Web page??

[Russ Blair]

Ok as I was making the 4 hr drive home I have convinced myself I may need to get a webpage for my chickens. My problem is I am an Ironworker not a web designer lol. How does a guy go about it, where does he go and is it something I could do or should I hire somebody?  I know several of you have them and now I want one as well any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Oh Bob and Mike I am joining APA and ABA after our talk this morning and the club meeting it only makes sense. Especially with help getting any new varieties recognized. Thanks guys and gals it was a great weekend.

[John W Blehm]

I just use WORD to get by with on the site's I've started, but it isn't the professional way to go.  Matt Boensch took over the FowlFest.org site and switched it to Websitex5 software.  He told me it was very easy to use, so maybe it is something to ask him about and do yourself or with your kids.
I use Omnis.com to host my sites and generally register domain names thru them.  They actually have live support people I can call and talk to when needed and their prices are reasonable. 

[Russ Blair]

Nice, thanks John definitely will involve the kids especially since they are better with the computer than I am.

[Stan Alder]

FaceBook makes it pretty easy to set up a page....traffic will be limited to facebook users...I think that's everybody but John... , might be an easy and free option in addition to a web page of your own..

[Suki]

Of course there is www.blogger.com and www.wordpress.com as well.  You can tailor those "blogs" to lots of things and just post pictures.  www.typepad.com is the alternative for those who know nothing and not free.

But if  you want a swanky  responsive "new look"  www.wix.com is pretty good and just drag and drop as is www.weebly.com.  Weebly is cheaper and not as snazzy though.   Wordpress will allow the new responsive look as well, but then you have to pay for the template -- the rest of the hosting is free.  If you want your own domain name you can just purchase that thru WP as well, avoid their packages, just buy ala carte what you want.

As for FB pages, they are as a rule open to the public i.e. non facebook crowd but for them to post to ask you questions, then the customer needs a FB account.

[Tailfeathers]

I am by no means a Webmaster but I've built four different websites.  Here are two:  www.engineeringjourneysinc.com and www.kummerpoultry.com .  I also had one very similar to the latter for myself but when Microsoft did away with their small business suite, I never got around to building me a new one.  It's on my "To Do" list.  Sometime.

Anyways, those last two are the newest and I built them in WordPress with GoDaddy hosting.  It's really pretty simple to do and anyone with a little computer savvy and some intelligence can do it.  In other words, if a guy like me can, you can too. 

There are also a few other "free" websites that will help you build one but then you have to put up with all those ads.

[Lee G]

Great question Russ, and very timely too. Because I've been thinking of making a website for my chickens for awhile, but lack of skill and procrastination have always held me back. 

Must say I'm really enjoying Facebook, and how super easy it is on there to load pictures to share with others. And there seems to be no end to the poultry groups on there too. I especially like the Alliance and APA page, and being able to interact with master breeders and judges, and of course other Ameraucana fanciers. 

[Suki]

Also there are photo only sites like zenfolio.com  that allow you to make a site from your photos or pbase where you make a website and put up pictures and comments.  This type allows bulk uploading which is far faster then FB.  Also the pictures are optimised which if you use FB you will notice that they are not which is a major downside if you are relying on it for sales.  Also in their favour is they are far cheaper than a true website and do some web optimisation for you as well -- keywords adwords with real stats. 

FB from what I can tell does little to none of that and that is a major downside to making it your sole online presence particularly as most people will be looking thru a phone.  Another thing to remember is videos, people like seeing and hearing them as well, but that comes with a downside -- photo theft.  There are ways around it with the cheapest and least secure (i.e. easiest to hack) watermarking.  FB has no photo security whatsoever; WP it depends upon the template, the photo sites absolutely do its that security that is part of their package.  Wix does when you go paid, www.SquareSpace.com  does too,  not sure about Weebly.

http://www.pbase.com/karenmickleson/image/81217614

http://www.pbase.com/pricing.html

https://www.smugmug.com/features

https://secure.zenfolio.com/z/signup

With all those options you should be able to find something you like.

[Lee G]

^ I keep looking for my like button, haha...

And yeah, it's good to point out the downside of FB too. Because I wasn't even thinking about photo theft to be honest. So thanks for the heads up, as well as all the links to great resources. 

[Russ Blair]

Oh man so many options 😳, I can see I need to do some homework.