To share your farm with the world, you need a website.
Not only are websites a great way to introduce yourself to the local community, they also help bring in extra revenue through selling your products online.
But not all farmers have the know-how to build a website from scratch, which is why using a website builder can be a good option to get your online brand started. So, which one is right for you?
Here’s our list of some of the best farm website builders along with the unique features that help them stand out.
Why Does My Small Farm Need a Website?
While top-quality products are the lifeblood of a farm, marketing is how you spread the word about them. These days, even small businesses that thrive on in-person sales rely on websites and social media to reach new customers.
Also, with more customers interested in local produce and meat, farmers have the opportunity to increase their revenue by selling their products online.
How To Evaluate a Website Builder
Websites are a vital marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. But it goes without saying that running a farm is not the same as running a restaurant or a retail business. So, make sure any farm website builder you pick supports your unique needs.
When evaluating the various tools out there, consider the following:
- Features: What do you want to offer on your site? Do you want to write a blog? Maybe you want to sell products or subscriptions? If so, what type of products?
- Pricing: How much will the website cost per month? If you sell products, what are the transaction fees?
- Integrations: If you’re tracking inventory or doing accounting on separate systems, how will the website work together with them?
- Support: Unfortunately, things break. When they do, is there a support team you can call? Are you confident in fixing problems yourself?
Overall, the best advice we can offer is this: don’t rush it. Choosing the right website builder can sometimes be frustrating. But paying for and being stuck with a website you don’t like or can’t use the way you want is even worse.
The Top Website Builder Solutions for Farms
So, your farm needs a website, but where do you start? Luckily, there are a lot of great options out there (including a few that are specifically built with farms in mind).
1. GrazeCart
GrazeCart is unique in that it was created by a farmer for farmers. Their solution is user friendly and offers a number of features specifically catered to farm owners, including a drag-and-drop website builder with sell by weight functionality.
Who It's Best For
GrazeCart is best for farm owners looking for a comprehensive, easy-to-use solution to support local shipping and nationwide delivery. As a smaller company, they lack some of the built-in integrations of larger competitors but make up for it with comprehensive customer support.
Stand Out Features
- Sell by weight and integrated inventory management
Many e-commerce site builders don’t offer weight-based selling options, which can be a real headache for farms. GrazeCart comes out of the box with sell by weight options for your website that integrate directly into their inventory management system. - No-code website builder
GrazeCart allows you to build an attractive website with no previous experience required thanks to an easy-to-use drag and drop tool. Plus, training and onboarding are free. - Built-in subscription, promos, and upselling options
GrazeCart allows you to offer select products as a subscription to help boost recurring revenue. There are also a wide number of flexible promotional and upselling options at your disposal. - Local pickup and national delivery options
Many farms like to start local but consider shipping as they grow. GrazeCart supports both local pickup and options to add in regional and nationwide shipping, including limits on how far you ship.
Pricing
GrazeCart offers a number of pricing plans along with custom pricing.
2. Shopify
Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce tools on the market, used by a variety of businesses across industries. While they lack farm-specific sales functions, their wide variety of customizable apps and themes gives you plenty of ways to tailor your website.
Who It's Best For
With thousands of apps and integrations, Shopify is extremely customizable and is great for tech-savvy farm owners. However, if you’re not as confident in personally learning all the ins and outs of website building, you may consider another option.
Stand Out Features
- Subscriptions and local delivery support
Shopify lets you offer recurring subscriptions and enables you to set up dates and times for local delivery by purchasing the appropriate apps. - Real-time carrier rates
All of Shopify’s plans support built-in carrier rates for businesses, and they ship online with no extra fee. - Robust third-party integrations
Because Shopify is so widely used, it supports many integrations with other third-party apps. Note that these apps may come at an additional cost.
Pricing
Shopify’s pricing is highly variable depending on the size of your business, how many apps you purchase, and if you purchase any themes.
3. Barn2Door
Barn2Door is another solution that caters specifically to farmers by building websites, and providing marketing services and software.
Who It’s Best For
For those that want minimal involvement with the website or e-commerce side of the business, Barn2Door takes the marketing and website building out of your hands. While Barn2Door is great for some, they may not be a great fit for farms that want more control over their website.
Stand Out Features
- Sell by weight functionality
Barn2Door supports sell by weight functions both online and in-person. Online, customers must put down a deposit which is adjusted once the final weight is inputted.
- Subscriptions with pay-as-you-go and upfront pricing
Encourage customers to spend more with subscriptions that can be paid for either in pay-as-you-go installments or upfront for a discount.
- White glove marketing services
Barn2Door builds websites on Squarespace (more on that below) and offers marketing services to their customers. They also offer guidance on how to edit and maintain your website after it's published, but this comes at an additional cost.
Pricing
Barn2Door has a number of monthly pricing plans based on the size of the business and also charges a one-time set up fee.
4. Square
Square is a popular business platform that supports websites, POS systems, payroll, and more. Square offers a free domain for paid users and their website builder gives you an easy way to set up a basic e-commerce website.
Who It’s Best For
Square is potentially a good option for farms that are already using the Square POS system since it will integrate directly with it. But it lacks some farm-specific selling features like sell by weight on the e-commerce side.
Stand Out Features
- Built-in inventory management
With an app subscription, Square offers built-in inventory management, so you can seamlessly update inventory after making a sale on your e-store.
- Mix-and-match features
Square offers POS, payroll, invoicing, and other functionalities that can be seamlessly integrated with your site – especially useful if you’re utilizing these services already.
- Free subscription support
Square has built-in subscription options for online shipments (no pickup options currently) that are free for all users.
Pricing
Square is one of the more affordable options on the market, but prices can vary based on how many features (like shipping or subscriptions) you need, as these apps come at an additional cost. They also offer custom pricing.
5. Squarespace
Let’s get this out of the way: despite the name, Square has no relation to Squarespace. But given its wild popularity, we’d be remiss in not mentioning it. Squarespace is a powerful, easy-to-use website builder — but has limited e-commerce functionality.
Who It’s Best For
Farms that already have an e-commerce solution set up and are looking for a great-looking website to go with it. However, even a sleek website won’t be a good fit if you need to sell by weight, or offer any other kind of farm-specific selling options.
Stand Out Features
- Beginner-friendly e-commerce
While not the best for specialty features like subscriptions or sell by weight, Squarespace does support some great basic e-commerce functionality. - All-in-one services
Squarespace combines web hosting, design, and no-code editing all into a single platform. It also provides users with free custom domains and SSL certificates. - Designer templates
One of the reasons Squarespace is so popular is because their library of over 100 templates look great and are easy to customize.
Pricing
Squarespace is another affordable option — but note that their transaction fee is slightly higher than other competitors on the market.
Which Farm Website Builder Is Right For Me?
A common question we hear from many small farm owners is, “Why choose a specialty website builder over a bigger, more all-purpose option?”
Honestly, there’s no single right answer. The right tool for you will depend on what your business goals are and what you want to achieve with your website. Both farm-specific website builders and general e-commerce solutions have their benefits.
Benefits of Farm-Specific Website Builders
- Unified in-person and online operations
- Sell by weight and other farm-specific sales models
- Integration with POS and inventory management
- Ability to set up wholesale
- Specialized support for specific issues
Benefits of All-In-One Website Builders
- Customization options for advanced users
- Flashier website templates
- More integration with third-party systems
- Larger, more generalized support teams
Get Your Farm Out There With a Trusted Partner
Bringing a farm into the digital world isn’t always easy. But consider your website as the digital version of a handshake. It’s most people’s first impression of your business — and what your farm is all about.
GrazeCart is committed to helping farms build a website that will support your business goals for both the short and long term. To try GrazeCart’s website builder for yourself, start your free trial today.