It’s ironic but necessary: the culture that eschews modern ways needs an Internet presence to help tourists navigate Ohio’s Amish Country.

For almost two years, Stuart and Norma Watson of Conneaut have served as the liaison between these simple and complex worlds. The Watsons are founders of the Web site experience-ohio-amish-country.com, a portal to tourism and shopping experiences available in Ohio’s Amish communities. They research and maintain the site as a part-time venture they hope will eventually grow into something larger.

Stuart, who is principal of South Ridge Christian Academy and assistant pastor at South Ridge Baptist Church, says he and his wife have been visiting Amish Country destinations for more than two decades. The couple say they enjoy the reverent, simple lifestyle of the Amish, as well as the scenic beauty of their settlements, craftsmanship of their products, wholesomeness of their meals and comfort of their accommodations.

“You almost feel like part of the family when you go to these places,” Norma says. “That what appeals to us, because we’re all about families.”

Eager to share their experiences with family and friends, the Watsons often found themselves serving as travel counselors for others thinking about making a weekend trip to Holmes County. In June 2006 they decided to put their knowledge online.

“It seemed like a logical fit,” Stuart says, explaining how the Web site evolved from their travels. “We’ve been doing it so long, enjoying it so much, we thought why not do a Web site?”

They created the Web site from scratch using Sitesell.com, an e-commerce company that walks fledgling online entrepreneurs through the process of creating Web pages and positioning them on the Web for maximum exposure.

Putting this resource together has required hundreds of hours of research on Norma’s part. Stuart handles the technology side and does most of his work in the family room so his daughters continue to have access to him.

He says he went with Sitesell.com as their hosting provider because the company helped him with the fundamentals of Web design and marketing from the ground up. Nearly two years later, he’s still learning and the site is still evolving into what they hope will become an income-producing business.

“I have found it a tremendous education,” Stuart says. “It’s rewarding to know you actually have a site to show for your work.”

Stuart says their desire was to create a state-wide, online guide to the Amish, something that was missing from the Web. While there are sites dedicated to Ohio’s Amish, Stuart says they usually focus on just one county or town.

“We’re trying to bring attention to all of Ohio, not just Holmes County,” Norma says.

“Amish Country is more than Holmes county. Amish Country is all over Ohio,” Stuart says.

The couple began their Web site by drawing upon the long list of contacts and friends they’d made while staying, eating and shopping in Amish settlements.

“What we wanted to do is come at it from the angle of a family,” Stuart says. “None of the other sites come at it from that approach.”

The Watsons have four girls, ages 6 to 16, who travel with them to their Amish destinations. Norma says this also gives their site a child’s perspective of the attractions, which is helpful for families planning a trip.

Their Web site is also intended to be a one-stop shop for learning about the Amish and what to expect when traveling to each region. A tips page provides a primer for must-see places, courtesies, best times and bargains. For example, they suggest eating “family style” at the Amish restaurants to save on dining expenses, especially when traveling with children.

The site isn’t just for tourists, however. A very popular section of the site deals with the salvage stores, a real bargain-hunter’s dream because of the food values that can be found there. The site provides names, addresses and hours for salvage stores throughout the state.

Shoppers looking for Amish-made furniture can also uncover those secluded craftsmen who will custom build furniture of high quality at significant savings.



It’s a business

Stuart says two income streams are produced by the site. The first is through Google ads, targeted ads that load when someone visits the site. The second is by selling Amish products online – an Amish wedding cookbook and Amish country map. They are also investigating Amish-made products to include in the e-commerce section.

The site draws about 10,000 unique visits per month. Traffic will build now through October before bottoming out around Christmas.

It’s not just tourists who visit, however. Norma says she’s answered inquiries from school children and adults alike doing research on the Amish. They had a visitor from Germany order one of the Amish Country maps, perhaps in anticipation of visiting Ohio.

Norma also gets questions from people who purchased an unusual item or ate at a special restaurant during Amish County visit, but forgot where. She helps them track down the source of their purchase and address of the restaurant so they can enjoy their experience again.

Maintaining and adding new information to the site is an ongoing task that involves making frequent trips back to their favorite haunts. Stuart says although they’ve converted their vacation getaway to a job, it does not feel like work.

“It’s almost made them more interesting because now we are on a hunt,” he says. “In our research, I’m amazed at how much we’ve missed.”

Their goal is to expand the Web site to include Ashtabula County’s Amish community, which does not have a lot to offer the tourist but does have some retail businesses and many craftsmen. They also want to continue to tweak the existing services on the site, such as the blog, and add a trip-planning section.

Stuart says building and running a Web site is not a quick path to riches.

“It is like a tortoise, it’s slow,” says Norma. Nevertheless, it does have its benefits, like being able to justify that extra weekend getaway because it is, after all, a business/research trip.

“We have gone there so much, but we never cease to find something new and we never get tired of it,” Norma says. “It’s fun for us, and we want to share that passion with others.”



online: www.experience-ohio-amish-country.com