FTD FOL sites

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CHR said:
possibly with a link to FTD.com.
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It's sure to be and FTD.COM link......do you think they would just show a blank 404 error page not found page?

FTD is not about to let a consumer looking to purchase flowers on line look at a blank page!!


Oh and lets move "Pink whoever" to another thread, maybe one with some :musical:
 
Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel.
 
Ftd

thats why I have my own site and only point it toward FTD.

Now all I have to do is re-point to their new one.

I got the notice today on e-mail and via a mercury message
 
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You can be SURE there will be a link to FTD.coN and the timing is not just a random date, I'm sure it was chosen for the damage it will inflict.

Even if florists make necessary changes they Spiders and Bots will not catalog the changes in time to sync all the data centers around the world for Easter and Mothers Day and the old URLs will be left up forever and point in some way to FTD.coN. These are not dumb people doing this TO THE FLORISTS.

I would STRONGLY URGE anyone with an FOL site to IMMEDIATELY get your own URL and have it changed on the site, cease using anything with **ftd** in the URL and then get to work on YOUR OWN stand alone site.

This is a very bad thing for florists using FOL!!

I did send a notice to FTDFOL regarding the proposed change, however I no longer carry any weight around the Ivory Tower (not that I ever did) and each of you should do the same.
 
CHR said:
BBJ -

Did FTD give florists much or any of notice about the domain changes?
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I never had an FTD site so I don't know how much notice anyone got, I'm also sure most florists won't even know what it's all about or that it could (will) effect their visibility on the web.
 
We need to ask ourselves how moving local florists off of the FTD.com subdomains will "better optimize our web sites" as it says in the email.

Which 'our' is it? FTD or florists.

With everybody being hosted under ftdfloristonline.com, it's possible the root URL (directory search) will gain more importance in search engines. It also looks like a single account (wallet?) will allow a registered user to shop at any member's store.
Personal Accounts
You don't need a personal account to shop with our florists, but accounts make shopping faster and easier! We'll automatically fill out your order form, including your recipient's name and address from your online address book. We'll even keep track of your previous purchases. Your account can be used wherever you shop florists online! Sign up when you visit our shops.
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The move will definitely streamline and clear out ftd.com. When OG's were using florists.ftd.com/OGname in pay-per-clicks, there may well have been consumers thinking they were ordering from FTD.

I'm also curious if having the FOL and independent URLs mirror one another can run afoul of duplicate content issues....
 
We do not have any sites with FTD so no problems here. But I am wondering about all the people who may have the URL on business cards, vans and numerous other marketing materials. All worthless now.
 
David, the question is whose SEO?

Certainly not the florists who have been using florist.ftd.com/my_shop . The way FTD says they're handling this, florists direct links will disappear from search engines for weeks if not months - and FTD's error page won't tell the customers with bookmarks where to find the new URLs.

Somebody's getting optimized, but it ain't the florists - at least not for Easter, Sec'y Week & Mother's Day, the busiest 6 weeks of the year for most flower shops.

If the goal is long-term, then surely FTD could wait until June 1 (and let the shake out happen during a slow time) before destroying the current web presence of those florists.
 
I've been thinking about this since receiving the first notice (via email) from FTD. I'm not sure that I completely understand, so anyone should feel free to correct or educate me. The site we promote is www.garrisonhill.com. We dropped the ftd.com/garrisonhill long ago. What I think happens is that our internet service provider receives attempts to log on to www.garrisonhill.com, then "pointing" them to www.ftd.com/garrisonhill. If I'm correct, what I have to do is have the ISP change the pointer. If I'm incorrect, someone please tell me!
Tom
 
Tom -

I had no idea it was your store when I wrote my post yesterday using your specific URL - http://flowerchat.com/forums/showpost.php?p=77852&postcount=18 . I did a few searches and your flower shop's situation exemplifies the potential problems ahead.

You may be promoting garrisonhill.com to your customers, but Google sees florists.ftd.com/garrisonhill/ as your primary URL. I recommend you contact FTD immediately and request they hold off on the changes until after M Day. It will still be a mess, but at least you won't lose you SE positions until after the holiday is over.
 
And while we're on the subject, Googling www.garrisonhill.com before Valentine's Day also brought up a "Sponsored Link" to the right of the Google listings. The link read something like "Want to contact Garrison Flowers? Click here." The link, of course, went to some florist (or quasi florist order gatherer) with a name that had no resemblence to Garrison Hill and was geographically on another planet. Obviously someone has devised a system which will pull a word from the search and create a sponsored link resembling it. If there's a way to exploit the internet, someone's going to find it.
Tom
 
You're right. I forgot about that part (and don't completely understand it anyway). The money we pay to FTD to get us placed in search engines using the URLs they choose. Great.
Tom
 
Notice from FTD

CHR said:
BBJ -

Did FTD give florists much or any of notice about the domain changes?

How about someone telling FTD we're moving their site to flowerchat.FTD.com on April 1 with an error page on ftd.com linking to our directory?
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No No No No None, until yesterday.

ManorMan
 
CHR said:
David, the question is whose SEO?

Certainly not the florists who have been using florist.ftd.com/my_shop . The way FTD says they're handling this, florists direct links will disappear from search engines for weeks if not months - and FTD's error page won't tell the customers with bookmarks where to find the new URLs.

Somebody's getting optimized, but it ain't the florists - at least not for Easter, Sec'y Week & Mother's Day, the busiest 6 weeks of the year for most flower shops.

If the goal is long-term, then surely FTD could wait until June 1 (and let the shake out happen during a slow time) before destroying the current web presence of those florists.
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Cathy, if you're right, and you usually are, what do you think can be done at this point, if anything at all ?
In other words " take another screwing or attempt to fight back ? "
 
At least call them and express your displeasure with it and your knowlege that it's a bogus move?
 
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