?
- Will you be able to export your customer list and products?
Designing An Awesome Farm Website
At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that no website platform will ever cover all of your needs and wants perfectly, so being flexible is key.
Make a list of everything you imagine your website will have, break that list down into needs (anything that is non-negotiable) and wants (the things you’re flexible on), and finally order your wants by level of importance. Be detailed and don’t leave room for assumptions.
Next, take some time to really focus on how those needs and wants translate into functionality. It can be great to brainstorm and imagine how you want everything to work, but also take the time to dig into what is already possible! There are some great systems that have been created and are ready for your farm to plug into, so consider the areas where doing that is the best option.
It can feel exciting to invent very specific custom functionality, but is that truly the best thing for your farm and your budget? Consider the implications of creating complex systems from scratch: Can your chosen company deliver all the functionality you want? What’s the timescale? When do you need it by? Will it lessen or increase your workload? Will it translate to an understandable customer experience?
If you’re a beginning farm, talk to established farms before setting your sales and fulfilment models in stone. If you’re a seasoned farm, be honest with yourself about what is and isn’t working, and be open to change. Just because you’ve always done something one way, doesn’t mean it’s the only way. Talk to other farms about their experiences and your customers for direct feedback.
Ready to start your farm website?
If you’re ready to explore the options in further detail, then speak with a member of our team. We support Shopify and WordPress website builds, so whether it’s a plug and play option or a full customised build you’re wanting – we’re here to help!
Hi I’m Jade, Project Manager of the ROKIR team
