Building An Online Presence for Your Outdoor or Rec Business

Want to build an effective website for your outdoor/sporting goods business? We guide you through choosing a domain, hosting, adding product photos, optimizing layout and design, writing strong copy, going mobile-friendly, using CTAs, and more. With the right online presence, you can reach more customers and establish trust. Let's showcase your brand!

Do you have an outdoor business but don't know where to start?

In this article, we'll guide you to build a website for your outdoor business. So we'll get into creating it but here are a few reasons why that online presence matters so much.

1. It allows you to reach a wider audience and a client base that's looking for you.
2. It makes it easier for customers to find you and learn about your products or services.
3. It gives you an opportunity to build trust and credibility with potential customers.
4. It also is a great way to offer additional information, sales, give customers an easy way to contact you.

Getting started with the basics and setting up for your success

Potential customers (even if you're local) might not always be aware of your store if you just have a brick-and-mortar location. So, how to create such a web page that accurately represents your store? Use colors and themes that reflect the type of merchandise you sell and your location you represent.

Next to setup... The right domain name for your website, it should be short, easy to remember, and relevant to what you’re selling; If it's taken think about adding a prefix or area code (shop406). Also you can customize the Consider laying out you navigation menu on paper. This will help keep navigation simple and straightforward, Then make sure to provide clear and concise product information, business and contact information, etc, etc..

Pick Your Perfect “Natural” Domain

Next to set up... The right domain name for your website should be short, easy to remember, and relevant to what you’re selling; If it's taken, think about adding a prefix or area code (shop406). Also you can customize the more by adding a .biz or .us. Consider laying out your navigation menu on paper as well, This will help keep navigation simple and straightforward, Then make sure to provide clear and concise product information, business and contact information when setting all you accounts up, etc.

Finding Your Natural Hosting Environment

Let’s talk about hosting next, this is where you make a decision and you deal with it or you leave it. Now… I’ve actually tried a dozen different kinds of hosting and built several websites on several platforms. But for any good business to truly scale you need to get something that's intuitive. I say this because I always thought WordPress was great, and it is but it has its particular uses and businesses are not one.

Wix was another one, and fell short due to the non stop up-sells. By the time I got just the basics ready it tallied up to well over $400 a year in just basic features. That’s before I begin adding other relevant software and my services. Basically for the highest package on a DIY Wix site I can build you one custom and toss in other great software to use for marketing…… Crazy right?

As an agency and specialist online I rely on just one web design tool now… Duda. The magic here is you can host with someone like me and get a great template with all the tools you need plus benefit by having someone who can streamline your goals. Further you can get a custom site that's turnkey, hosted by a professional, and tethered for anything you’d ever need. Giving you the most personalized and efficient experience you’ll ever get from an online service.

Needless to say, creating an online presence for your outdoor or sporting goods business is therefore essential and important to get right.

Adding your own product photos and website graphics

Adding your own product photos and website graphics is a great way for you to personalize your outdoor and sporting goods business website. By doing so, you showcase your products exactly how you want them to be seen by potential customers, and help to create a unique brand identity. You can create custom images of your products in use, or even add videos to your site to give customers a more immersive experience. These elements not only make your site more visually appealing, but also give you another opportunity to promote your brand and establish trust with potential customers. By using high quality, clear, and bright images, you can accurately represent your merchandise and give customers a better understanding of what they can expect from your products.

Create and Add Your Own Great Custom Images

When potential customers come across your outdoor and sporting goods store online, you want to make sure that your web page is designed in a way that will instill trust, confidence, and reflect your brand. If you're selling products, you should add custom images of your products and videos to your site. These elements make your site more attractive to potential customers. They also give you another opportunity to promote your brand.

Display Clearly, Exude Confidence

Potential customers should be able to see what your products look like before they purchase them so use clear, bright images that accurately represent your merchandise. Maybe find someone to wear or display it in its intended habitat. This will help really increase your trust with potential clients. And may even be the deciding factor on your Brand.

Designing the layout for the perfect outdoors feel and your brand

When it comes to outdoor products websites, the layout and design are crucial for making a strong first impression on potential customers. You want to create a flow that guides visitors through your site easily, while also maintaining a clean and visually appealing design. But equally important is infusing your brand essence throughout the site. Little deeper into these...

Be consistent with colors, fonts, and spacing

If you’re looking to make a truly great impact with your website design and customer journey, then you need to keep things consistent throughout every page. This means choosing a color scheme and font style that works well for your outdoor or sporting goods business and doesn’t add too much noise. Remember that nature can be messy but it’s almost always clean and spacious. So choose a theme that matches your brand identity and takes into account your awesome location.

Write Copy That Speaks Volumes

It goes without saying your most credible tool is your copy. Sure pictures grab attention but words give context and meaning. Your intentions and brand mission should resonate and be cohesive throughout. When writing about your products be sure to use a tone that fits too. Focus your words into concise yet detailed segments and utilize headers like a hierarchy. These help google index your site and understand exactly who you are. They will also help guide your customers to what they are looking for.

Always keep your target audience in mind. Use words and language that fits and speak to the problems they face. Doing this will give you a good head start, but keep track of how your page performs on search engines. Typically your use of words in your titles and paragraphs will affect this next to large file sizes. Remember, Google isn’t going to intentionally send traffic somewhere they think might be spammy or not as useful as other content.

Build Responsively, Never Forget Device Diversity

Next keep in mind that your website is mobile-friendly. A recent study showed that over half of internet shoppers nationwide access the internet from their smartphones. This number is only expected to grow in the coming years. Another reason is you never know when a loyal customer endorses your quality goods on the trailhead or out on the water. We’re connected today like never before, it’d be a total shame to take it for granted. Therefore, it’s crucial that your website can be easily viewed and navigated on a mobile device.

Keep The Flow Going

Every great website has a call to action (CTA), a button or link that encourages users to take a particular action. You can use CTAs to encourage people to subscribe to your email list, download an app, make a purchase, or visit your site. When designing this don’t be afraid to look at your competitors and just see what they have going on. Sometimes you can spot something and instantly know how to make it uniquely yours. Use these to direct your customers around your site and bring them to your best deals and everything they are looking for.

You should also consider adding social media buttons to your pages and even the footer of your site. Use social media to drive traffic to your website and build up interest in your store. This makes it easier for people to share your content with their friends and followers. Whatever the case, make it nice and easy.

The Do’s & Do Nots of Online Business

Transparency & Clarity are Key

Never try to hide the prices of your products – it will only frustrate potential customers and make them less likely to buy from you, so be upfront about pricing then there are no surprises later on. If you offer services make sure to explain what to expect. Provide detailed product descriptions so potential customers know exactly what they’re getting when they purchase from you. Just be transparent about your pricing and offer customer testimonials. Those customer testimonials are a great way to build trust with new potential customers. If you have satisfied customers who are willing to vouch for your products or services, try to always include their testimonials on your web page.

Crafting your Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

This is an absolute no-brainer! When you have an online business or eComm you are dealing with privacy whether you know it or not. Further you always want a set of plans and considerations for negative customer interactions. Being clear right away will ensure the customer who purchases your goods or services knows what to expect if something isn’t exactly perfect. And they’ll know the protocol for resolving the issue. There are a TON of tools that are affordable and fairly comprehensive. If you get a Duda site (even better with a pro!) you’ll have a template and even an app built-in to make it more airtight. 

If you decide to tackle it on your own, sit down and go through each service, write down the expectations and steps for each occasion and for both parties or all parties involved. Consider what may come up and how you’ll resolve it, even if it’s a long-shot. Then make sure you let them know what kind of technology you use and how they may use your data. Include links to their respective policies. Doing this will help ensure you are covered and also give you a standard set of procedures for each occasion.

Be Valuable With What You Offer in Trade of Of Loyalty

Being a brand means building trust, all the time. When you're working on expanding your reach you are going to find how incredibly safeguarded the almighty email address is. Getting people to donate that means you’re going to need to get creative, offer something valuable or give them some of your time. Just make sure to put yourself in their situation and ask “Would I sign up?”. Even more-so make sure it’s visually appealing, nothing says lazy like great info in a crappy format.

In conclusion, Just use what you already know. Building a website for your outdoors business doesn't require any special skills. 

Overall, creating an online presence for your outdoor or sporting goods business has many benefits. By taking the time to design a website and blog that's scalable, you can ensure that your business has a professional online presence that will attract new customers for years to come. There's really no reason why you shouldn't be able to get a professional website started right away. The truth is, building a website for yourself isn't rocket science. It's just a matter of knowing where to look, and having an online marketing ally that loves the outdoors as much as you do. 

Sure, it might take some time to learn the basics, but once you get started, you'll find that it's easy enough to build a nice website from scratch. And if you want to add features later on, you can always hire a professional to help you out. Or have a custom website made and see returns faster.

If you're looking for that personalized small town kind of support along with a business that cares give us a call. We can help you bring your outdoor and sporting goods website to life affordably.