Link up to Florist SEO Success

As originally published in February/March issue of Canadian Florist Magazine

SEO is a buzzword that’s extremely important in today’s online environment. Search Engine Optimization can help you gain the edge you need to increase the number of visitors to your website, gain trust with existing and potential customers and, of course, ultimately increase sales.

Essentially free of charge, the SEO process is meant to improve the volume, or traffic, to a website via search engine “natural,” or unpaid, search results. This is not to be confused with paying for ad placement. Although ads are a quick way to gain exposure for your website, for the inexperienced, typically the traffic is lower and the price tag is higher.

As you may already have figured out, ranking no. 1 in Google’s natural results for a term like “Toronto Florist” would have a lot of potential for payoff. With 84 per cent of Canadians using the Internet, it’s no surprise that competition is fierce.

Have you ever wondered just what it would take to get your shop to the top of search results? There is no miracle formula, but there are steps you can take today to improve your ranking and start getting more orders.

Matt McGee from Small Business SEM developed what he calls the SEO Success Pyramid. Visit the website at http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/ to see why it’s been dubbed the “the holy grail” of the SEO process. Since florists are faced with a unique set of challenges online it’s important to know how each element of the SEO process affects your business.

Commitment

Whether or not you are the owner of the shop, everyone has to be on board in making your website a success, even if that just means giving the person in charge of the website the value and time they deserve to accomplish their tasks. Commitment might also mean making the financial commitment to hire a professional.

Planning

Far too many of us never manage to put a plan of action in place. A great way to combat this is to take a calendar and schedule all your website tasks outside of the peak holiday season. This way, you don’t put too much pressure on yourself and let things fall by the wayside.

Education/Information

Experts spend a lot of time researching and learning. Although you’re busy in the shop, there are small things you can do to keep up to date with search marketing updates and advancements. Subscribing to e-mail updates from the Google Webmaster Blog, or websites like SmallBusinessSEM.com will go a long way in keeping you informed.

Patience

Ranking well in the search engines is not something that happens overnight; more often than not it can take months. Be wary of anybody who promises top ranking results in a few weeks. Getting to the top is well worth the wait, but keep in mind this is an ongoing process and prepare for upkeep.

Design and Usability

Whether or not you have a wire service website, browse around to make sure yours is up to par. Is your site attractive and, most importantly, easy to use? As McGee puts it, “Get out of your customers’ way and let them do what they came to your site to do.” Maybe there is a better template for you, or maybe it’s time get a site as unique as your shop.

Keyword Research

Without knowing which search terms you’re targeting, you’re going nowhere fast. Decide on a defined area like “Dartmouth Florist“ or “Halifax Florist” and you might want to consider the type of shop too – for example, “Event Florist in Calgary.” Be realistic and check out the competition. You’ll then need to use your keywords, so check out sites like SEOMoz.org or SEOBook.com to test your site and see if the keywords work for you.

Analytics

Without proper measuring tools you won’t know how people are finding your site, how well people are interacting with your content, what they’re buying, if there are major errors and which of your marketing dollars are being well spent.

Tools

Take advantage of some great free tools available online. One of the most popular is Google Analytics, a free and very robust website analysis tool. Along the road you will find many more that can help you stay ahead of competitors.

Crawlability

Search engines use “spiders” to crawl your website and decide how it will rank for your keywords. Make sure to setup Webmaster accounts in Google, Yahoo! and Bing. These websites are there to help you with any crawling and indexing questions you may have and by using these sites you will be able to spot most major errors.

Content

Text, images, products and information pages that offer things like delivery information and shop location details make up your site’s content. Don’t skimp on this information: it’s important to have your site cover all the bases. Give customers a clear description of your shop and that you offer. rovide customers with value, and a reason to trust you, and they will order again and again.

Links

To search engines, each link from another website (specifically quality floral or locally relevant sites) is like a “vote” toward the integrity and quality of your website. Having great content will help encourage others to link. Don’t be afraid to reach out too.

Social/Local Findability

Local search (Google Maps, Yelp) is a must for florists since this is your primary advantage over online Order Gatherers. Target local searchers with business listings on Google, Yahoo! and Bing, local directories and sites like Yelp.ca. Social media sites (Facebook, Twitter) are a great way to scout for local business too, when you’re ready.

Reputation Management

It’s important to know what people are saying about your business. Social media networks are bigger than ever and reviews may say more about your business than you know. Keep close tabs on your listings and set up e-mail notifications (like Google Alerts) for when your shop’s name pops up in the search engines.

Trust

It all comes down to this in the end; when customers and search engines trust you and your website, you’ll reap the rewards of good rankings and, more importantly, loyal customers.

In many cases as much as 75 per cent of your website visitors will come to your site via search engines. It’s more important than ever to have a good understanding of how to manage your website, encourage more quality visitors, gain trust and keep them coming back for more.