You may remember the Ranch Locator Company from my post on re-designing their logo in 2015. The Ranch Locator company is a small business in Weimar, Texas specializing in the searching and acquisition of acreage in Texas. The company is led by Jack Holman, a broker with experience in hunting, land management, wildlife and fisheries, commercial cow and calf production, and so much more. I look forward to reading his blog posts – but more on that in a bit.

They wanted to stay with their current hosting and domain provider, so that was an easy accommodation. I also created and set up several web addresses for their other employees whom did not have a domain-associated email address at the time. We already had established their color scheme, personality of the company, and more when I re-did their logo. So now it was time to talk about their goals (both long term and short term), mission, and hopes for their website. I am also composing a User Manual for their use so that they can really take the reigns on managing their own website.

The Ranch Locator Company had been harboring the same website for many years. Below is their former homepage.

If comparing the previous website to today’s standard, it lacked a lot. It’s most interactive feature was a form based on questions of what could be looking for in purchasing a ranch or acreage. It had the classic html elements of small-type slideshows and a repeating wallpaper – even a slightly spinning gif for feature. It closely resembled the first website I ever made for a school project, based on the fake product called Cowboy Coffee. I think I even used that same little cowboy hat.

So the first thing I can remember discussing with the members of this organization where their needs. They’re a small company now, but they could expand in the future, offering different agents and agencies around Texas. They wanted the ability to have a real estate directory on the chance someone lists a ranch with them for sale – although most of their work is representing the buyer, getting to know the buyer, and finding the perfect place to accommodate their needs.

This was a particularly interesting project for myself, because I learned a lot about the different ranches available. Some people buy them to have personal hunting grounds, some for agricultural production reasons – some people just like them for personal bird watching excursions!

Nonetheless, I wanted to leave the Ranch Locator Company with more than what they would need in the interim for the hopes, dreams, and business goals they have in mind. They wanted the ability to update it themselves, and feature a blog that could be updated with tips of the trade and hilarious tidbit stories from Jack, so I built them a WordPress-based website. They also told me about possible plans to expand: their website (although not taking full use of it right now) has the ability to list properties and their accommodating amenities, and very powerful search capabilities based on those properties. It also has the powerful capability of adding different agents, drilled down into different agencies, and options to assign one or none of aforementioned agents to all of those different properties.

I think the most powerful feature on the website I developed for them isn’t going to be anything I did – but it will be the very powerful blog called “Holman Hunts” that will keep viewers coming back for more. Jack is an absolute card. I’ve been told that a big mission in this website is to bring more exposure to his writings. Up until recently, his writings, short stories, delves into the imagination, and pieces of advice have only been circulated to a small group of friends via email. Those friends then find themselves forwarding it to their friends, and so on. I am really looking forward to following up with these clients and taking in some colorfully written blog posts while I do.

Other than that, their website features the basics – About us, plenty of ways to contact them, some interactive social media timelines – and some drone footage for a homepage video header that a friend of theirs captured.

Read all about them on their brand new website. I present to you, the Ranch Locator Company website. If you’re interested in having a website of your own built, or redesigned, please feel free to contact me in any way you see fit:

• Facebook
• Email
• Go straight to the New Client Questionnaire