The Connecticut Florists Association (CFA) invited SAF's own Renato Sogueco, chief information officer, to talk about how florists can increase traffic on their Web sites.

"Revenue from Web sites is probably the number one revenue source for retail florists," Sogueco said.

Sogueco outlined key search elements used by most consumers, noting that about 90 percent of people surfing the Web will just rely on the first 10 items that come up after a search on such engines like Goggle or Yahoo. "The trick is to get your business to be listed in that top 10," Sogueco told CFA attendees. He went over basic, but proven techniques including relevant keyword suggestions, keyword placement on the actual Web page (headers, body text, etc.) and linking to outside sites.

Sogueco also offered some innovative methods for staying relevant on the Internet, such as participating in social media through such sites as Myspace and Facebook. Establishing a daily blog where you can write about everything from design philosophy to taking the time to answer common customer questions was another suggestion. Sogueco also reminded CFA members of the growing power of video sites such as YouTube, where you can upload photos and videos of event work or even designers at work.

"The florists from the northeast U.S. filled Renato's presentation, 'The Web-Savvy Florist,'" says Robert Heffernan, executive director of the Connecticut Florists Association.  "They peppered him with tons of questions and wouldn't leave the room. He gave them dozens of tips that most had never heard of before."

--Morgan Schimminger
mschimminger@safnow.org

 

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