A ski and snowboard shop site exists to answer service questions before the weekend: what a tune costs and how long it takes, how rentals and season leases work, what is in stock, and when you are open.

What the site is actually for

People rarely browse a ski and snowboard shop's website for fun. They arrive with a job to get done before the weekend.

Skis that need a tune before opening day. A child who has outgrown last year's boots. A first lesson booked, and no equipment. A board with a gouge from the last run of the spring.

Most of them look on a phone, in the evening, in the middle of the week.

The site's job is to tell them what it costs, how long it takes and when to come in, without a phone call.

The questions people arrive with

The first decides when people come in. A skier who cannot tell whether a tune dropped off on Thursday will be ready by Saturday either phones, waits, or takes the skis to a shop that says.

Tuning and repairs, in plain words

List each service as text, with what it includes and a price.

A hot wax, an edge sharpen, a full tune with a stone grind, a base repair and a binding check are different jobs at different prices.

Customers rarely know the terms, so explain them in passing. A stone grind flattens the base and gives it a fresh texture; a base repair fills a gouge with new material. One line each is enough.

Then say how long each takes, and when that changes.

In by noon, ready next day is a fair promise in November. The week the hill opens, it may honestly be three days, and the page should say so that week.

Booking a tune online

A simple drop-off form saves time on both sides of the counter. The customer gives a name, a phone number, the equipment and the service, and picks a day to bring it in.

The workshop sees the week's load before the skis arrive, and the ticket is half written when they do.

Say how the customer will hear that the job is done. If the shop's system can send a text, say so; it answers the question people otherwise phone to ask.

Rentals and season leases

Rental pages need the packages, what each includes, prices by the day and the weekend, and whether a helmet is part of the package or extra.

Bindings are set by a trained technician from the skier's height, weight, age, ability and boot.

Say which details to have ready, and let people send them ahead with a reservation so the counter is quick.

Season leases, usually for children, bring the questions parents ask most: when leasing opens, how sizing works for a child who will grow, what happens with damage, and the date equipment comes back in spring.

Put that return date on the page and in the lease confirmation. Parents who knew it in December have forgotten it by April.

Boot fitting

Boot fitting is the service most worth explaining, because it is slow and customers rarely expect that.

Say whether it needs an appointment, roughly how long it takes, and what to bring: the socks you ski in, and any insoles you already use.

Mention whether adjustments in the first weeks are included, since new boots often need a tweak after a few days on the hill.

A customer who books an hour and arrives prepared gets a better fitting than one who drops in at three on a Saturday.

A worked example

A ski and snowboard shop in an Interior town, at the foot of the road up to the hill, had a site full of action photographs.

Its services page listed tuning, rentals and boot fitting, with no prices, and its hours page said winter hours, without dates.

Every year, in the week before the hill opened, the phone rang most of the day with the same question: can you have my skis by Saturday.

The fix was mostly words. Tuning got its own page, with prices, what each job includes, and a turnaround line the manager changes from a phone as the workshop fills up.

A drop-off form went on the same page. The season lease page gained its pickup and return dates, and the hours page now lists each month, with the holidays written out.

The action photographs stayed, below the answers.

Stock, brands and sizes

A full online store is a bigger decision. Without one, the site can still say which brands you carry, in which categories, and whether you stock wide boots, women's models or junior sizes.

Where the point-of-sale system can show stock on the website, sizes matter most. A boot in the right model but not the right size is not in stock for that customer.

Take down what has sold out for the season, and say when the spring sale starts. People plan around it.

Hours, holidays and conditions

Few shops keep the same hours from November to April. Pre-season, opening week, Christmas, spring break and the end of the season all differ, so list the hours by month.

Set special hours for each holiday on your Google My Business listing too, since many people check the map before the website.

Conditions belong to the mountain. Link to the hill's own snow report and to road conditions rather than copying them, since a copied report is out of date by lunchtime.

The counter-case

A rental shop at the base of a hill, where nearly everyone walks in on the day, needs less of this: packages, prices, hours, and a way to reserve for busy weekends.

A specialist boot fitter needs more, with fitting explained in detail. A shop with a full online store has a catalogue to run as well, which is a larger project than this guide.

But every shop that tunes skis hears the same midweek question. Answer it on the page before anything else.

What to build first

  1. Publish tune prices with turnaround times.
  2. Add a drop-off form for tunes and repairs.
  3. Explain season leases with pickup and return dates.
  4. List rental packages and what each includes.
  5. Show hours by month, holidays included.
  6. Name the brands and sizes you carry.
  7. Link the hill's own snow report.

Step one is the answer people want most and the one shops most often leave out. A price and a turnaround time turn a midweek phone call into a drop-off.

The same thinking for a business with an even shorter season is in what a Christmas tree farm website needs.

Frequently asked questions

What should a ski shop website show first?

Tune prices with turnaround times, since the most common question is whether equipment dropped off midweek will be ready by the weekend.

Should tune prices be published online?

Yes, written as text, with what each job includes. Customers rarely know the difference between a wax, an edge sharpen and a stone grind, so explain each in a line.

How do online tune bookings help?

The customer gives the equipment, the service and a drop-off day, so the workshop sees the week's load in advance and the ticket is half written before anything arrives.

What should a season lease page include?

When leasing opens, how sizing works for growing children, what happens with damage, and the spring return date, repeated in the lease confirmation.

Should the site show snow conditions?

Link to the hill's own snow report and to road conditions rather than copying them. A copied report is out of date within hours.

How should seasonal hours be shown?

By month, with each holiday written out, and with matching special hours on Google My Business. Say when the shop closes for the season too.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Tune prices only available by phone?

Put them on the page with turnaround times. We will build a drop-off form your workshop can actually use.

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