Garden Center Marketing Blog

Let's first talk about what Meta Tags are and what they are not. Meta Tags are not the silver bullet to get you the to top of search results.  Filling out your Meta Data will not cause you to go from page 30 to page 1 for a keyword. What Meta Tags will do, Meta Tags will help search engines display the content on your page in a legible format.  Let's take a look at where a search engine like Google uses meta tags.

Use the 'Other Text' area to cross merchandise or to further describe your plant. If the template you select does NOT display 'Other Text' then the input area for it will not be accessible when you are editing your plant record.

When you select your template, 'Displays Other Text' will be in white letters in a green box below those templates that incorporate it as shown below.

If you switch to a template that does not display 'Other Text' any information you entered prior to the template change WILL be saved. Therefore you can switch back to a template that supports 'Other Text' in the future and your previous information will still be there.

Use the text search box to find the plant you're looking for

With a plant library of more than 22,500 plant records, using the text search box is the quickest way to find a specific variety. In order to have the best results, use a single word of the Cultivar.  For example, if you are looking for Veteran's Honor rose, enter 'honor' or 'veteran' in the text search box and press enter or click [SEARCH NOW]. 

Use the plant info for your bench cards, hang tags and pot labels on your website

We can create a great plant library on your site with the plant info you use for your plant bench cards, hangtags and pot labels.

When it comes to installing vinyl banners, think boot camp hair cut: High and Tight!

The best way to clean your coroplast and vinyl banners is to use a sponge and dishwashing soap like Dawn. Do not scrub too hard and definitely do NOT use a pressure washer. I learned that lesson the hard way; a pressure washer will definitely clean your sign as well as taking off all of the ink :(.

Use vinyl with a blockout layer

If you plan to hang a vinyl banner where the sun will shine through it at some point during the day, be sure to use vinyl with a blockout layer. This will ensure that the light will not 'bleed through' your sign to make it difficult, or impossible to read.

Ensure text on your signs is big enough to be easily read

One of the biggest sign mistakes is using lettering that is far too small. There are three primary reasons people make this mistake.

You can't make it too easy to read!

In our 'Bigger is almost Always Better' blog on December 18th, we discussed the need to test font sizes to make sure the sign lettering is big enough to read. This blog expands on the tip of how to test font size BEFORE you pay for a sign.

Use various sign types and sizes to increase sales

Your Garden Center is competing with anyone or anything that takes your customers' time and/or money. If your customer runs out of time or money or worse yet, both, they will not be spending either with you. Good signage addresses the time constraint as shoppers can quickly find what they’re looking for, pay and get on with their day.

Yes, math can be useful

If you are not careful, a sign can be transformed into an article very quickly as you keep thinking of things you want to tell your customer. The more you try to say, the less is heard.

There are times when you won't want or need a bench card for each and every variety. That's where the 'Multiple Variety' plant records come in handy.

Syngenta Flowers and GardenCenterMarketing.com are working together to make it even easier for garden centers to have customized bench cards, hang tags, pot labels and website pages with Syngenta varieties. 

It is quite common for people to be disappointed with the lack of “pop” on their actual signs versus what they approved on the monitor. Similar to font size, approving color choices based solely on what you see on a computer monitor can result in signs that are difficult to read.

English and French OR Spanish

All of the characteristic descriptions (Full Sun, Deer Resistant, Summer Bloomer, etc.)  have been translated to both French and Spanish. 

Simple ways to improve your signs and make shopping easier for customers.

Target does it. Home Depot does it. “It” is using signage effectively to help their customers quickly find the products they are looking for.

If successful retailers spend money on signage, it must make financial sense. With today’s printing costs and available technology, even small garden centers can implement a cost-effective signage program.

We test all of the products we sell to ensure they will perform well for you. We started UV Resistance Testing on March 24, 2017.

Make sure you have the rights to EVERY image on your site

Grabbing an image from the Internet and putting it on your website is 'free' when you do it, but could end up costing you dearly in the long term. 

Use 'Attracts Pollinators' signs to increase sales

To state the obvious, there has been a lot of news about the importance of pollinators. Take advantage of heightened consumer awareness with our new 'Attracts Pollinators' signs.

Group your pollinator attracting plants with these signs to make it easy for customers to find plants that address this need.

Yep, we do now.

We have recently introduced the option for displaying metric units on bench cards, hang tags and pot labels.

Save up to 40% in ink coverage

Recently, customers began inquiring about which templates require the least amount of ink to print. While some templates used less ink than others, we could not confidently proclaim that one template over another was truly ink-friendly. That is, until now.

Smartphones are everywhere.  Sometimes we love them and sometimes we don’t, but for now they’re here to stay and there are a few reasons you need to make sure your site is optimized to effectively capture this expanding audience. 

The International Rose Test Garden was one of 24 official testing sites for the internationally respected All-America Rose Selections (AARS). The All-American Rose Selections was a non-profit association of rose growers and introducers dedicated to the introduction and promotion of exceptional roses. I had the pleasure of visiting these gorgeous gardens on August 24th, 2013 and took over 1,000 photos to exand the breadth and quality of our rose database.