First impressions are everything. When a potential customer walks into your on-farm store, a friendly greeting, well-organized displays, and attractively-packaged products can mean the difference between a quick visit and a huge sale.
Your website works the same way.
Within the first few seconds of landing on your homepage, website visitors decide whether or not they’re interested in becoming an actual customer — all based on the language, design, and photos they see.
In this blog, we’ll hear from Brooks and Blaine Hitzfield, two of the experts behind Seven Sons Farm, an eight-figure farm e-commerce business that’s been online since 2005. They’ve put together their top six strategies for building a farm store website homepage that drives sales, so keep reading!
On average, visitors spend about five seconds on a homepage before “bouncing,” or leaving to visit a different website. You have only a few seconds to capture their attention and prove why you’re worth their business.
If you can keep them on your site longer than a few seconds, they’re much more likely to become a paying customer.
This means a thoughtfully designed homepage is essential for online farm store success. Let’s look at six key lessons from the Seven Sons team to help you improve your farm’s homepage, reduce your bounce rate, and make more sales.
Related Read: The New Farm Storefront: What Online Buyers Expect in 2026
Today’s online shoppers have limited attention spans. They only spend a few seconds browsing your website, and if they aren’t immediately interested, they definitely won’t scroll farther down the page.
That’s why it’s crucial to focus on what’s “above the fold,” or visible on your page without scrolling. This generally includes a header, photo, quick blurb about your business, and a photo or two.
Brooks and Blaine recommend answering three questions at the top of your page:
Remember: Visitors will only spend a few seconds skimming, so keep your header, slogan, and button text short! Spend some time writing and revising this copy to ensure it aligns with your ideal customers’ wants, needs, and frustrations.
Your homepage should do more than tell customers who you are — it should encourage them to place an order.
This part of your homepage is called the “call to action” (CTA). Once you’ve earned visitors’ trust through the information and photos on your homepage, the CTA nudges them through the next stage of the buying process and encourages them to start exploring your products.
The Seven Sons Farm homepage has several CTAs, including:
Make sure each of your CTAs stands out and looks clickable. Use buttons, arrows, and different fonts and colors to guide visitors right to them.
Grainy, blurry, or slow-to-load photos make your farm store website seem thrown together, making it tough for new customers to trust that you’ll deliver high-quality products.
Instead, Brooks and Blaine recommend investing in professional photography for your homepage. Get pictures of your family farm team, products, pastures, and fields to create visual intrigue and show visitors that your farm is legitimate.
Pro tip: Large file sizes make your website load slowly, increasing your bounce rate and frustrating customers. Consider compressing them or converting them to a web-friendly format like WebP for faster load times without compromising clarity.
Shopping for beef, chicken, and pork at the big-box supermarket is easier and cheaper — so why should customers buy these products from your farm?
Your promise statement should answer this question clearly on the homepage.
To develop your promise statement, Brooks and Blaine recommend getting to know your most loyal customers. What makes them choose your farm over conventional grocery stores? Why do they keep coming back?
The answer might be transparency about the farming process, your commitment to regenerative farming practices, or your superior customer service.
For example, the Seven Sons Farm homepage outlines three reasons to trust them: They’re real farmers, they don’t cut corners, and they make it as easy as possible for their customers.
Nobody speaks louder than your customers, which is why including social proof on your farm store website homepage is a game-changer.
Seeing reviews from real customers can win over skeptical customers and be the deciding factor in placing an order. Seven Sons Farm advertises their 3,500+ 5-star reviews right at the top of their homepage.
If you’re new to direct-to-consumer (DTC) farming or don’t have many reviews yet, don’t worry! You have a few options.
First, reach out to your most loyal customers for quotes to include on your website. Make sure they mention your excellent products and customer service. These testimonials can serve as a placeholder while you generate more reviews for your business.
In the meantime, send follow-up emails to customers who recently ordered. They’re most willing to leave a review right after they’ve received a delivery, so send an automated follow-up email that links to your Google or Yelp review page.
Your homepage might look great on a large laptop or desktop screen, but it’s a different story when visitors load your farm store website on their phone or tablet.
Since over half of website browsing is done on a mobile device, your homepage should be compatible with smaller screens. Let’s look at a few tips for mobile-friendly website design:
Keeping mobile visitors in mind will help you future-proof your website and appeal to your busiest customers.
Need help building a farm store website that drives sales? We’ve got you covered.
GrazeCart is an e-commerce platform specifically designed to help family farms start selling online. Along with a user-friendly, drag-and-drop website builder, our software includes powerful features to help you sell by weight, fulfill orders accurately, and offer everything from local pickup to door-to-door shipping.
Take GrazeCart for a spin by scheduling your personalized demo with one of our farm store experts today.