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Marketing
your Arabian Horses the
WEB Way!!!
The Internet has fast
become the most indispensable
resources for Arabian horse
owners. Never has there
been another advertising
medium that allows a person
to include significant
levels of information about
their business, in such
a cost-effective manner
while visually dazzling
the user every step of
the way.
Web sites pertaining to
Arabian horses number well
into the hundreds and range
from individual Arabians
horse farms to sites dedicated
exclusively to Arabian
horse resources. An individual "surfing" the
Web can research a pedigree
for breeding purposes,
compare training services
of various farms and download
a "Registration Application
form" all at the same time.
With the click of a mouse
you can access Web sites
for many horse organizations,
magazines and equine products
and services companies.
A selection
of Arabian Horse Resource
Available on the World
Wide Web:
The primary feature of a
Web site is the unlimited
availability of information
to an abundant number of
interested clients via a
worldwide information system.
In addition, presence on
the World Wide Web enables
farms and businesses to advertise
to an increasingly savvy
and articulate client base
by displaying information
in an engaging and user friendly
manner. Never before could
Arabian horse owners market
themselves to a global market
in such a cost-effective
manner!
Examples
of Web Page features
include:
- Farm
information
- Complete
Sale lists
- Photographs
of your horses and
farm
- Pedigree
listings
- Stallion
listings - with breeding
fees and show results
- Breeding
and training contracts
- News
and events at your
Farm
- Show
results
- Training
and Services offered
at your farm
- Client
Information
- Fees
for Services offered
 There
are countless reasons to
having your farm, product,
service or business on
the World Wide Web. The
first of many benefits
is that a well-designed
Web site allows your potential
client to view and retain
pertinent information on
your business at their
leisure, 24 hours a day,
7 days a week, 365 days
a year, from anywhere in
the world.
Another
benefit is the time-savings
earned by displaying basic
information to the public,
allowing the business owner
to concentrate on actually
running the business. The
third most important benefit
deals with the cost savings
resulting from the effective
use of advertising dollars.YOUR
MESSAGE TO MORE POTENTIAL
CUSTOMERS FOR FEWER DOLLARS.
In addition,
some companies like The
Arabian Horse Network seek
to provide increased visibility
to their clients' Web pages
by creating an Online community
dedicated specifically
to Arabian horses. These
communities provide a larger
presence on the Internet
by connecting individual
sites together for marketing
purposes, thus generating
more traffic to more sites
with less work needed by
the Web surfer.
 The first
decision you need to make
when taking the leap into
cyberspace with your horses
is "who
is going to design your
Web site?" You can design
your own Home Page or contract
with a professional Web
design firm to create it
for you.
The primary
advantage of designing
your own Web site is cost.
You will need to learn
a few pieces of software
to develop your own site,
an image-editing program
such as Image Ready or
Photoshop, a Web page layout
program such as FrontPage
and a FTP program to get
your files to your Internet
Service Provider. A few
other considerations are
where you will host your
site and who will list
your site with all the
search engines. If you
have the time and artistic/technical
capabilities, developing
your own site could be
a good option if you
have an extremely limited
advertising budget. The
disadvantages associated
with designing your own
Home Page are the lack
of visibility for your
site and who is going to
market and promote your
image in a mammoth information
system such as the World
Wide Web. Only a network
such as The Arabian Horse
Network can instantly plug
your farm or horse's site
directly into a larger
Web site that already generates
huge amounts of traffic
- and not just any traffic,
traffic of people looking
to buy, breed to, or
simply learn more about
Arabian Horses.
The most
important part of a successful
Web site is how easily
a person can navigate
through the site to find
the information they want.
Second there needs to be
a balance between graphics
and text. A textual home
page is less appealing
and will not encourage
people to return to your
site. A home page that
has large and pointless
graphics will take longer
to download and people
may not be willing to
wait. Internet users want
to log on to a site and
be able to get the intended
information and move
on. An example of a properly
designed Web site is
having key links readily
available or toward the
top of the main page so
that every time someone
visits the site they can
easily access the information
they are seeking.
Contracting
with a Web site design
company with experience
in the Arabian horse
industry, while more expensive
than creating your own
site, will lead to a more
professional Web presence
for your horses. There
are thousands of Web site
design companies to choose
from and many that are
designing Web sites specifically
for Arabian horse farms.
When selecting a company
to design and host your
Arabian Horse Web site,
be sure to look at Web
sites they have completed.
Then ask yourself: Do they
understand the industry?
Are their Web sites attractive,
error-free, and interesting?
Are their Web sites logical
and easy to navigate through?
A very important factor
in selecting a Web site
design company is the ongoing
relationship you will have
with the staff and how
they will promote your
site. The responsiveness
of a company's staff is
vital. A Web site is a
dynamic, constantly changing
entity; you will want to
change it often to keep
it interesting and up-to-date.
Ask any company you are
interested in for references,
and when you contact those
references, specifically
ask about customer service,
quality of design and how
they promote their client's
Web sites
 Traditional
forms of advertising encourage
people to get the message
to their target markets
with only the most specific
details. The Internet offers
an alternative and enables
users to include significant
levels of information about
their product or service.
Prices for Web sites range
from a few hundred dollars
to thousands of dollars
depending on the graphic
work involved, number of
links or pages and the
amount of content. The
Arabian Horse Network's
average price to set up
and design a site for a
small breeder with a stallion,
a few sale horses (5-10)
and a page for farm information
ranges from $700 to $1,200.
Domain name registration
is $70 for the first 2
years and $35 per year
thereafter. Maintenance
fees for a small Web site
range from $40.00 to $100
per month.
Whether you
will get Online", but how
soon you are going to do
it! Having a Web site is
no longer a just a novelty
item. It is an indispensable
part of your advertising
campaign and one that can
not be ignored. One important
aspect to remember is that
you DO NOT have
to be computer literate
to have a Web site, nor
do you even have to have
a computer. There are many
companies that will work
with you to design an interactive
advertising program for
your farm and horses.
 Scott
Bailey & David
Cains are owners and operators
of the Arabian Horse Network.
We saw the potential of
the World Wide Web and
the benefits to our industry
and created arabhorse.com
to showcase Arabian horse
farms and horses. With
more than 150 custom Web
sites created and the online
stallion directory surpassing
200 horses, arabhorse.com
is the most successful
Arabian horse Web site
on the Internet. The Arabian
Horse Network has been
creating Web sites for
our industry-leading farms
and horses for since 1996.
We can be reached at: info@arabhorse.com,
or on the Web at http://arabhorse.com
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