In today’s tech savvy culture, it’s something of a rarity to discover a business that’s not taking advantage of the near necessity of the Internet to boost the bottom line. Yet, many farriers remain steadfast in relying on word of mouth to build their clientele.

Simply put, websites are an effective tool to promote your hoof-care business and educate current and potential clients. Recognizing this tried and true method, American Farriers Journal conducted a contest for the best farrier business website.

After exploring the various websites nominated by our readers, voters crowned Eugene, Ore., farrier Michael Waldorf as the grand-prize winner. The certified farrier will receive free registration to the 2015 International Hoof-Care Summit in Cincinnati. The runners-up are Hamburg, N.J., farrier David Deppen and Chuck Gibson of Lima, Ohio.

Each of the trio of finalists enjoys a great deal of success as a result of their websites. Their effort has increased their business, improved client education and benefitted their colleagues — all with little time and money spent.

Launch Time

Like many business owners, Deppen, Gibson and Waldorf launched websites with the hope that they would improve their businesses.

“Back in 1997 when I launched my site, I considered it a novelty, a fancy business card, which was basically what most websites were back then,” Waldorf says. “Now, I recognize it as an essential tool for horse owners to find me; a 21st century Yellow Pages, really.”

The broad appeal of the Internet was attractive to Gibson, who fired…