HTG Badge of Approval | Get Certified

What is the HTG Badge of Approval?

The HowToGardenz Badge of Approval is a certification you can earn for your nursery or garden store that indicates that your business is officially endorsed by HowToGardenz and can be trusted by shoppers.

In order to qualify for the Badge, your establishment must pass an inspection, which enables your establishment to then pay an annual fee in order to become an Officially Certified HowToGardenz Nursery.

What Are the Benefits of the Badge?

The HowToGardenz Badge of Approval allows you to enhance the trustworthiness of your business by displaying our Badge on your storefront, website, or promotional material.

We know that it can be a challenge to stand out as a local business, and our Badge enables businesses to distinguish themselves from the crowd by showing customers that your business is truly exceptional.

Once your business is certified, you’ll gain the following benefits:

• Permission to use our official badge graphic on your website, storefront, or promotional material.

• Your business will be listed on our website according to the tier of Badge you have earned.

Is there a fee for the HowToGardenz Badge?

The HowToGardenz Badge of Approval is free, but in order to maintain the badge you must maintain a > 4.0 star rating on Google.

In addition to the HowToGardenz Badge of Approval we also have two higher level paid badges: HowToGardenz Badge of Excellence or Best in Class Badge.

In order to attain and maintain your HowToGardenz Badge of Excellence or Best in Class Badge, you must first pass an inspection. If your garden center passes the inspection you will be able to receive the badge of your choice, both of which have a small annual fee.

How Do I Get an HTG Badge for my Business?

If you’re a nursery or gardening business operating in Ontario, you can get in touch with HowToGardenz to arrange a free audit of your business.

The audit will include a review of the following:

• Investigation into the quality of your online customer reviews;

• A review of your product line and breadth of shopping options;

• (Silver & Gold only) Assessment of the user experience of your website, including functionality, load times, and ease of use;

• (Gold only) A review of the in-person shopping experience at your location(s), by way of a secret shopper.

Based on how your business performs on the above, you may qualify for a different tier of badge as detailed below:

• HTG Badge of Approval (Bronze) - Above average customer experience in the local area.

  • Annual Fee: Free forever provided your business maintains > 4.0 star rating on Google.

• HTG Badge of Excellence (Silver) - Excellent customer experience in the local area.

  • Annual Fee: $197 / year

  • + Website assessment

• HTG Best In Class Badge (Gold) - The best customer experience in the local area.

  • Annual Fee: $497 / year

  • + Secret shopper audit and report about suggested improvements.

  • + Website assessment

If you require further online services for your business, HowToGardenz also offers a variety of digital marketing services, including: content creation (new landing pages, engaging articles), website management and improvement, and online advertising on platforms like Meta or Google Ads.