Question about websites from clients perspective, we are building a new one!

[gillettehunter]

Prices are a must, as has been mentioned. Videos of your hunting areas is very helpful. I love seeing the type of terrain I’d be hunting in. Size of each area. Most of us don’t want to hunt a 1000 acre property. Are all of the animals we hunt there born on that property Or are animals brought in. If archery hunting is done then pictures, descriptions and number of blinds is essential.
A section about care of trophies after they are brought back to the lodge is helpful. Expected temperatures for hunting months doesn’t hurt to be there. Which airport for pickup. Activities for non hunters along with charges for those activities. I’m sure you have thought of most of these but that’s a few off of the top of my head.
Bruce

 

[Mucheni]

Hi Henry,

Besides the points already mentioned I would add a map that shows the location of your main camp and area where most hunts are conducted.

Good luck!

 

[Gemsbok45]

I think the best thing Henry Griffiths Safaris does is not only have great hunts but RESPOND to inquiries! I have submitted multiple questions to outfitters about wanting to hunt and have never gotten a reply. That is the norm. Crazy to have website and not reply to customers. Nuff said!

 

[Rubberhead]

A calendar of open dates and places, and maybe PH's.

 

[DillonG]

I would recommend a pack list for hunts. You will get a lot of people looking to plan their first trip to Africa. What to bring is another great piece of information. Caliber recommendations or bow draw weight and arrow weight are beneficial as well.

 

[Throwback]

To me I would definitely have:
1. Current pricing
2. Current pics, particularly of accommodations and animals taken.
3. List of former clients for references.
4. Size of hunting areas(s) and if fenced, cross fenced, etc...
5. Distance to camp from airport we should fly into.

Nice to Have's:
1. Interactive calendar for dates available / already booked
2. Which animals are "plentiful" from the price list vs. "we have them, but it is going to be a real challenge".
3. Videos of hunting, etc...
4. Bios of PH's and other staff.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

for me I would say: list a link only to the taxidermist site but would not post any of their prices as it is easy to get form them and you DO NOT want to get caught in a "Henry posted this now you want that much" bad idea, another thing I would post in what's included in the cost of the hunt would be if there is a cost for arrival day and departure day fee and if there is a cost of airport pick up and delivery and from where. good luck

 

[BRICKBURN]

Current website:
Keep it up to date. 2021 prices
Keep it up to date: blog last entry a DECADE AGO - 2011
Keep it up to date - dead links, more dead links.
Keep it up to date - contact page dead.
Enlarge the font size - some pages have pretty small font.
Hit counts don't matter to us.
The double header design is distracting and wastes space.
Links should use graphics button
If you are going to use FB as your blog make it more prominent so users can find it.

Gallery - Current photos - Hall of fame - long past history.

Current, relevant images and information.

Good luck.

 

[StickFlicker AZ]

As others have said, if there are not prices, I move on to another company. Don't make us request pricing! Pricing is the number one most important thing I look for before going any further in my research.

I too like the link to maps showing the location of the lodge. Size of the properties are helpful as well. And although many concessions brag about having access to other properties, most concessions don't really hunt other properties that much because they have to pay another owner for the animals. Tell us how big the farm is that we are likely spending most or all of our time on.

If my hunting party will have exclusive use of the property while we are there, state that. If there is a minimum number needed in the party to have exclusive use, state that.

And, although not directly related to the website, If you are going to claim to offer bowhunting, please actually OFFER BOWHUNTING. Be honest about the bowhunting experience of your staff. If you truly are in the bowhunting business, you should have pictures of a number of your hides on your website and even mention how many of them you have. There should be lots of pictures of bowhunters in your trophy gallery. I've seen lots of websites that claim to offer bowhunting, but there are no photos of anything bowhunting related on their website, including a photo gallery that shows few or NO bowhunters, just tons and tons of rifle hunters. And if you are trying to attract bowhunters to hunt from hides, you should NOT be rifle hunting from those hides ever, in my opinion.

 

[Ravensview]

As has been stated above, pricing, property size hunted, primary method of hunting, pictures of the area hunted, pictures of lodging, are the meals mostly wild game based, exactly what’s included and what is not, what is your company’s ethos that you follow, maybe what a day of hunting there is like, weather expected, faq’s, how many hunters are there at the same time? Are the animals self sustaining on the property?

 

[Hogpatrol]

Forgot, DO NOT make me go to Facebook to get information. There are vendors that use only FB and when I do a google or other search for a business and all I get is a link to a FB page, it's bye bye and I take my money elsewhere.

 

[fourfive8]

Keep it simple. Keep it up to date. Keep it real. I can usually tell when a sales pitch is over-cooked. Make certain the site functions are user friendly and monitored frequently for function. I’ll guarantee most website designers have little clue about what users really need and that includes a confusing hodge podge of cut and paste drop down menus. I immediately reset search if I’m directed to Facebook. I avoid it like the plague. Excuses passed along like, “out chasing a wounded leopard” have me hitting the search elsewhere function as fast as “check us out on Facebook”. Most hunters understand small businesses like hunting businesses will be busy during hunting times. But prompt phone replies, messages or alternate communication channels are becoming more important as competition tightens.

 

[tay50]

Along with the current price lists, add any taxes due included in the price, I have witnessed first hand of pissed off clients who thought the price was X and then was actually Y after added tax. Some countries hunters come from are not used to added tax on top of the price. Just my 2 cents, good luck.

 

[Justbryan]

I owned an SEO (search engine optimization) company for many years and built and optimized sites for fortune 500 companies. There is a lot of competition in the marketplace. My recommendation is to build a lot of landing pages filled with your expertise.

It is easiest to rank on Google by emphasizing niche hunts along with your regular offerings. Not very many African sites educate hunters. What you want to do is drive people to your site and give them enough content that they stay and yes prices, specials, combo hunts, and pictures all help. Pictures and videos need to have descriptions and details to rank and be interesting. There is a lot of work in creating a great site and only you can really bring it to life!

No person that you hire can ultimately create a great site for you without a lot of work on your part. This is why most PH sites are useless to many hunters, no real information, no education, no reason to stay on site, just marketing fluff. And we leave these sites quickly. It is rare to see a great site in the hunting industry because of the time and effort to build. So, build a great site and it will drive business to your company.

 

[Justbryan]

Also, a payment portal based in the USA would be great. It is scary to send funds these days especially for first time hunters dealing with PHs that they have never met in a foreign country. And now not even a bank wire is safe. I recently did an international transaction with a foreign company that had a USA based office and transaction process. It was a great experience for me. I don't know if this is possible, but I thought I would mention this as a possibility.

The other thing I can mention is building multiple linked sites (different URLs) which highlight specific hunts that would drive traffic to you. An example is to build a site for Cape Buffalo hunting only that links to your general hunting site.

 

[Hunt anything]

Must have for me are price list and species list, include travel times to other hunting areas for specialized species and any attractions for non hunters to do if not accompany on the hunt for a day or two. Many of the sponsors here do a pretty good job but some don’t.

 

[CJW]

Lots of good info so far but one thing I don't think has been mentioned. Even the best looking and informative website is garbage if it isn't easy to navigate. What good is information if I can't find it? I don't want to go through three or four different pages to find what I need. I've stumbled on things only to not be able to find it again the next day.

Otherwise I would echo many things mentioned already. Don't take me to a facebook page. Keep info up to date, especially the price list for everything. Don't surprise me with an extra bill at the end of the hunt.

 

[WAB]

I think the best thing Henry Griffiths Safaris does is not only have great hunts but RESPOND to inquiries! I have submitted multiple questions to outfitters about wanting to hunt and have never gotten a reply. That is the norm. Crazy to have website and not reply to customers. Nuff said!

Agreed. I have found that some of my friends in the biz check email only when they’re in town. They rely on WhatsApp otherwise. If this is the case, state it clearly with estimated response times by mode of communication.

 

[Denvir Tire]

There are many points made so far that I agree with, such as clear pricing etc. I’m often trying to find more information about the actual hunting area than many sites provide, and most often just look elsewhere, sensing there is a reason for that ambiguity. Clarity about the size or sizes of the hunting areas, whether they are contiguous, whether you stay on the property you are hunting, and have exclusive use are very helpful. I think most clients will have interests and preferences in these things, so it’s best to just get that clarity up front.

Same for me

 

[BSO Dave]

There have been lots of good suggestions offered, but I am kind of surprised that the #1 commonality of everyone here who has replied states pricing as a "must have" on a website or they would move on.... Why? If I followed that mindset, I would have missed out on some of the best outfitted hunts in my life. There are many valid reasons why an outfitter would not list their pricing on a website especially in today's economy with costs of everything changing so rapidly.

Most, if not all of the outfitters I have ever researched have come by recommendations, or by reputation. If somebody recommended an outfitter to me for their pricing, or the outfitter advertised "lowest pricing guaranteed" that would likely be the determining factor for me to move on...

If an outfitter wants to list pricing that's fine. However, it's certainly not a deal-breaker for me if they don't. If I like what I have heard and seen, I really don't see the big deal with sending an email or requesting a phone call to get pricing information. There are several more important criteria for me in researching an outfitter than price. If experience has taught me anything it's that if you book with pricing as the major determining factor in selecting an outfitter, you will be very disappointed more often than not..