Name of your website?King of the Hills Ranch
Your name?
Gail Ertel
Your Location (city, etc)
Custer
Please give us a short summary of your website?
This website is dedicated to help people who love horses learn more about them. I want to inspire people who are excited about horses to become successful owners. There are pages of riding exercises, videos, a book and dvd store stocked with books to help people learn about horses, how to ride and how to train their own horses. Profiles of different types of horses are given and I'm adding pages on more breeds all the time. The site has a contact page with the question "what type of horse do you want to learn about?". All questions will be responded to and posted online on a FAQ page.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I raise Arabian horses, have owned horses for over 30 years and used to give private riding lessons. Today's high technology has everyone on the internet looking for information and I wish to share what I have learned over the years to help others. Having a disability limits my ability to help others in a one-on-one session. While most of the site is dedicated to helping others learn, one page is devoted to horses my husband and I raise and will have for sale in the future. This page is dedicated to beautiful Arabian and wonderful Half Arabian horses.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
This is my first website and I am in the process of launching it right now. I'm excited with everything I've learned while creating this website! As I'm retired on a small disability pension, I'm hoping my website will become a source of income in the near future. That being the case I've dedicated myself to make this website successful.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
This is actually almost funny, how I decided on the website name. I own a Morgan stallion I call 'Heart'. He was our first high dollar horse and is sweet, sweet, sweet. His registered name is Ausable CL Radiant King and King is what the breeder called him. We live near the highest city in the Black Hills of South Dakota (sort of sitting on top of the hills, like a King on a throne). With that information, it was a unique ranch name and indicates royalty--something Arabian horses are associated with, so King of the Hills Ranch was born.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
Other horse websites I've read are mostly geared toward people who have previous knowledge of horses. I'm trying to make my website educational to those who are new to horses and help them along as they venture into the horse world. I know I will be constantly adding pages to help others learn about horses, how to care for them, how to ride and besides riding around in circles give them information on the multitude of things people can do with horses.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
I'm hoping to keep it and make it something that will produce income via affiliates I've signed up with. My goal is to get my website to come up on the first search page of as many search engines as possible to give it more exposure. The more exposure it gets, the more I will be adding to it to supplement my disability pension.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
This would depend on how 'success' is defined. I feel I have already succeeded in learning to build a website! It is a personal satisfaction success. Monetarily, as the site is only now in the early stages of being launched, the 'company' is still in the red until people can find the website and begin bookmarking it and becoming regular readers that will become potential customers.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would (and most likely will) regularly change images on the site to keep it interesting. I would also do demographic studies to find out what the most educational needs are for new horse owners, then develop more pages to help them. I would hire a professional photographer to take better photos that help illustrate the content of each page instead of fighting to make pictures I've taken look professional in Photoshop. I would take a digital photography class to help me take better, more captivating photos to make my site more visual.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
As I am disabled, my riding and training time with my own horses is limited. I currently spend most of my time in the house and on the computer, so keeping up with the website would be a labor of love I look forward to keeping up with the demands that will come with it. My husband has purchased a laptop computer for me to take on the horse show circuit so I can maintain my website while away from home.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
I'd like to get into more directories, but so many of them charge and I just don't have that kind of money right now. I've been spending a lot of time searching the internet for directories like yours that can help a 'fledgling' webmaster get the visibility her site needs to be a success. Headaches I've had to deal with is moving recently and being unable to find my camera when the weather was still sunny to get photos of my horses and tack and riding to better illustrate my pages! I had to hook up my old computer and dig out some rather old photos and 'tweak' them for the website.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Having had a professional writer for a mother and having been an honors student all the way through my college days, my biggest challenge is to keep the writing of my website geared toward the primary grade reader, as so many people just don't read or talk like an educated person. Being educated makes it difficult to keep the language ultra simple on my website. I write the way I talk. I'm one of those high IQ types and when I write, I've only been able to get the verbiage down to high school levels instead of primary levels that more people can understand. I'm still trying rewrites to make the pages easier to follow.
I've also had to dig back in my memory to when I first got involved with horses (over 50 years ago) to remember things I had to be taught in order to be safe around horses and develop my eye for horse conformation. I've remembered a lot of questions I had back then and have used them to develop content on different pages of my website.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Up until now, I've emailed all of my friends about my website and have asked them to please bookmark my website and pass it on to others. I'm just launching the site and still trying to determine the best way to promote my website. I've been doing a lot of online reading and trying to absorb as many ways to promote my site as possible. As the Arabian horse shows begin this spring, I will probably be passing out business cards with my horse related website printed on the cards!
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It has been a lot easier and more fun than I thought it would be! At first I thought I would never be able to learn html, but found a builder that makes it truly easy! I love spending time on my computer and this website gives me something to focus on. I spend several hours a day online, doing research for my website, a couple hours a day writing content, and a couple hours optimizing each page before it even is put on the website. I have finally found a REAL use for my home computer and love working toward being my own boss.
you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
The domain is currently registered for three years. I will continue building the website, adding features, photos and a blog over the next few months. I will try different affiliates until I find those perfect for my site that are true income sources. I feel positive, though, that I will renew the site when it expires, for at least another three years. Working on short term goals until I perfect them will help me reach my longer term goals, and I am willing to devote myself to becoming my own employer!!!
Do you feel you can get rich quick from your website?
There are a lot of 'get rich quick' schemes out there that people fall for. There is no such thing as getting rich quick, unless you are under the lucky stars and hit the lottery! I have a better chance to earn income by being my own boss, setting my own hours and allowing my creativity and knowledge work together to help others and make my own income.
What is your website address?
King of the Hills Ranch
