Tim Cartledge shares the story behind Florist Window, from launching one of the UK's first major web directories before Google even existed, to creating a platform that helps real local florists succeed online without paying for unnecessary SEO.
Why Florist Window Clients Don’t Need SEO!
Because they’ve got Tim Cartledge…
Let’s rewind to the late 1990s. The internet was just beginning to take shape, and a handful of tech-minded people were quietly building the future.
Back then, search engines looked very different. Yahoo, Lycos, AltaVista, HotBot, WebCrawler, InfoSeek and Excite were household names. Google was still in beta, quietly refining what would become the world’s most powerful search engine.
At the same time, and entirely independently, I was doing something very similar in the UK.
The Birth of UK Superweb
On 23rd February 1998, I registered my first commercial domain: uksuperweb.co.uk. The goal was to build a national UK web directory. A structured, searchable gateway to the internet for every county, city and village.
UK Superweb went on to publish over 36,000 pages of manually curated content. Each city was broken down by business type and category. It was a comprehensive platform designed to help people find what they were looking for, quickly and locally. In essence, it was a UK search engine in the making.
Google officially incorporated a few months later, in September 1998, and did not launch on a .co.uk domain until July 2001. We were both starting out around the same time with very different visions, each focused on helping people search the web.
For over 15 years, UK Superweb ranked inside the top 100,000 websites globally, serving as a go-to hub for UK web discovery. The site featured clients in prime positions, either as part of full website projects managed by Superweb, or outside their own domain environment where UK Superweb became one of the marketing tools used to generate traffic, enquiries and sales.
In essence, Superweb acted as a click-through gateway from search engines to client websites. It dominated many search results, and in October 2005, its three-month traffic projection showed UK Superweb heading towards the top 5,000 websites globally.
Eventually, the search landscape shifted. Sites like Superweb became stepping stones in the way of search engines and direct paid advertisers. As paid search grew, directory-style search sites slowly lost relevance and rankings over a period of years.
Superweb adapted for many years. It was not just a marketing company, but also a web design company. We worked with global manufacturing companies, retail businesses, property companies and many other sectors. Whatever the industry, Superweb worked in it.
Today, in 2026, we still manage many domain names for historic UK Superweb clients. We no longer provide web services for them, but we do still manage their domains and DNS.
Superweb was an awesome experience, and it made Florist Window possible. Superweb funded Florist Window from 2009 to 2014, before ceasing trading in 2018 after 20 years. It makes us proud to publish our first ever logo here on this blog post.
In April 1999 we launched our web design site uksw.co.uk. The site was published to let the world know we also designed websites as well as developing the UK Superweb Directory.
From Directories to Florists
As Google evolved and its algorithm matured, traditional web directories slowly disappeared from search results. Paid advertising models took over, and organic listings like ours, which did not generate revenue for the platform, were pushed aside.
Rather than resist, I adapted.
By 2009, UK Superweb was being transformed into something new. A platform that empowered real local florists to sell and deliver their own flowers online, without relying on relay networks or middlemen. That platform became Florist Window.
On 1st July 2016, after 18 years of publishing, UK Superweb was officially retired. Its legacy lives on in the technology and structure that powers today’s Florist Window sites.
A Natural Born Techie
My connection to computers started early. At just 11 and 12, I scored 93% and 94% in my first two computing exams. The highest in my year group by more than 20%. Computers were not just something I enjoyed, they came naturally.
In fact, I only began learning to read and spell properly between the ages of 9 and 11. But once I did, everything changed. I never sat formal exams again, after my coursework was repeatedly stolen. But I had already found my direction, one driven by passion, not paperwork.
The rise of the internet felt like a natural extension of everything I loved. And by the time most people were figuring out how to get online, I was already building platforms that shaped how others experienced it.
SEO Isn’t New to Me, I Was Doing It Before It Had a Name
In the pre-Google world, search was a Wild West of competing engines. Meta search tools like SavvySearch.com combined results from Yahoo, Lycos and AltaVista. Everyone was trying to figure out how to rank, how to get found, and how to be seen.
I was doing exactly that, long before SEO was even a term.
From building structured, indexable directories to optimising city-based landing pages and category structures, I’ve spent over 25 years thinking about visibility, searchability and relevance online.
That’s why SEO isn’t an add-on at Florist Window. It’s baked in from the start.
Florist Window Clients Already Have SEO
When you join Florist Window, you’re not just getting a website. You’re getting the benefit of decades of hands-on search experience. Everything I learned from building one of the UK’s first large-scale web directories, adapted for a modern, florist-first world.
Every site we launch is fully optimised, fast, mobile responsive and cleanly coded. We build around strong local targeting and smart on-page content. That’s why Florist Window clients consistently dominate their local search results.
If someone calls you promising “top rankings” or offering “SEO services”, send them packing. Ask them to email you instead and we’ll happily explain why you don’t need them.
Because we’ve already done the work.
And we’re still doing it, every single day we click update.