SEO & Google - floristPro Guide to SEO and Googl… · Beginners Guide 3 SEO and Google Beginners Guide to promoting your website “I want to be top of Google when someone searches

Beginners Guide

SEO & Google

Beginners Guide 2 SEO and Google

Contents

Beginners Guide to promoting your website ...................................................................................... 3

Exactly what is SEO? ...................................................................................................................... 3

How Google search engine works .................................................................................................. 3

Google Rankings ............................................................................................................................ 4

Rankings for a New Domain ........................................................................................................... 4

Google Listing ............................................................................................................................ 4

Get Google Friendly ........................................................................................................................... 5

Setting up a Google Account .......................................................................................................... 5

Google Places ................................................................................................................................ 5

Google Analytics ............................................................................................................................ 6

SEO: Using Website Content .............................................................................................................. 7

Keywords Explained ....................................................................................................................... 7

Choosing the right keywords ...................................................................................................... 7

Keyword list ............................................................................................................................... 9

Page Meta Data ............................................................................................................................. 9

SEO Page Title ............................................................................................................................ 9

Page Description ...................................................................................................................... 10

Page Keywords ........................................................................................................................ 10

Category SEO ............................................................................................................................... 11

SEO and Content ......................................................................................................................... 11

Page Heading ........................................................................................................................... 12

Page Content ........................................................................................................................... 13

Tips and Tricks for content ....................................................................................................... 13

Products & Categories ................................................................................................................. 14

Relevant .................................................................................................................................. 14

Unique ..................................................................................................................................... 14

Images ..................................................................................................................................... 15

SEO: Using Links .............................................................................................................................. 16

Why links are important .............................................................................................................. 16

External Links .............................................................................................................................. 17

SEO: Using Social Media .................................................................................................................. 18

How it works ............................................................................................................................... 18

Setting up Accounts ..................................................................................................................... 19

Links to create a new account .................................................................................................. 19

Linking your account to your website ....................................................................................... 19

Social Media Content ................................................................................................................... 19


Beginners Guide to promoting your website

“I want to be top of Google when someone searches for flowers in my area”.

That is something we hear quite often. However, so do all the other florists in your area. The web

is a competitive market place and it would be foolish to think that simply having a website means

that potential customers are going to find you.

There are lots of things you can do to improve how people find you – but it is impossible to

guarantee the top listing!

Simply having a website is not going to rank you high - be prepared to work to improve your ranking

through content, links and social media.

Exactly what is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the process of improving your ranking in search engines results

by making changes to your website. The only restraint is the time you have to dedicate.

If you decide you do not have the time to dedicate to SEO then you can employ an SEO consultant.

However, beware – there are many businesses who will claim that they can guarantee to get you to

the top of Google. It is impossible to guarantee this without paying for Google adverts (see PPC

below). Be very cautious.

Our advice would be to follow this guide and have a go yourself. Be patient. As you make changes,

they will not be instant. Google generally updates rankings every 10 to 14 days although this

sometimes can be up to 30 days, and they only pick up your changes at this point.

PPC (Pay per click), for example Google AdWords is online advertising in which you pay to appear in

the search results. With Google they display these adverts at the top of the results and on the right

hand side of the screen. PPC can be costly but does have its place in an SEO campaign under certain

conditions.

SEO is a changing goalpost as Google and all the other search engines change what will rank your

website higher. However, teach yourself the basics (and with our help) you won’t be left behind. If

you decide you would rather employ an SEO consultant at least you will understand what they

should be doing for their money!

How Google search engine works

Imagine you are someone looking to order flowers for delivery in Norwich. What is the most likely

words you will type into Google to find a suitable florist? Let’s say “flowers in Norwich”.

Google’s spiders search all the websites across the world looking for websites where these words

appear.

Google will then list all the websites that include these words. Google sorts these websites by the

ranking it has given each website. It is this ranking that defines where your website will appear in

the search results.


Google Rankings

Google ranks a website based on a combination of different things. It is these that you must make

sure you work on to increase your rankings on Google. Examples of what Google is looking for are

listed below.

Content – how relevant and unique the content on your website is.

Keywords – ensuring words that people will type into the search engine appear in your

content and text hidden from the user called Meta Data.

Activity – how active is your site? If a lot of people visit Google will rate you higher.

Links – do you have links with other websites?

Social Media - How your website integrates with social media

Rankings for a New Domain

If your website name (domain) is new, expect Google to take at least 2 months to find your website.

This is simply that it currently has no history with Google and this is the timeline they give to list a

new website. (Note: This is where AdWords can be worthwhile as you can list in AdWords within 24

hours, however it will have an additional cost. See the AdWords section later on for more

information).

If you already have a live website it is a good idea to keep the website name (domain) and the

history you already have with Google will be transferred to the new website.

Google Listing

Google has three separate areas’

you can be listed in:

A. Adwords listing

B. The natural listing

C. Google Places listing A

B

C


Get Google Friendly

Before we start looking at SEO itself we would recommend that you create a Google account and

then register your site on Google Places. You also need a Google Analytics account. It is likely we

have already created a Google analytics account for you, but you will need to send us your Google

account email address so we can enable your account to see the information.

Setting up a Google Account

A Google account will allow you to access Google services using this one account, it is free to have a

Google account.

Go to https://www.google.com/business/

1. In the top right corner you will see Get on Google

2. As you do not already have an account, click on the Get on Google button.

3. You will need to complete the form and click on Next Step.

4. Google will then send you an email with a link that you need to click on to verify your

account. They may also send you a postcard through the post to verify your account. You

will not be able to complete the card until you have entered the pin number that appears on

this card. Once you have done this you are ready to start using the account.

Google Places

Register your website with Google to get a listing on Google places. This will automatically give you

a listing on Google search, Maps and Google + and is a free service.

When registering your business you will be able to list your opening hours, address, contact

information and even add a photograph of your shop. Remember to change if your details alter.

Customers can also leave reviews – another bonus for which Google will rate you higher (good

reviews of course!).

https://www.google.com/business/


Google Analytics

Google analytics allows you to see how visitors to your website interact with your website. Once

you have a Google account, you need to let us know the account username (email address) and we

can link your user to analytics so you can see this information.

Analytics features include:

Content reports allow you understand which parts of your website perform well and which pages are

most popular so that you can maximise the experience for your customers.

Social analytics measures your success of your social media. See how visitors interact with sharing

features on your website (for example the “like” buttons).

Conversion Analytics shows you how many customers you are attracting and how much you are

selling.


SEO: Using Website Content

There are many different things you can do to improve the SEO on your website. The information

below is not exhaustive and is based around the current ranking requirements for Google using the

content on your site.

Keywords Explained

Keywords are words that people will use when searching for you in Google. For example, as

someone looking for a florist who will decorate the local church for my wedding, I might type

“church wedding flowers Cambridge” into Google.

As the florist I want Google to find these “keywords” on my website and therefore list my website

for the customer to find.

Google will search the internet and locate websites where these words can be found and then list

the websites based on how Google ranks the website.

Choosing the right keywords

Put together a list of keywords or phrases that are highly description and if possible unique that

describe the services and products you offer. Start with your company name, what you do and

where you are and combinations of. So for example if your company name was, Simply Flowers and

you were in Horsham some keywords / phrases could be:

Simply Flowers

Flowers

Florist

Florist in Horsham

Horsham florist

Flowers in Horsham

Simply flowers Horsham


You can then get more specific depending on the page you are optimising. So for example a wedding

page you could use:

Wedding flowers by Simply Flowers

Weddings

Wedding florist

Wedding flowers in Horsham

Brides Bouquets

Write a list of generic terms for using across the entire site, like the first list above, and then write a

another list of page specific words and phrases like the 2nd list above.

Ask friends and family to help you. Often as a florist you are too close to your own business and

other people will often come up with words that you would have never thought about.

Google also has a free Keyword Tool that you can use to find keywords that might not have thought

of.

https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&__u=1000000000&ideaReque

stType=KEYWORD_IDEAS&defaultView=2

In the example below we have typed in wedding flowers and church wedding flowers and the results

show other potential keywords and phrases that I could use. It also shows the number of searches

that have been made in the last month on these keywords.

https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&__u=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS&defaultView=2

https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&__u=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS&defaultView=2


Keyword list

It is a good idea to keep a list of all the keywords you are going to use on your website. Every time

you change any content on your website you can refer to this list and make sure you include these

words and phrases where relevant.

Page Meta Data

Each page on your website can have some SEO specific information added know as Meta Data.

There are three main areas that these can be added and is very easy to do:

SEO Page Title

Page Description

Page Keywords

SEO Page Title

It is the second most important on–page SEO element (the most important being overall

content), and appears in three key places: browsers, search engine results pages, and external

websites.

This is what shows in the tab when a specific page is selected on your website – in the example

above, the Wedding page. By default, your website will use the Page Name/Name of your

shop/your location unless you specify a specific SEO Page Title as below.

Aim for title tags containing fewer than 70 characters. This is the limit Google displays in search

results. Title tags longer than 70 characters may be truncated in the results, or search engines may

choose to display different text from the document in place of the title tag

To change the SEO Page Title:

1. From your administration, select Page Content, Web Pages.

2. Click on the page you want to alter the SEO Page Title for.

3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Advanced – Search Engine Options.

4. In the SEO Page Title enter the title you want to appear in the browser window tab.


Page Description

The page description is a summary of each page’s content. Google will sometimes use this

description in search results snippets, if it thinks it gives users a more accurate description than the

actual page content. Every page should have a unique page description – in other words write a

different one for each page.

The meta description should use keywords intelligently, but also create a compelling description that

a searcher will want to click. Direct relevance to the page and uniqueness between each page’s meta

description is key. The description should optimally be between 150-160 characters.

Example for Wedding page:

To add a Page Description:




4. In the Page Specific Description, enter a short descriptive paragraph that summarises the

content on that page.

Page Keywords

These are the word or phrases that you have identified as potential words people may use to find

your website. For each page in your website you can use different keywords. For example, the

keywords on your wedding page can be different to the keywords on your home page.

Example for Home page:

Example for Wedding page:


To enter Page Specific Keywords




8. In the Page Specific Keywords, enter the word and/or phrases. Each word/phrase should be

separated by a comma (,).

Category SEO

Your floristPro website creates categories for different occasions. For example, Birthday,

Anniversaries and Congratulations.

When a visitor to your website clicks on a category the products are shown on a category page.

Therefore each category has the ability to have SEO added (just like the actual Web Pages on your

site).

By adding SEO to categories you maximise your rankings. For example, if someone searches for

“birthday bouquet” and Google picks up your Birthday category with “birthday bouquet” in your

keywords then your site is more likely to be listed.

To change the Category SEO

1. Select Categories from your administration and selection either Occasions or Design Types.

2. Click on the category you want to change and select Advanced – Search Engine Options.

3. Add the SEO keywords and or descriptions.

SEO and Content

The content on your website is extremely important for both visitors to your site and Google (and is

what makes it worthy of a search result position). Google is searching your content to look for

content that matches the search. Your keywords need to be weaved into the textual content for

each page. This can be tricky as there is a fine balance between making the text interesting and

readable and ensuring your keywords sound natural.

For example, if keywords for your wedding page are “wedding flowers” and you overuse them in the

text on that page, the next will not sound natural and Google could in fact penalise you!


Bad content example:

Good content example:

Page Heading

The Page Heading for your page is important. This is what most people read first. Use your

keyword(s) again in this heading (called Title on your administration system).

Adding or changing the Page Heading


2. Click on the page you want to alter the page heading for.

3. At the top of the page in the Page Title type in the heading that you want to appear at the

top of page.

4. Click on Save.


Page Content

Each page on your website should have a couple of paragraphs of text as an overview of the

products and services that you offer.

You can add Main Page Content and Lower Page Content for every page on your website. The

design of your website will determine which is best to use (or both!).

Example: Home Page

On this page there should always be a couple of paragraphs of text outlining the following and

including a few of your keywords and phrases:

Who you are

What you do

Where you are based

Where you deliver to

Anything unique about your business

Adding or changing your Page Content


2. Click on the page you want to alter the page content for.

3. In the Main and/or Lower Page Content type in the textual content for your page.

4. Click on Save.

Note: If you prefer you can type your text in Word and then copy and paste the text into the page

content. This will allow you to spell check your text first.

Tips and Tricks for content

Don’t waffle – get to the point. Visitors to websites do not read everything. In fact they tend to skim

read and pick out the main words. However, remember that text that just consists of keywords will

be penalised by Google.

Easy to share – if the content is relevant and original people are more likely to share it with others

via Twitter or Facebook, for example. These types of social link are great as they are instant


adverts to your website visitors’ friends and colleagues through their twitter feed or Facebook

friends.

Articles – Think news article, interview or feature piece – “Life in the day of a florist”, “Village florist

wins window competition”. Whatever it is promote it on your website. Up to date news and events

will increase your ratings with Google.

Guides – become an expert. Post “How to” instructions. Google will like the fact that you are giving

away something for nothing.

Video – in general there are fewer videos on the web than pages of text; consequently it can be

easier to rank higher than a competitor by creating a video instead of an article. Video is a great way

to attract an audience. Make sure however, that your video is short (3 mins max) and high quality.

Products & Categories

The products on your website are the bread and butter and like Pages can use SEO techniques to

improve your rankings. Good products will help your rankings with Google and it is a good idea to

regularly check your products and categories.

Relevant

Google wants to see products that are relevant to now. For example, if it’s early summer, Christmas

products are not relevant to the time of year. However,

your summer category is!

Turning categories on and off

1. From your administration, select Categories and

Occasions.

2. Click in the box to the left of the category you want

to switch off and click On Hold at the bottom.

Unique

Google wants to see products that are unique. If you currently use relay products on your website

the products are unlikely to be unique. However, change the name and or description and you have

a product unique to your website. Also consider changing names and descriptions to use words

relevant to the time of year. For example, Summer Sunflower Bouquet has more chance of being

searched for in June than a product called Melody.

Changing Product names and descriptions

1. From your administration, select Products.

2. Click on the product you want to change.

3. Type in a new name and/or change the

description.

4. Click on save.


Images

Give your image filenames that are descriptive of the picture. For example redrosebouquet.jpg is a

lot more informative than image 000034.jpg. If Google cannot find relevant text on your page it will

use the file name instead.

You can also provide a description for the image that will appear for any visitor to your site who

cannot view images. Google will look favourably on on these Alt tags.

1. From your administration, select Products.

2. Click on the product you want to change.

3. Select Advanced options.

4. In the Image Alternative Text type in the text that you want to appear, for example Summer

Sunflower Bouquet.


SEO: Using Links

A link is where a visitor to a website can click on something (text or image) that then takes them

somewhere else. An example of this would be where someone goes to your website and you have a

link to a local venue who recommends you. When the visitor clicks on the link text, they are taken

to that venues website. Check your website regularly for broken links as Google will look on these

unfavourably.

Why links are important

Links are a vote of confidence. In the example above the florist is recommending the venue. If the

venue then recommends the florist in the same way this is called a back link or external link – in

other words, they recommend each other.

Google is aware of links and will rank websites higher where visitors are coming to the website via a

link. However, you do have to be careful. You only want links from websites which have a “good

ranking” themselves and readers who would be interested in what you offer. You want the link to:

Send valuable traffic to your website (ie potential customers)

Tell Google your site is an expert

Lesson – if you want to link to another website, check the website out first! Make sure it is a

website that you want a link from or to – even if it is a brilliant local business, linking to its website

could be detrimental to your online rankings.

Creating a link to another website

1. Make sure you have the URL for website and

page that you want to link to. For example, if

you were going to link to our website and the

sample page the URL would be:

http://www.floristpro.co.uk/samples.html

2. From your administration, select Page

Content and click on the page you want the

link to appear.

3. In the Page Content type the text you want to

appear on the page as the link – for example,

view floristPro samples

4. Highlight the text and click on the Link tool.

5. Type in the URL link and click on OK.

http://www.floristpro.co.uk/samples.html


External Links

If another website links to you, this is considered an external link to your site. External links ranking

power differently than internal links because the search engines consider them as third-party votes.

Many SEO consultants agree that getting external links is the single most important objective for

attaining high rankings. This stems from the idea that external links are one of the hardest metrics to

manipulate and thus, one of the best ways for search engines to determine the popularity of a given

web page.

Therefore it is important to get third party websites linking to you. A regular technique used is

known as Mutual linking and is where you find local relevant businesses to you who have websites

and getting them to link to you. In return you add a link on your site to them.

Another technique is getting involved in forums and social media and periodically adding relevant

links to your site in your posting. Please note though you need to ensure you are not spamming

forums with your links, only use them lightly and when relevant to the post you are making.

http://moz.com/learn/seo/internal-link

http://moz.com/article/search-ranking-factors


SEO: Using Social Media

Social media sharing with Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest affects a website’s ranking with

Google.

Google now rates how socially active you are and the links from and to your website. In fact, social

media is one of the top rankings for Google. Social media is all about getting visitors to share your

website with their friends and followers.

How it works

For each social media that you have signed up to, floristPro can ensure icons appear at the bottom

of each of your webpages.

Any visitor to your website can click on one of the social icons – for example the Facebook “Like”

and an automatic post (link) to your website will be placed on their Facebook (with or without a

comment).

This will now be seen by all their friends and followers and Google will see that you are interacting

socially and rate you higher. Of course the important thing to remember is that your website must

have content that they want to share!


Setting up Accounts

There are lots of choices for social media. If you are new to it start with Facebook. Google+ is highly

rated for your ranking (as it is of course owned by Google!) and should not be ignored. If you are

already using Facebook then seriously consider setting up a Google+ account as well.

Links to create a new account

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/

Google+ : http://www.google.com/+/business/

Twitter : https://business.twitter.com/

Pinterest : http://business.pinterest.com/setup/

Linking your account to your website

Make sure that your website address is linked from your account. Some social media will verify your

website address before the account is activated.

Social Media Content

Be creative. Share the human side of your business with social media using photos, videos and even

music. Be careful that you do not post personal information – this should promote your business,

not that fact that you had too much to drink last night and have a hangover (which is it going to

promote your business).

Offer discounts, promote a community event or run a contest that encourages your audience to

share your brand with others.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/

http://www.google.com/+/business/

https://business.twitter.com/

http://business.pinterest.com/setup/

Documents

SEO & Google - floristPro Guide to SEO and Googl… · Beginners Guide 3 SEO and Google Beginners Guide to promoting your website “I want to be top of Google when someone searches