Websites are nearly useless

[Flying minis]

I know that should go without saying, and I know it takes work and effort to keep a website up to date, especially when show season is on. . . BUT

I was looking for 2 new minis 2 months ago. Of the sites I went to, nearly 1/2 were out of date - and I'm not talking they had last year's information. Many had not updated in 2-3 years! They still had 2008 or 2009 show records (but nothing more current) or foals on them - and some of these were fairly big name breeders.

Now maybe some people would then take the time to call / email, etc. but personally, I like to see what type and quality is available, and about what price ranges your animals run. I knew what I was looking for, and being able to see what was available on a website was a big deal for me. It saved a lot of hassle in contacting and emailing people and getting pictures for horses that I would have known right away I was not interested in had the info been on the website.

I was looking at sites today again, after watching some of the Nationals entries, and same thing - show records from 2008 or even earlier, no current information, old info on horses for sale, etc.

Ok, thanks for letting me vent.

(I did find my 2 new horses - plus a spare - and they did come from breeders who had them on a website so I could see they were the type I wanted before I traveled to go look at them.)

 

[HGFarm]

I hear ya, I have come across a few that have not been updated since even before that- that's when I just exit and look elsewhere.... and I love when they are advertising a horse that is several years old but send you yearling pics of what the horse looks like..... ugh

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

I totally agree with out of date websites- how can you expect people to buy your latest foals if there are no new pictures? Some websites have horses from 2006 ! It makes me wonder if those horses have been sold or are still there.

 

[2minis4us]

I agree. I would rather see a home made website up to date than a fancy, professional one that is old.

 

[TopSpout]

Yes, very annoying. When I find a horse I'm interested in I usually Google the name too see what other information is out there. Sometimes I will find that horse has been bought and placed for sale on the new owner's more up-to-date website!

 

[Riverrose28]

I agree, plus I don't like it when I look at sale horses and I see SOLD! why keep the sold horse on the site, it makes it longer to load, why not add another page for sold horses. I don't want to see your sold horses when I'm looking for a horse to purchase. I also show, but it only takes a few minutes to update. You would think if someone wanted to sell they would update or at least not advertise to get you to look for no reason.

Also, on another note, why don't people put out their prices! As someone looking for a special horse I want to know if I have enough saved to purchase. It is a buyers market but if prices were advertised it would make it so much easier, as some don't want to commit to e-mailing for price and then can't explain that they can't afford said horse.

 

[Lizzie]

So many good thoughts in this thread. I have been doing a lot of homework in the breed and maybe what annoys me most, is...

Websites not just out of date, but the family sold and went out of business years ago. If you are no long in the breed or any business, delete the website or at least put a little info on the home page, stating the fact.

Websites with no prices on for sale horses.

Websites with sold horses mixed in with for sale horses.

Websites which don't show pedigrees or maybe only the sire and dam.

Websites with pictures missing.

Websites which only show headshots of horses.

Websites not up to date.

Websites which don't say where the farm is. While I don't necessarily think it's safe to put one's full address, a town and state or country would help those seeking a new horse.

And I'd love to know whether stallions are at public stud or not.

Lizzie

 

[supaspot]

I agree, plus I don't like it when I look at sale horses and I see SOLD! why keep the sold horse on the site, it makes it longer to load, why not add another page for sold horses. I don't want to see your sold horses when I'm looking for a horse to purchase. I also show, but it only takes a few minutes to update. You would think if someone wanted to sell they would update or at least not advertise to get you to look for no reason.

Also, on another note, why don't people put out their prices! As someone looking for a special horse I want to know if I have enough saved to purchase. It is a buyers market but if prices were advertised it would make it so much easier, as some don't want to commit to e-mailing for price and then can't explain that they can't afford said horse.

I so agree !

 

[Genie]

Add us to the "Totally Agree" group. If you haven't got things current then it's kind of a waste of time for the viewer

 

[Riverrose28]

Oh now that I'm on a roll! Another thing that bothers me is, I'll click on an add for a beautiful horse and find out that it is being sold by private treaty, well it looks like a horse I would love to show and then breed, but when I see private treaty I know I can't afford it. As a breeder myself I know I would love for someone else to show my horses, cause I have too many to show, and I'll offer a deal to another show farm, but when I see private treaty I know I don't have thousands of dollars to spend on that one. You would think breeders would want their horse shown with their name attached and give another breeder/show barn a break. Oh well such is life.

Oh one more thing, you visit a site and you want a foal, and the foals are all listed from three years ago, what is up with that?

 

[SampleMM]

I agree with almost everything, except for prices. I stopped putting them on my site when some stalker type person went around and copied and pasted all horses for sale by a certain stallion and tried to spread all kinds of rumors that he wasn't any good because he had X amount of his get for sale. It was completely ludicrous. I sold 2 horses last week because people had the nerve to ask me what their prices were. They are happy and I'm happy and nobody else needs to know what they paid for them. I did mark them sold but within a week took them down because I agree that it's annoying to wade through the sold horses trying to find the ones for sale. I also agree about pedigrees but in my case, I only get so many pages with my site so perhaps that's why others don't have pedigrees either but you can always join the stud book online and pull up anyone's pedigree for AMHA horses.

 

[Minimor]

I agree with the above post that prices aren't necessary. I have no problem at all e-mailing to ask "what's the price on this horse" and for sure "private treaty" doens't necessarily mean an out of reach price. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I know a number of breeders that are very successful at selling, and they almost never post prices on their websites.

 

[Loess Hills]

I so agree. People go to the trouble of having a website done, and then just leave it for years without updating. Do they get so busy that they never think about it? Or do they not care? Definitely one of my pet peeves.

 

Debbie Bowen helped us with our website, but I can go in anytime to update, or add things. And it's not that much trouble!

 

[K.C. Lunde]

I have mixed feelings about this. It takes a lot of work owning horses to start with, I own 20! So I can only imagine how a large scale farm could keep up a website. I farm and am going to school to be an agronomist, full time jobs when I can over the summer, to be honest doesn't leave much time for updating websites. Sometimes there may be a reason why a website hasn't been updated, like a family tragedy. If your interested in a horse or hearing about what someone has to offer, a email or a phone call will do the trick. Sometimes I phone on horses that I love that aren't for sale.. If farming has taught me anything it's be 'everything is for sale for the right price '!!

 

[targetsmom]

My husband manages our website and it is still an issue getting updates made, so I can understand how difficult if can be. But I also agree with most of the comments made here except I don't think people should be scared off by "Private treaty." It should mean just that - private.

I had an idea today about an easy way to do updates and wonder if this will work??? I figured to create a Facebook page for our farm (which I never got around to but plan to SOON) and then put a link on our website to direct people to it. That way I could post all kinds of recent photos and news on the farm's FB page without having to bother my husband/webmaster. Does anyone else do this? Will people look??

 

[Mini Gaits Farm]

I absolutely agree with most of what has been said. It is a complete turn off to go to a website and the most current information was put on there in 2006. I also just exit the site and go elsewhere. I do not put prices on my site...and I don't find it necessary. If I think enough of a horse that is being offered for sale, I have no problem in sending an e-mail to inquire on the price. Thanks to Debby Bowen of Bowens Designs, I am able to update my own site...even daily if necessary. I am not a computer guru by any means, but Debby set it up in such a way that I find it extremely user friendly and easy to update. Before I found Debby, I had a site through another administrator and had to rely on him to make my updates....that was a nightmare. I am totally thrilled with the way it is now and wouldn't even think of going elsewhere for my web host....Bowens Designs is the best.