Word of Mouse
Everything* you wanted to know about websites but were afraid to ask!
We get asked loads of questions by fl orists about web design and whether it’s really worth it… or indeed possible... to succeed in a world dominated by the ‘big boys’. Well fact is, whilst internet sales are growing faster than any other channel, as a local independent retailer you actually have the edge when it comes to web sales, especially as more and more consumers move away from central websites and look for a local fl orist. Which is why, if you get it right, you could see sales dramatically increase and at a cost that isn’t as scary as you might think.
We spoke to three diff erent companies who specialise in the fl ower industry for their advice on what you should be doing. For now is the perfect time to start rethinking your web strategy. The peaks are over, there’s hopefully a bit of cash in the till and you’ll have time to think about it properly so that when the next round of peaks hit you are well and truly up there in cyberspace with a site that makes you money.
Florist Window built their fi rst fl orist website in 2009, however MD Tim Cartledge has been in the web business since 1998 and along the way learned a thing or two about what makes a website work. We got his take on your top 12 questions.
Why do I need a website? My customers know where
I am. Back in ’98 I published an article about ecommerce being the way of the future; 15 years later and everyone knows about
40 F&wb Spring 2013
online shopping. My Mum who is retired has joined Facebook since she got an iPad, she has even started talking about Apps having recently downloaded and installed the free Kindle reading app! The internet we know is here to stay and it is just going to get bigger. With the emergence of the mobile market, tablet and smartphone devices have made the web even more accessible which is why every shop needs to fully embrace the web now before it is too late to open their business up to a global audience 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Can I as a small independent shop ever hope to compete
with the ‘big boys’? Yes because when shoppers search natural, unpaid results locally Google – the biggest search engine – actually prefers good independent sites so if a local fl orist with a real address and a real local rate telephone number gets it right they will actually beat the big boys in their city, town or village. But the website has to be slick and professional - online shoppers are used to the best - but it’s totally achievable and needn’t cost a fortune.
Ahh the all-powerful Google… how does a fl orist
get ‘up the lists’? Spiders! Not real ones but how Google can crawl around your site and gather your visible content, pages and links. I could get all technical about source codes and removing barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Or talk about link relationships with other relevant websites but the short, non-technical answer is what I tell my clients. “The way a website is built will directly aff ect how it will perform on search engines” and “Content is King”. With the right website and content every local fl orist has a fi ghting chance. No website - or an out of date, badly built website - no chance!
What would be your three
top tips for a good website? Coding: A search engine friendly website, in open text, that Google and others can crawl right down to in order to read every single word, page reference, page title and description. Content: Relevant text about who you are, what you do and where you do it wrapped around your products, services and shop location.
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