The floral ecommerce trend for 2020 is here – flower subscriptions! Flower shops are starting to turn single sales into multiple, ongoing orders. 

First there was Birchbox and then Barkbox. Now even Amazon recently launched its own subscription box page – selling hundreds of monthly items like pet toys (“Pawstruck”) and cured meats (“Carnivore Club”).

Here’s what you need to know to sell flower subscriptions on your own florist website. 

What are Flower Subscriptions? 

Flower subscriptions are an easy way for your customers to subscribe to flowers.

Customers can choose the general type of flowers, the price point, and the delivery frequency.  Some shops are offering different types of subscriptions like plants or gift baskets. 

 

How Should You Set Up Flower Subscriptions? 

Want to set up flower subscriptions on your florist website. Here are some tips? 

• Simple Packages – Customers are often confused when buying flowers. Keep your subscriptions simple, like a fast food menu. 
• Example Images – If you show specific arrangements, customers may expect those. Closeup images are preferable. 
• Reasonable Pricing – Keep the pricing reasonable. Remember that you are getting multiple orders!
• Free Delivery – Delivery at flower shops is complicated. Bundle in delivery charges for simplicity. 
• Duration Options – Customers are likely to pick shorter subscriptions as gifts due to cost. But showing 1 year as “most popular” persuade them to choose longer subscriptions.  

Think Outside the Flower Box

Consumers are now used to “box” offerings. Think Birchbox, Barkbox, DollarShaveClub and (according to Forbes) over 3,500 other box offering companies! Consider branding your flower subscription and consider calling it a monthly “flower box”. 

Floranext websites are set up with Roses, Seasonal Flowers, and Plants – but you could easily re-brand these to be “Rose Box”, “Seasonal Box”, and “Plant Box”. 

Flower Subscriptions – Increase $$Sales On Your  Florist Website

Flower subscriptions may be the single easiest way to increase your florist website revenues. Does your website provider offer flower subscriptions? 

__

Floranext is the first floral website provider to launch subscription flowers – click here to find out about Floranext websites.

 

 

Customers search online about the things they want to buy, even if it’s a simple local purchase.

 

Google is not only helpful for consumers, but it’s also good for businesses. As long as you can use that to your advantage by strengthening your business’s online presence, your floral e-commerce website can succeed. 

Florist Quick Guide to Google My Business

Google My Business is Google’s one-stop shop for all things online for your business. It is an online platform that contains tools where you can manage how your business will look like in Google and Google Search.

Google My Business (GMB) improves your local SEO by:

* Giving you the options to add your business and the relevant details to Search and Maps

* Viewing and replying to customer reviews

* Adding photos

What are Google My Business local Guides?

Google My Business’s Local guides allow people to contribute to the following:

*Adding information to Maps

*Adding photos

*Updating information on businesses they are familiar with or local to them

*Adding new places to the platform.

The program differentiates individuals into tiers, depending on how much they have contributed to Maps. The goal for them is to keep Maps updated and help other people be fully informed about the businesses and places around them. 

Aside from adding data, Local Guides can also add reviews to business listings. However, they are considered to be more reliable users, thus their reviews appear more frequently and on top of the reviews list. 

How Can I Improve My Local Pages?

Customers who come across your business, those who make a purchase or require service can be a Local Guide. It can be hard to tell Local Guides apart from normal customers. Local Guides reviews are trusted more by people just with the sheer fact that their reviews are given priority when displaying reviews on your listing.

You cannot just pick out Local Guides from your customers and give them the best service you can. The key here is to treat all your customers the same and give the best service as much as you can to everyone. 

Encourage customers to leave reviews for your business listing in Google Maps.

When receiving Positive Reviews:

*Reply to reviews in your listing

*Make sure to thank the reviewer

*Offer them to return 

*Try out a new service that you might have started on your business.

 

When receiving Negative Reviews:

*Be polite and courteous

*State the status of the concern or issue the review was having problems with.

*Apologize for the issue or concern

*Offer to replace or fix the issue

 

Doing this will give people the impression that you are very mindful of the concerns that your business has and responsive to your customer base.

 

The tools that GMB provides are beneficial in boosting your online presence, and most especially in the local setting. Taking advantage of these tools is thus invaluable in helping out your business grow.

Florists, have you been using Google my Business: Local Guides? Please share your thoughts and comments below!

____________

Floranext offers great florist software, florist POS, florist websites and florist wedding proposal software. Our florist technology products are built by florists, for florists. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

 

Using Google My Business is one of the best ways to improve your floral business website’s visibility.

 

Google My Business (formerly called Google Places) is the number one platform for listing your flower shop on Google searches, and Google Maps! Google My Business allows you to improve your business’s credibility and visibility, by showing you are verified on one of the most trusted platforms on the Internet.

 

 

Signing Up for Google for Business

If you are just starting your floral business, whether or not you have a floral website set up or not, start your application here.

Click Manage Now and enter your Business Name.

 

Next, you will be asked if you want to add a location that customers can visit, such as a store or an office.

If Yes – Enter Store Address. This will be displayed on Google Search and Google Maps

If No (you do NOT have a physical location that customers can visit you at), just click No.

 

Regardless of your answer, you will next be prompted to add areas that your business may service. Say Yes to this, and be sure to use the search bar provided to type in ALL applicable Delivery Areas for your Business.

 

Next, you will need to choose a business category. Just start typing and you will see many suggestions pop up that could be applicable. You can only add one at this screen, however, it is easy to add more after you have completed signing up.

 

Once you choose your category, you will be asked which contact details you’d like to show to customers. If you already have a website, go ahead and enter your Website Domain URL in the provided space. If you have a phone number for your business, go ahead and enter that as well.  If you don’t have a website yet, simply select “I don’t need a Website” (you definitely need one, but not for the purposes of signing up here). You can add in a website later at any time by using the Info Section.

 

Once you have completed the application process, you will likely be prompted to Verify your new listing. This is almost always done by sending a Verification Code by Post to your Business’s mailing address. Once you receive the Code in the Post, you can then enter that code onto your Google Business Verification page, to confirm the verification. This can take between a week, or sometimes two weeks for the code to arrive via post, so it is important to begin this process with Google My Business ASAP.

You’re done! You now have a Verified Listing on Google Business, that will show up for customers who are searching for your type of business in your local search area!

Now that we are signed in and verified on Google Business, let’s take a look at the various sections of the GMB Dashboard that will require our attention.

 

The Home Page

This will be your Main Hub for your Google Business dashboard. Here you can do a little bit of everything, such as: quickly see how your Business is displayed on Search and Maps, respond to reviews directly, answer questions, manage customer submitted photos, and create posts to share with your customers who view your business on Google Search.

Google Business is constantly adding new features, and many businesses, small and large, fail to take advantage of them! The next section is going to examine some of the important features you can access on your Google Business Dashboard.

 

POSTS

Business Owners can now create Posts that show directly with your Business Listing when customers view it on Search or Maps. These posts can be used to advertise special Products (including a URL to directly buy from your site), or to notify your customers about Events coming up, or special offers you may have (such as coupons or discounts). There are lots of possibilities with this new function. Keep in mind, a post made here will only last for 7 days maximum, and can only be 1500 characters MAX. So it is important to be concise, and to have good timing with your posts! Consider this, if you have a promotion that coincides with a major holiday, such as this upcoming Mother’s Day!

 

INFO

This is one of the most important pages for your Business Listing. Everything that is in the main column, under the Business Name, should be filled out ASAP. This includes: Business Name, Categories, Business Location, Service Areas, Hours and Special Hours, Phone Number, Website URL, Payment Methods Accepted, Short Description, Opening Date, and Photos.

As a Business Owner, it’s in your best interest to make sure all of this is filled out. All of this information can be shown with your Google Listing.

I’d like to quickly highlight a few newer functions from this page that are not utilized as much we think they should be:

Service Areas: Previously Google prompted Businesses to choose a Radius on their map to indicate how wide their service area could be. Now GMB seems to prompt you to choose from Delivery Areas such as Cities and Zip Codes. It is advantageous to type in as many as are applicable to your business. Be honest, of course. But don’t short sell your business’s reach by only including your primary area.

Opening Date: This one is applicable to up and coming businesses, that are still getting their ducks in a row. Our advice to you, start this as soon as you are able! Your Local SEO Ranking can be influenced by how much people engage with your Google Listing. If you start building this momentum before your business is even open, you may find that people in your area become aware of your business and ask you questions before it is even open!

 

INSIGHTS

From this page you can quickly get a view into how people engage with your Business Listing on Google Search, and also Google Maps. When people see your listing from Search or Maps, do they call you directly? Do they click on your Website button? Do they ask for directions? Having this information can be helpful while you are getting to know your customers, and learning how people find your business.

 

 

REVIEWS

It is important to engage with the people that offer you reviews. Make sure to respond to both positive as well as negative reviews. Believe it or not, people take notice when they see that a business owner has responded personally to a negative review. Don’t just leave them there to rot, take the time to write a personal response, to show that you care about the quality of your business, and its reputation!

Thank customers for their positive reviews, and encourage them to come back!

MESSAGING

Customers can now send messages to your Business directly from the Search page. This is a legitimate way to directly communicate with potential customers! You may find that people reach out to you directly through this Messaging function, make sure to pay attention to your Homepage, to see when you get new messages directly from customers searching online.

 

PHOTOS

Upload your Photos! This is extremely important. Businesses that don’t have many, or ANY photos will find that they have a harder time ranking highly in the Local Search Results. You should have the following photos that you upload yourself:

Logo – Your Business Logo

Cover Image – This is the grand feature photo and should correspond to the services you offer.

Product – Upload photos of your arrangements that you yourself have created for customers. You can also upload photos of the products as seen in your store.

 

Why is Google My Business Important?

There are so many reasons why all business owners absolutely must be on Google My Business, especially if your business is location specific. The biggest reason of all is the impact it has in increasing your search engine ranking, but below are some further reasons.

Improved Search Visibility: Try any of these keywords in a Google search: city, state, florist, flower shop, zip code/postal code. Notice who comes firsts under the map. These results are Local Search Results, courtesy of Google My Business. You cannot pay to place in these results, but having a Google My Business profile will enable you to.

Maps Your Floral Business Location: This allows the customer to find and navigate to your brick-and-mortar store and website more easily.

Allows for Customer Interaction: Google My Business allows for customers to interact with your business by leaving reviews and uploading their own photos. Every review counts, and every photo upload counts! How does it count? By improving your SEO, remember you want to list in the top 3 records on Google Local Search.

 

Florists, how has Google My Business helped your floral business in the past years? Please share your feedback in the comment section below. If you have any questions please post below as well!

____________

Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

What is SEO, why is it important, and why should florists care?

Search Engine Optimization or SEO refers to the process used to improve a website’s position on search engine results pages (SERPs) on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing. Having an SEO strategy for your floral business can help draw customers to your website and grow sales and revenue.

Working on SEO can sound like a headache, and there are a lot of myths about SEO, but once you understand the basics you will be on your way to starting your own SEO strategy. Let’s take a minute to review the basics of SEO and understand how search engines like Google rank your business website.

What Are Search Engines?

Web search engines are the software systems we and our customers use to surf the Internet. The top search engines are Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Google commands the largest share among the three, with consistently over 90% market share globally in 2018.

The goal of a search engine is to provide the information you or your customers are looking for and ranking them in order of quality and relevance. There are hundreds of factors that are involved when search engines rank websites in an organic search.

SEO Components to use on my Floral Website

Here are some important components to use on your floral website that will help rank your website higher on search engines.

• H1 Tags: These are the larger headers that should contain your targeted keywords, ones that closely relate to the page title and are relevant to your content.
• H2 Tags: This is a subheading and should contain similar keywords as the H1 Tags.
• Keyword Density: This is the number of times that the keyword your customers are searching for that appear on your website.
• Meta Description: This is the description you provide search engines in your <meta> HTML tags. The meta description you use for your website should also include the keywords you want your target audience to search for.
• Backlinks: This is when other websites link back to your website by providing your website URL. The more backlinks you have, the better your opportunities are to be higher ranked in your keywords.
• Software Provider SEO Tools – Tools that can help increase SEO rankings like Local Pages, testimonial/review pages, partner pages, etc.

How Does My Floral Website Get Ranked

First off, as with all search engines like Google, they implement a web crawler/algorithm, that goes around the web. It “crawls” around the web, catching keywords to determine the topic and understanding the content of the page and seeks out links in the page, then checking if that linked page is a “reliable” one. 

It can be concluded that if a page links to a reliable page, it has a reliable source and is thus relatively reliable too. It gives a score to this page from that linking. The crawler then goes through all the links in that page and does that scoring until all links are exhausted. After that, the algorithm gives the page its PageRank in that specific keyword. The higher the PageRank, the more likely it is for the page to appear in the first parts of the search engine results pages.

on a side note, Google search results may show some variances depending on browsers and devices.

When Can My Floral Website be #1

Getting placed on the first page of a Google search doesn’t happen overnight or in a few days, but you can passively accrue traffic to your website by being present in the top 5 searches for your keywords. Your SEO strategy needs to be a continuous process by staying on top of your SEO strategy and make sure that it is up to date.

Your SEO strategy Not only needs to be focused on your current customer base, but potential Customers will be able to find you and your business easily when looking up relevant information that pertains to your business. A good rule of thumb to keep on top of your SEO strategy is to research the tactics used by your competitors.

Florists, Do you have a SEO strategy in place? What do you do to increase your SEO? Please share in the comments below!

____________

Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Top 8 Social Media Sites For Florists

 

In this blog, we want to narrow it down to the top 8 social media sites for florists and explain the Ins and Outs of their operations and why they are crucial and matter in the floral industry.

Check out our infographic for quick and easy reference to the Top 8 Social Media Sites For Florists!

#8 – LinkedIn

It’s the leading social networking site for professionals, with about 467 million members, it’s a solid venue for connecting with other local businesses.

Why LinkedIn Matters to Florists

• Easy to stay in touch with other local businesses
• Provides a valuable backlink for your SEO
• Customers can recommend your services on Linkedin

How to get started

• Connect with local businesses in your area
• Use the Facebook-like feed to post articles, remind local partners of your brand
• Write a compelling summary of your flower shop business. (be conceded about your beautiful work and experience)
• Have a gravitating cover image.
• Add your products and services.
• Ask for reviews.

#7 – YouTube 

Creating polished YouTube videos is harder than on many other networks.  Upload videos of your floral wedding work or even how-to videos.  Most folks won’t discover you via YouTube, but you can host your video there and embed in your florist website.

Why YouTube Matters to Florists

• Show off wedding videos, link off of your website
• Great way to increase wedding sales, providing ways to promote on other social platforms by posting your video.
• Valuable backlink for SEO.

How to get started

• Make sure to have a Google account when signing up for Youtube.
• Use your business name as your username on YouTube.
• A clear description on what your video is about – “industry-specific”.
• Make video headline compelling.
• Make sure your video is public.

#6 – Twitter

Twitter is less a way to get new customers and more a way to build your brand value overall and catch the attention of search engines. Tweet about newsworthy floral related items during holiday times and you may find yourself re-tweeted by media.

Why Twitter Matters to Florists

• Participating with this social media real-time giant and show your customers you’re “With The Times”.
• Keep in touch with customers – instantly alert your shoppers of specials, news, and events.
• Engage with your shoppers, Twitter allows you to find out their likes and dislikes and have them give you feedback on your business.
• Twitter can boost your Google ranking back to good old SEO.

How to get started

• Use your business username.
• Profile image is a must.
• Descriptive industry-specific About Us.
• Keep an important Tweet at the top of your timeline by pinning it there. Use this feature to make sure visitors to your profile can’t miss your latest news, products, offerings, or events.
• Don’t forget your hashtags, like florist, flowers, flower design, etc (a word or phrase preceded by a hash or pound sign (#) and used to identify messages on a specific topic)

#5 – Instagram

More than any other social platform, Instagram is a great way to keep in touch with your existing customers through beautiful, artful photographs. Buyers of wedding/event work will often check out Instagram to see examples of your work.

Why Instagram  Matters to Florists

• Keep in touch with existing customers
• Easy to maintain
• Adds credibility for wedding/event purchases
• Great for SEO

How to get started

• Determine your goals for signing up for Instagram, increasing customer traffic, selling more products, creating awareness of your flower business
• Link your eCommerce website to your bio in order to direct shoppers to your page

#4 – Pinterest 

Pinterest is a great way to showcase image galleries of your wedding/event work – collections of images at local event halls, churches, and other venues will rank highly on Google – and new brides and event managers can find you that way.

Why Pinterest Matters to Florists

• Pinterest readers use Pinterest to decide to buy and most of all book wedding floral services
• Collections rank highly on Google – local content can help floral event/wedding buyers find your business
• Pins last a lifetime – creating high quality, relevant pins that don’t disappear overnight
• Great way to provide a catalog of your work – you can even embed Pinterest boards on your florist website
• Great backlink for images and organic searches on search engines

How to get started

• Complete your business profile (not personal account) and take your time with adding beautiful images of your work
• Add content to your bio and include keywords for the floral industry
• Add your location and your business website to your Pinterest profile

#3 – Yelp

Yelp’s business ratings are some of the most used by consumers to evaluate your business. Bing and Google use Yelp ratings in their search results, so it can drive lots of business if you have great ratings and reviews.

Why Yelp Matters to Florists

• The website used most often by consumers who are looking to purchase floral products and services.
• Provides spectacular SEO for your floral business! (We cannot express enough, this is vital for your ranking on search engines)
• Leading customer review social platform which is proven to drive traffic to your business resulting in increased sales.
• Integrated with Apple Maps so users could locate businesses. Making it most valuable in bringing customers to you.
• Bing local pages showcase Yelp reviews, they have formed a relationship, these reviews are super important for your SEO.
• Google shows Yelp reviews as organic search results.

How to get started

• Fill out your business profile completely
• Confirm your business through a phone call to get listed immediately (may not be necessary for all shops)
• Respond to reviews
• Offer (nominal) discount to customers to post reviews while they are in your store

#2 – Google My Business

Formally known as Google Places, Google My Business will increase traffic to both your eCommerce online store and your physical location. This is a close #1 for Top Social media platforms – Google My Business is a must for any business owner.

Why Google My Business Matters to Florists

• Google My Business offers a variety of benefits to a business, especially if people are searching in your specific location for your flower shop.
• Allowing shoppers quick and easy access to your phone number, address or hours of operation.
• Google My Business integrates directly with Google Maps.
• Google My Business showcases your customer reviews in Search Engine Results Page (SERP) and Google map. High star reviews help you stand apart from your competitors.
• One of the best backlinks for maximizing your SEO.

How to get started

• First thing is to claim your page, if you have no page,  sign up with your google account at google.com/business . Your account must be verified before it will start to show on google local pages.

#1 – Facebook 

With 2.23 billion users worldwide, no surprise why Facebook wins the number one spot in our blog. Facebook is vital in helping business owners manage their communications and retain their customers.

Why Facebook Matters to Florists

• Increased exposure to your business.
• Shows off your business portfolio and personality.
• You can reach your targeted audience.
• Search Engines love, love, love – did we say, love? Facebook Business pages URL’s are public, making these instantly rank on search engines.
• Get likes to increase your ranking on search engines. The more likes you receive, the higher you can rank. It’s all about popularity Florists!
• Allows for customer reviews.
• Increases website traffic with link posts.

How to get started

• Haven’t you signed up with Facebook? What are you waiting for? We suggest you read this while you are signing up for Facebook!
• You must have a personal Facebook page in order to start a Facebook business page.
• Your Facebook personal page and the business page will share the same login. (Top right corner of your personal page  select to Create Page)

 

There you have it our fellow florists, Top 8 Social Media Sites that matter to florists. Whether you agree or not, we highly recommend signing up with these social media sites today! Please use our infographic for quick and easy reference. Please feel free to post any questions or comments on these Top 8 Social Media Sites below.

_______________________

Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.