FTD custom Web sites..new options

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carol

carol

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Aug 15, 2003
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new hampshire
greensandthings.com
State / Prov
NEW HAMPSHIRE
OK for those of you that are against the ws..don't bother with this .. but for those who are FTD and have one of their websites.. they have made some really cool new options avail..in fact almost all of the site is now available for you to upload, change, tweak, customize etc.
You could always add meta-tags, sources codes etc, and link to other sites and have a custom tag line at the top of your site to direct to other sites..I have mine link to my flower class, birdal show & wedding sites. You could always send them custom pictures to put under an exclusive catagory.. but now
I just uploaded a bunch of pictures and it goes live as I do it, I set up a few new catagory/links from the front page to these, the Wedding section is really nice now, custom pictures, a budgeting section , Faq, tips and suggestions, glossary of terms and a consultation email option (not sure I am going to do this one).Almost all of the text and all of the pictures are now avail for you to change in your own portal..so you do not have to have someone do it for you.. or I guess you can email them and ask them to do it if you don't want to..
But now I can put specials on the front page, coupons etc, take them off at the spure of the minute, change text etc.. There are a number of templates so it isn't so'cookie cutter' as Cathy says.
In Janury I am really going to work this with custom albums etc when I get time to do it.
All of this for the tech not savvy people. sorry to sound so cheery about it but there are some really good things now on my site that I can control.
And the cost has not risen..probably will but it is in line with most of what the other sites quoted me for something similar and best of all I can go in and change stuff and not have to find a programer or pay a programmer to do it.
It is not as cool as some of your sites but it sure cost me less..and it has the new bells and whistles.
my ftd site is www.greensandthings.com
Again I am sure for you real tech savvy folks this isn't something for you but I was thrilled with the new changes and want to give credit where credit is due.
:hammer:
 
This sounds great. However your site is really http://www.ftdfloristsonline.com/nhflowers/
Ifthe http://www.ftdfloristsonline.com that I would be worried about.

For an example

I have another site called everydayflowersflorist.com that is going to a monster commerce web site. This site is doing poorly and I almost want to compare it to my old FTD site I used to have. Most of the monster commerce sites that I have seen do not rank very well and since It has been almost 5 months since I created the new one and am considering dumping monster commerce and just creating another yahoo hosted site.

I created a second site (orangecountyflowershop.com) with yahoo at around the same time as I did the monster commerce site. The orangecountyflowershop is doing very well.

I suspect but not 100 percent sure that because your site is sharing the www.ftdfloristonline domain that it may rank lower because it is sharing either the same server or just the subdomain. I'm just not sure and would love someone that has a better understanding of this to add their coments on it.

Its great that you will be able to create a more custom look for your site. However I feel that becuase it shares simular sub domains that it still may struggle with decent ranking.

I hope someone here commets on this (mlou) because I really would like to understand the subdomain workings.
 
Carol -

Eric's right about your vanity URL greensandthings.com redirecting to ftdfloristsonline.com/nhflowers/ . Has it always redirected?

Yahoo sees the following links into greensandthings.com - http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.co...wm=i&bwms=p&bwmf=u&fr=yfp-t-501&fr2=seo-rd-se and these links for the FTDFOL URL http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.co...ftdfloristsonline.com/nhflowers/&bwm=i&bwmf=u

SE's generally don't like pages that redirect so you may be losing the inbound link benefits to greensandthings.com.

According to Yahoo, you also have 54 links pointing to a third URL, http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&p=http://www.keeneflorist.com&bwm=i&bwmf=u . This one shows #1 for 'florist in keene nh' on Yahoo but is way back at #19 in Google.

Can FTD host your site independently and keep it on the first URL? I'm of the belief that it's far better to have all your links pointing to one domain. Splitting them between 3 sites is likely hurting your Google rankings.

---------------------------

BTW, I'm glad the FTD sites are working for you. The new graphics look much more current.

Just remember that the redirected FOL URL can't be taken with you if you decide to change hosts. FTD forever keeps anyone that bookmarks that URL. That's why it would be better for you if it resolved to greensandthings.com.

HTH
 
Eric S said:
I hope someone here commets on this (mlou) because I really would like to understand the subdomain workings.
Click to expand...

Think of your domain as a folder that contains your website files, then think of your catagories (birthday, get well, about us) as a subdirectory that contains files in a folder that is stored within this main folder... Example: http://www.ilocalflorist.com/Tips.htm. Think of a subdomain as an alias (another address that can be created for one of your subdirectories). Example http://www.Tips.ilocalflorist.com Subdomain, are also called a "third-level" domain

Why create a subdomain? A subdomain is a useful way to create a memorable web address and send your consumer to a specific area of your website. I think you can only redirect a subdomain to a main directory (www.ilocalflorist.com) or a subdirectory one level down (www.ilocalflorist.com/Tips.htm). I don't think you can point a subdomain to a subdirectory within a subdirectory (www.ilocalflorist.com/Tips/flowers.htm). Since you need to treat each subdomain as a separate website, you need to store and maintain images and content separately.


IMO, subdomains can be a SEO problem... if you're thinking about subdomains primarily as a site promotion strategy, you can get the same benefits through conventional site promotion methods, without the danger of spamming.


BIG HINT: When used correctly... using subdomain can be like getting several different websites for the price of one. (Some Web hosts require you to purchase a separate hosting account for each subdomain.) Look for a host who allows customers to set up multiple subdomains for no extra hosting costs.

.
 
I have an FTD webpage

Mine is with FTD and I do not have that floristsonline like Carol does, not that I want it but I do not understand why it comes up on hers and on mine it doesn't. What is it that she needs to do to get rid of it? Anyone know ? www.westhoustonflorist.com

Carol I'm happy for you, I'm with you on the webpage knowledge and might change mine a little. Thanks for the update......

Cyndi
 
Same here - mine (FOL site) stays within its own domain. Wonder why the difference?
 
Is It Possible

that Carol did not get her own domain name, but is using a domain secured for her by FTD? We had a dramatic improvement in our web results as far as actual sales go when we got our own Domain Name, then moved our site to a different host. all this stuff gets more complicated every day!!!:hammer:
 
Yeah, I probably should change the hosting to FTD for this site..I have always had a locale host for my sites since I felt it gave me more immediate control over things should I want to change.
I am not sure about the re-direct.. the main site nhflowers.com has some other direct method.. better than a re-direct they say..the site greensandthings is set up as a re-direct at the moment..I was only able to get that domain a year or so ago..
I think my low ranking had more to do with my meta tags..I tried a firm to work on site placement and they suggested different meta tags.. I recently returned them to the original ones..and fired the firm.
I just checked Yahoo and my sites come in at #3 #5 #8 and in the local search it hits Local front page 2 times..
seaching for flowers new hampshire I am #1 and 2 more times on the first page..but it is not for the greensandthings site it is for the other sites so you may be right about the re-direct thing.
 
Hi Carol!

I discovered the new portal before Thanksgiving and BOY is it EASY to use...you are SO correct... You can do so much more, and just having the ability to add your own images ON THE FLY is so good...and not have to have ANY HTML smarts at all to do it! You DO have to know some HTML to edit the 'Florist Message" part....

You can even do THIS if you get a consent/waiver form from FTD for TEL to sign. A pain in the arse to get done, but once done you can have everything on your FOL site....

Cathy and MLOU: I understand about redirecting... If you go to FTD.COM and click on the microscopic link to find a local florist, then click on the FOL florist listed, you will see the original URL - it's even in the link I pasted in this post. Also, I used a domain name I secured - with RKF :) - to navigate to that page.

I am building a landing page with hope to add more 'custom' looks and images that I can change at will... I will then have a portal linking it to my FOL site.

- H.
 
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Yup, I have a few small sites with links to my FOL site..but as MLOU says people don't like to be re-directed from one site to another so I may lose some when suggesting they go to the FOL site..
We are getting some action but not nearly what others are saying they have..but then again I am in the backwoods of NH so just how much action is there going to be. I mean a big night on the town might just be square dancing and rootbeer. You know we have one of the first primaries in the nation for Pres. elections..and where do you suppose the most poplular meeting place for the politicians was?? the town dumps...because everyone had to go there sometime.. now that we have moved up to recycling stations I guess the politicians will now have to go to the diner??
 
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