Have you ever Googled your farm to see what people might find when they are looking for you online?
Right away, you are going to run into a problem. The first problem is that Google remembers all of your searches. It does this to make things easier on you, but it also taints what you see vs. what a consumer would see. You need to go to a different computer or phone and then Google your farm’s name. Or just a different browser.
What comes up?
This is very important because if it’s not the information you want people to see about your farm, then you might need to help change it on Google.
If you have a website, you definitely want that to come up. If it doesn’t for your farm name, then something is wrong with the website itself. It takes a little bit of time to diagnose a problem with a website — you can always reach out to me and I can help you find out what’s wrong with your website.
If you are using social media, then these should show up next on Google. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok, Medium, and Tumblr could all show up. But you might see things like Yelp or Manta. These are business review sites and directories websites. You will want to click through every link to see what these say about your farm.
If you have social media and the links are not showing up, then something is wrong as well and I can help you. It’s most likely because you are not using the same handles as your farm or are missing some text that could help your search results.
Are you a dairy farmer who needs help getting started in social media and connecting with consumers? Your local and national dairy checkoff can help — please reach out to them via dairy.org or me at don.schindler@dairy.org. If you would like to learn more about your national dairy checkoff, you can join our Facebook group or visit dairy.org.
