Website Checklist for Retail Garden Centers Timothy Howard Clarity Connect, Inc. Holly Springs, NC (919)

What are Your Business Objectives? Getting new customers Increasing frequency of purchases Increasing average order size – Trying new products – Complementary products – More of the same Improving margins Getting first time customers to become repeat customers

What are Your Calls to Action? What do you want your site visitor to do? – Call us – Visit us – Check back for an update – Sign Up for our E-Newsletter – Complete wholesale customer application – Order Now

First Time Visitors What is your place like? – Photo Gallery What kinds of stuff do you have? – Scanable text combined with photos What’s your specialty or focus? – Scanable text combined with photos Do you have any specials? When are you open? How do I get there? Social Media Links Sign Up for E-Newsletter

First Impressions….

What did you see?

Wow! What a beautiful place. Focus Hours Directions Social Media Specials E-News

Repeat Site Visitors Share what’s new (that would be interesting or relevant to your customer) Pitch what is on sale Provide instructions for easy seasonal projects – Include product lists Local Gardening Information Resource – Plant Library - info to: Sell it Have success with it – Articles and Information Seasonal – How to Prune a Rose bush ‘Evergreen’ (always good) – Composting Online Ordering

Buy Online Local Gardening Info. Events (What’s New) Plant Info Find Plants Quickly

Great Info Homeowner Gardening Tips Companion Plants

Selecting a web designer Local vs. Remote Individual vs. Company Template vs. Custom Designer vs. Techy Static vs. Content Management System (CMS) Recipe vs. Consultative Expansion capabilities Ability to help with content Experience – Total, Horticulture Specific, Search Engine Optimization Support – Availability, human vs.

Key Take-aways Don’t have site, ‘just to have a site’ Build your sites to achieve specific business objectives Sites designed by 18 year old kids for $200 generally look like sites designed by an 18 year- old kid for $200 Text is king when it comes to search engine results

Key Take-aways - 2 Design look and feel needs to reflect your physical location and the real customer experience Content should be written for the site user, not to demonstrate how smart you are – Plant descriptions for retail customer should be different than for wholesale customers – Nobody cares ½ as much about your business as you do

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