You get the emails. “I noticed your website is not ranking for florists in [city].” Three a week, probably, plus the wire service telling you their marketing package is the answer. SEO is its own trade, and the mistakes florists make with it are the same ones over and over. Here are the six, then the questions to ask before you pay anyone.
Mistake 1: Letting the wire service be your website
The catalog is theirs, the photos are theirs, the order button is theirs, and the cut is theirs. Google has seen that exact site a thousand times. The pages guide is the fix.
Mistake 2: One page for every kind of order
Same-day, sympathy, weddings and holidays, all on the homepage. It cannot rank for any of them. The two searches guide explains the split.
Mistake 3: Catalog photos
Every florist in the country has the same red roses photo. Yours, taken on a phone on your bench this morning, is the only one Google has never seen. Real photos of your own work, on every page. It is free, and it is most of the difference.
Mistake 4: Building the holiday page the week of
A new Valentine's page every January, deleted every March. It never ranks, because it never gets old enough to. The holiday guide covers the fix: one page per holiday, kept all year.
Mistake 5: A sleeping Google listing
No products, twelve photos, the old phone number, no holiday hours, reviews from two years ago. The person on the map picks the listing that looks awake. The listing guide and the reviews guide fix this, and they cost nothing.
Mistake 6: Buying the package
An SEO company sells you “ten keywords, four blog posts a month, a monthly report.” The keywords are generic. The posts are about the meaning of flower colors. The report shows rankings for words nobody types. A year later you have paid a lot, and the wire service still takes most of your delivery orders. The package was built for every business, so it fits none.
What to ask before you hire anyone
- “Show me one site you rank in a local service trade.” Not a logo. A site, a search you can type right now, and a result you can see.
- “What do people search before they order flowers?” If they cannot say “same day delivery,” the funeral home names and the two big holidays without looking it up, they have not done this trade.
- “What would you build first?” The right answer is the delivery page, the sympathy page and the Google listing. Not a blog, not backlinks.
- “What is the contract?” Be careful with a twelve-month lock-in. Good work shows within a couple of months. Month-to-month means they have to keep earning it.
- “Who takes the photos?” If the answer is “we use stock,” walk away. The photos are the whole advantage you have over the wire services.
- “How will I know it is working?” The answer should be direct orders going up and wire-service orders going down as a share, not a ranking chart.
What you can do yourself first
Before you hire anyone, photograph everything that leaves the shop for a month, build one real sympathy page with the funeral homes named, add products to your Google listing, and put a review card in every arrangement. Those four things are free, and they are most of the early result. Then an SEO company has something to build on instead of starting from zero.
What good looks like after three months
Not a report. Things you can see. Your listing shows on the map for “florist” in your town, searched from your phone. Your delivery page shows on the first page next to the wire services for “flower delivery [city].” Your reviews are newer and more of them. And more callers say “I found you on Google” than “I ordered through the 800 number.” If none of that is happening after three months, ask why, and listen closely to the answer.
Want this done for you?
I run a floral lead site in Tampa Bay myself, so you can type the search and see it. If you want me to look at your site before you hire anyone, including me, the audit is free and it will tell you which of the six mistakes you have.