WS Templates vs Independent Sites

[theRKF]

That's really interesting - any idea why that is? I really don't know - Besides florists not paying attention - cuz it's hard to believe 4000 of them are paying attention. How did/do they choose who to index?

Strange phenomenon indeed.

Too bad those 13,000 aren't asture enough to generate and upload a sitemap.

It's quite simple. When you sites that are essentially clones of one another, they get filtered. Google is about relevance - if you are a clone, you're not relevant. Google uses 250+ factors in their algorithm. Some of the more powerful factors are links, authority and trust. Domain age helps, too. The more aggregated authority, trust and page rank you have accumulated the deeper your site will be crawled. Those 4,000 sites have enough power to overcome the duplicate content filtering enough to be indexed - though most won't rank except for local queries.

Sitemaps are a crutch to get around proper site architecture. If your site is constructed properly, you won't need a sitemap. I'm not saying I don't use them ... I'm just saying that they won't solve a site's structural problems. You'll just wind up having some pages get crawled that won't get the authority they would have with a proper site setup. If your internal linking is borked you will have weak or isolated pages getting indexed and then dropped or relegated because they have no support.

Strippinrose - I agree with Cathy - you did a very nice job but somehow you have to lose that stuff at the bottom.

That's another Strider site ... although Strippin gave the wrong URL. It's www.aflowerbasket.com, also just launched. What you saw was Register.com's idea of a domain redirect. Classy, no? We'll be in touch with Tom & Ruth to see if we can help deal with the Register.com issue.

Ryan

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Joe,
I've kept out of this thread because i do not even pretend to understand all the SEO, metatags, search engine stuff that these people are talking about.

I had a TF site. I switched. My choice was made very simple by the sheer fact that TF was "feeing me" to death.

I had a web hosting fee. I had a per order transaction fee to transmit the order to me over the Dove. I also had the usual Dove fees. It got to the point where just receiving an order over this website was costing me about $7. to $8.00 each. (due to the fees).

And, we were not getting that many orders.....no matter what we did.

If I wanted to make some reasonable changes to my website, it often took numberous emails & phone calls to get it done. products would appear on my site....that I did not approve, and did not carry. Embarressing when you have a customer on the phone & are saying to the customer: "Huh???" (I don't like to sound stupid with my customers.)

We began a search after a particularly disheartening Christmas & Valentine's day & Mother's Day. It took me a lot of time & research efforts because I had to educate myself, and decide whether to go with a local Pittsburgh firm, who really did not understand the florist business but did great websites.....or find an out of area firm, who did great florist websites. Re-inventing the wheel (as the local firm would do) was going to be a costly proposition. So, We went out of area & chose Media99.

Our site was set up very quickly once we made the decision to move it. Don't let anyone kid you. All sites follow some type of template. some are just a little more clever at hiding it than others.
We had to do the initial product checking/loading into the categories. We hired back a college student to do this part, because it was, after all christmas!! (We went live December 10th).

I have chosen at this point to use professional wire service images, and images shot by other professionals. It's a personal thing..... it makes products easier to transmit across the USA. Also, I am not a good photographer -- I know that -- and I am trying to improve those skills also. (I will not disrespect the quality of my site by adding "unskilled" and "low quality" pictures to it). Right now, photo-editing for me is a time-consuming, frustrating process -- I'm not good at it at all.

Yes, it takes some time to get it working. Yes, I often do not have all the time that I need to do it properly. (I, just like you, wear about 6 too many hats....all at the same time). Yes I wish I had more hours in the day. This is what I often am working on & trying to improve late at night, after I have finished with my last wedding appointment.

All things considered, I am very happy with the decision to take control of my own Web destiny. The $$$ cost savings, and the corresponding increase in orders has been very nice also.

My site can only get better as time goes on.

The thing that makes me most sad is that this was a great beginning for us with the TF website. I, like many many florists, had no clue initially how websites are built or work, or what I need to do to make my work better. TF initially offered an affordable, entry level product, which many TF florists signed on for. Then, like always.....TF got greedy......and began to nickel & dime and dollar their way into our pockets -- and TF Website design dept became a PROFIT CENTER at TF instead of a service center.

I try to read everything I can get my hands on about web design, search engines, internet utilization, etc. I feel that I am about at the second grade level now....but headed for 3rd grade soon!!

Anyway, Joan asked us to critique her site, and this had turned into a whole other discussion. Joan, I apologize, and I hope that you are having fun with your new site. It will only get better from here on.

Cheryl

 

[CHR]

well that stings Mister.

That was JB, not me so you'll have to ask him. :tongue

The florists here at FC who run independent sites are by and large running attractive, professional-looking storefronts that represent their companies well.

When asked for help or opinions, they get it. If they don't want feedback, most of us presume they are pleased with the performance.

The ultimate judges are customers voting with their dollars. If a site isn't used by your/our own customers and isn't found in search, the design and host matter not one bit.

We focus on SEO to help sites get found because I'd rather see a customer vote with his/her 100% dollars with a real local florist than with Wesley Berry.

 

[Knife's Wife]

Thank you, I am having fun, and stress but only because of the time of year that I decided to do this and some other unforeseen factors.


Thank you to all who have posted recommendations and comments... They have been very helpful and I have made several changes according to your suggestions.

Duplicate pictures... I was doing it wrong, silly me. I was not trying to dulplicate with different prices only trying to add upgrades.

I found that missing pic bloomz was talking about.

Jim very Quickly corrected a some of the things he read her before I could even send my request...can't ask for better service than that.

I am added the up grades for each bouquet but that does take time.

Oh Joe, I did and do have some of my own images... I quess they looked professional enough for you not to have notice them.LOL

I did not loose my #1 spot for ranking which was a big concern for me.

Joan

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Cathy:
I do appreciate all you do in the SEo stuff.
I read it all....I try to digest at least some of it.....I try to use as much as I can, and have a folder full of reference materials courtsey of you.

Thanks so much for being my teacher, and librarian. In the internet labrary today, I often do not even know where or how to start to look.

Cheryl

 

[bloomz]

That was JB, not me so you'll have to ask him. :tongue

Stung because of mea culpa.

I'm sure glad we don't count on me to fill orders.

I do deliver them sometimes - good for the soul.


PS good move splitting this out of Joan's critique thread. We had some severe topic drift/thread hijacking going on there.

 

[Joe Mioux]

Anyway, Joan asked us to critique her site, and this had turned into a whole other discussion. Joan, I apologize, and I hope that you are having fun with your new site. It will only get better from here on.

Cheryl

Cheryl and others please don't interpret that my debating these issues cause you to think that I am solidly in one camp vs another, in this case pro WS templates vs independent templates

I am not.

I am interested in always improving the various aspects of my business whenever possible. However, I am not a lap dog slurping up every change recommended by people here or elsewhere. If you haven't noticed, I like asking a lot of questions.

Advancing discussions and challenging others is good. Out of these discussions I know that I always learn more and walk away with the experience being more positive than negative. For example, I think we all realize that in some instances WS templates work really well, it is a matter of defining one's own market and seeing if it works or doesn't work. In other examples, Independent Websites work better better because the demographics and florist to florist competition demands and dictates a more custom look.

Cheryl, I quoted that last paragraph because this is not Joan's thread, this is my thread that I started to keep hers more focused her question.

I decided to break away from that thread and start this thread for the same concern you wrote about in your post.

all the best
joe

 

[theRKF]

Cheryl, I quoted that last paragraph because this is not Joan's thread, this is my thread that I started to keep hers more focused her question.

I decided to break away from that thread and start this thread for the same concern you wrote about in your post.

all the best
joe

Joe,

I split the thread, because the conversation was diverging from the original topic. Some of the posts referenced both issues, hence the paragraph about Joan's thread being in this one.

Ryan

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Sorry Joe, I did not realize that the thread had been split off, and I was trying to reply to you, and also to give Joan a little encouragement.

I understand that you play the Devil's advocate. You always ask good questions, and cause me to think....even more...about stuff.

Good questions, my friend, good questions.

I think the bottom line is that a lot of florists signed up for the FTD/TF/IFA websites & (in some cases, at least), have let those sites languish. Hence, they don't rank well. There are lots of numbers of sites, but not all florists work on their sites actively, like many here do.

I also do not understand why a florist would want to have sevral sites. From what I have read about, it makes more sense to have 1 really, really good site.....and have links to many good things.

That being said, I know that, in most cases, TF will not allow FTD products to be displayed on a TF site (disclaimer -- if you are a "big Boy" that rule does not apply). However, FTd will allow any content to be displayed on their site.

So, my question is, if you are both FTD & TF, why are you maintaining 2 separate websites, when they can be combined into 1??
It would seem that your workload would be cutdown.....deal with only one website development team, etc.

Answers anyone??

Thanks,
Cheryl

 

[Joe Mioux]

Joe,

I split the thread, because the conversation was diverging from the original topic. Some of the posts referenced both issues, hence the paragraph about Joan's thread being in this one.

Ryan

Communicate better when these splits happen rather than just doing them without notice.

Sorry Joe, I did not realize that the thread had been split off, and I was trying to reply to you, and also to give Joan a little encouragement.

I understand that you play the Devil's advocate. You always ask good questions, and cause me to think....even more...about stuff.

Good questions, my friend, good questions.


Cheryl

Cheryl, thank you. I did start a new thread and Ryan took it upon himself to move some of Joan's posts into my thread without notifying any of us.

joe,

btw, I think it was the right action for him to take.

 

[theRKF]

Communicate better when these splits happen rather than just doing them without notice.

Cheryl, thank you. I did start a new thread and Ryan took it upon himself to move some of Joan's posts into my thread without notifying any of us.

Yessir, Mr. Mioux, sir.

And Joe ... no matter how many times you say it ... you didn't start a new thread.

I moved all the off-topic posts from Joan's thread into a new.

Ryan

 

[CHR]

Communicate better when these splits happen rather than just doing them without notice.

Cheryl, thank you. I did start a new thread and Ryan took it upon himself to move some of Joan's posts into my thread without notifying any of us.

IMO the open hostility to our most gracious host is growing very tiresome.

There's a PM system here for a reason. Got an issue? It's the prefect place to discuss without accusing someone unfairly of shenanigans.

 

[Sher]

Yessir, Mr. Mioux, sir.

And Joe ... no matter how many times you say it ... you didn't start a new thread.

I moved all the off-topic posts from Joan's thread into a new.

Ryan

IMO the open hostility to our most gracious host is growing very tiresome.

There's a PM system here for a reason. Got an issue? It's the prefect place to discuss without accusing someone unfairly of shenanigans.

Funny, I have been following this thread because of it's usefulness...and did not read any hostility to the host but I did read a sarcastic edge to Joe when he was "yes sire'd" in the last post.
IMHO, this is a forum for Florists to be able to "post"...it has also become a forum to sell Strider websites...absolutely nothing wrong with that...but with that comes the potential for being asked questions just like any other website selling person/company.
I did not find any of the questions to be rude, nor did I find any of the suggestions to be out of line. What I did find were strong opinions from very smart folks and lots of valid questions being asked that even tho I do not have a Strider website, I was able to apply to my Media99 website.If we are all here to learn and to grow our business then there is going to be those questions asked that might be challenging...if I have a media99 site and you see something wrong with it, then am I better off not to have someone point an issue out to me or am I better off having the issue brought to my attention.Personally I think the latter is better.
As far as defending our host..really, is that necessary? Ryan seems to do okay in that department without any help. If he is wrong or can learn something new, he is able to absorb that and learn from it just like all of us...I think other web designers and hosting companies should be made to feel welcome here as well...after all, we can all learn from them. Having choices is a good thing.
I certainly hope this is not taken as a cristicism but rather jmho.
Sher

 

[CHR]

My comment about hostility was more to the cumulative affect in more than one thread over the last few days.

Missy said it perfectly over here

I think like a good neighbour in a community if I really had a beef with one of my neighbours I would not stand in the middle of the street and shout at him for all to hear, after all we should respect one another more than that. So agree or disagree with someones actions in this community, if you have a personal issue with one of our members, go quietly and "knock on his door"and deal with those issues face to face, or PM to PM.

There are a bunch of polite, respectful ways to say some of the impolite things said here and elsewhere.

As far as defending our host..really, is that necessary?

Some of us will jump in and add our .02 when another person we respect is accused of shenanigans. Silence can be misinterpreted as acquiescence.

 

[prestonway]

Silence can be misinterpreted as acquiescence.

Then heaven forbid...would not want to be misinterpreted.

Jon, Mac, Joe, Cathy, Boss, Ryan...

For the most part (sorry Mac, but ya' ain't earned ure stripes), this group is the most informed, experienced, opinionated, passionate, and dedicated group of posters and administrators/owner on this site.

When one of this select group posts..."I LISTEN".

PERIOD.

Knowing both Jon & Ryan personally and having met both on a number of occasions, I chuckle when one gives the other that infamous red dot...knowing full well it's going back the other way when warranted.

But in the process, and particularly in these difficult times...

Should these individuals clash on occasion...of course.

Are they full of shiit on more than one occasion, playing the devil's advocate to spark a discussion...frequently.

Are they vindictive & cutting in their remarks...at times.

Does it get personal...on occasion...but I still like to think that the "players" would sit down & have a beer together.

Do they inherently respect one another, particularly AT THE END OF THE DAY?

I would like to think so...because I do...every one of them!!

 

[BOSS]

Do they inherently respect one another, particularly AT THE END OF THE DAY?

I would like to think so...because I do...every one of them!!

Speaking for myself.... yes sir... I do. Each of them, and every one of YOU!

Life's too short to hold grudges.

And Preston, you are right... it goes both ways....

 

[bloomz]

When one of this select group posts..."I LISTEN".

PERIOD.

You forgot to add Preston in there...and a couple others.....

RJD for instance I think has probably forgotten more about ecommerce and programming than all the rest of us put together know, yet remains quite modest about his knowlege.

 

[CHR]

You forgot to add Preston in there...

Ya' know, I could have almost kissed PW for his post.:blowkiss: Well.... almost.

RJD for instance I think has probably forgotten more about ecommerce and programming than all the rest of us put together know.

True enough. There are so many fine, knowledgeable, giving people who contribute to this community - and each and every one makes FC a better place... most of the time.