Websites for butchers and farm shops
Before they visit, a butcher's customers want to know what you've got, what it costs and when you're open. In the run-up to Christmas they also want to order the turkey without queuing on the phone. I build simple websites for butchers and farm shops around York that handle all of that.
What a butcher's website needs
- Opening hours, including half-days and early closing, near the top of the page.
- A price list or this week's specials, as text you can update yourself.
- What makes you different, in your own words: where your meat comes from, how long the beef is hung, the sausages you make on site. Only what's true for you.
- Extras you offer, such as meat boxes, barbecue packs, a deli counter or catering.
- Phone, map and parking, with one tap to call on a phone.
A Christmas order form that frees up your phone
In December the phone rarely stops, and orders written on scraps of paper go missing. An online order form takes most of that pressure off. It asks for exactly what you need to know:
- name and mobile number
- what they'd like: turkey size or weight, joints, gammon, sausages, pigs in blankets
- collection day and time slot, from the days you choose
- anything else, like "please bone and roll the turkey"
Each order arrives in your email as a tidy message you can print or copy into your order book. The page shows the last day for orders and your Christmas opening hours, and when you're fully booked you switch the form off from your phone. If you want a deposit paid online, I can add a payment link from a provider you choose, quoted separately.
The same form works the rest of the year for Easter lamb, barbecue packs or meat boxes. You just change the wording.
Weekly specials without waiting for me
Prices and offers change all the time in a butcher's. Every site I build has a simple admin panel, so you can change a price, add "This week: pork shoulder" or put up a notice about holiday hours from your phone in about a minute. It's worth posting the same offer on your Google Business Profile too, as that's often the first thing people see when they search.
Getting found by local shoppers
When someone searches "butcher near me", Google mostly shows Business Profiles first. I check that yours has the right hours, category, photos and a link to your site. On the site, I make sure the page title says what you are and where ("Butcher in Thirsk", not just "Welcome"), and that your products are written as text, so Google knows you sell things like dry-aged beef, game or home-made pies, if you do.
What it costs
- Quick fix, £60. Adding a Christmas order form, correct hours or a tap-to-call button to the site you already have, including Wix, Squarespace or WordPress.
- Refresh, from £250. Your current site rebuilt with a new look and moved to hosting with no monthly fee. Same web address.
- New site, from £350, half up front and half when it's live. For a shop with no website, or only a Facebook page.
- Care plan, £45 a month. I keep the site running and backed up, and remind you to update your hours before Christmas and bank holidays. No contract, and my first 10 clients get the first 3 months free.
Your domain stays in your name and costs about £10 a year. There's a full breakdown on how much a website costs in York.
Meeting in person
I live in Easingwold and study in York, and I'm happy to come to the shop to talk it through. I cover Easingwold, Thirsk, Malton, Pocklington and the villages around them. If you also run a café or tea room, see websites for cafés. Christmas forms need setting up before the orders start, so the earlier you get in touch, the better.
Or run the instant website check on your shop's site first.