The Wedding Florist
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Episode 13 | What all Wedding Florists must have on their Website Homepage  

Are you at the stage of your business where you are creating a new website or is it time to update your current website because your work and business has evolved and your customer has changed?  

When you google the tips online there is so much out there but you’ll find it’s not specific for wedding florists.  Selling wedding flowers is not the same as an ecommerce shop selling shoes, clothes and any other products.  Wedding florists need a specific type of website because of the journey we take our customers through.  

In today's episode I will be delving into my top 6 pieces of content you need to include in your Homepage to get more enquiries and take your customers to the next step. Grab a pen and paper and sit down with me to make notes so that you can implement this for your business.  
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A very warm welcome to you for this episode of the Wedding Florist Podcast.

So when I first created my website I learn 3 really important lessons  

I needed to create an online presence. The mistake I made was not understanding the function my website has in my business.  What you want is for your website to become a mechanism which  turns your leads to paying clients. And this is where the website works for you even when you are not there in person.  

I needed to create a first impression that would entice the customer to stay on the website to learn more. Because a customer will make a decision in the first 3 seconds on whether they want to take a deeper look or switch off. So for this reason you need to make sure you have all the right elements to keep them on your website.

I needed to become visible - so I was doing things in the background and essentially hiding. I was too scared to put myself forward because I didn't realise that people buy from people. This held my business back and it wasn’t growing.  

So with these lessons that I’ve learnt let me move forward to the 5 must-have content for your homepage.  

The image on top of the fold - This is the first image that a person will see when they land on your website and needs to make the best impression and shout out to the lead what you offer and do. If you are just starting out and don’t have your own images there is nothing wrong with using stock images from free or paid sites such as Pixabay or Shutterstock. Then when you get images of your own work you can update them with your own high resolution images. This image on top of the fold needs to show up well on any platform the customer is using, whether it's a mobile phone or a desktop. These images should not become distorted on any platform. You will find that this image will evolve as your business evolves.  

The Main Heading when the customers land on your website. When I created my first homepage I had SaritaB Flowers as my main heading at the top of the page.  But this was not right because the customers thought I did all types of flowers but I was only doing weddings and events. So I was getting enquiries for gifting, funerals and weddings because I was not specific enough.  Also people are not going to search SaritaB if they don’t know me so I needed to make it searchable. This meant taking the SaritaB out and adding words like ‘wedding flowers’ that would help with explaining my main offering as well as helping me become more discoverable online with search engine optimisation or SEO. The other words that will help you become more discoverable is using the city or area you are in.  
   
Then you need to have the secondary heading.  What this does is help you break down and explain your services further. So what you want to do is to keep things simple and not overcomplicate them. What you need to do is identify what is going to become your bread and butter and you can create an offer system that makes it easy for your customers to buy from you. Then, so that you have more creative freedom with what you are doing you can offer more tailored and bespoke wedding flowers with a full design led approach.  This can have a minimum spend attached to it.  

About me or credibility. When I started my business I didn’t realise that people needed to know me to buy from me.  I did not write anything about myself or even have much credibility. I had a real passion for wedding flowers, I was researching different types of flowers, different venues and so much more and I didn’t tell anyone about this. So why would someone buy from me?  When you first start your business you will also not have done any events of your own or have any credibility. So what you need to put here is your journey so far, how you got into flowers, why you are obsessed with flowers and what your dream is to create. This section is like a mini CV. Then once you get events under your belt, get featured in publications, work at various venues and so on you can add your credentials here too. Again this will change as you and your business evolves.  

Instagram. When I first did my website I spent so long looking for the right images to include and keep my website updated.  Instead of working hard and constantly thinking about upgrading the website you can add a plugin to include your instagram feed onto the website homepage.  This way you can spend your time and focus on providing value over on instagram and focus on one thing only.  Because as you update your instagram your website will automatically get updated. And as your business grows you don’t need to be changing your homepage and website every year. So this really helps to take the pressure off.

The Next Step. So, your lead lands on your website and sees all of the above information. They see what you do and where you are based, your offers that you provide  and how good and passionate you are. You need a Contact Us button to tell them to fill in the web enquiry form. This way you are telling them to take the next step and contact you.  This helps you to convert that lead into a paying client.

In the Wedding Florist Academy I cover this in detail and share more with you. If you want to strip years off your business growth journey then you will definitely consider joining the Wedding Florist Academy.  
 
If you've enjoyed listening to my podcast please show me the love and give me a review on i-tunes. it would mean the world to me.

Take a photo of this podcast and post it on your instagram stories tagging me in and I'll be sure to share some love back. If you think this podcast will help your biz bestie then be sure to share it with them too.    

So, here are various ways you can work with me.

I have free resources to help you in your business -  
Get your Complete Guide to Write Winning Proposals and
The Ultimate Social Media Kit with a social media calendar, florist specific hashtags and strategies to grow your audience.  

I know how hard and time consuming it can be to have the right resources in your business and that's why I have created various digital templates and resources that you can use in your business and these are available for instant download in the Etsy Store  

Watch the free training on how I went from hand ties to installations and grew my wedding flower business to a 6 figure profitable business.    

That’s it for now -  if there's a topic you want covering in the future let me know and I'll get it sorted for you.    

So until next week, stay blooming and take care     

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Hey there Wedding Florist

I'm Sarita B 

I'm the founder of Wedding Florist Academy. After qualifying in City and Guilds level 2 in 2014, I started my wedding flower business and learned how to sale my designs from hand ties to installations and grew a 6 figure business. I now enjoy helping other florists do exactly the same thing.  

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