By now it’s probably very obvious that you need to market your florist to the locations that you explicitly deliver to. This makes more profitable sales from your website. Sending orders to other florists is generally a loss making exercise online and whilst it’s ok it’s always more profitable to own the entire transaction from website to doorstep.
In this week’s discussion I’m going to chat about the steps that you need to take to market your website locally.
First thing to remember though, this doesn’t mean you just want your website to be popular IN your local area. You want yoru website to be popular for searches about florists and your local suburbs.
The vast majority of people buying flowers online are probably not from your local area so would never see actual local advertising.
The key here is to make your florist website visible when people search for the suburbs you deliver to.
There are several parts to this strategy and in the past we have discussed various aspects of this including:
This week we are going to discuss Google Business Listings and how to get one or claim your existing business listing.
Claim Your Google Business Listing
A Google Business Listing is the point on a Google Map that people can click to see details of your business, and it’s also the Business Information displayed when people search for the name of your business.
This listing is super important as it tells Google that you are a real business (they verify this) and you service a specific area which helps greatly in Local Search. Also the Google Business Listing is a way for People to rate your business and leave reviews which are extremely important for SEO.
Your business may already be listed with Google Maps, or it may need to be added. The following is a tutorial on Adding or Editing your this listing through the Google Business Dashboard.
-
Log into Google My Business Dashboard
https://www.google.com/business
You will need a Google account to do this, if you already have a Google Account:
Click the Green Button “Start Now”
If you don’t already have a Google Account click the option:
- Sign In
- Then Click: “More Options”
- Then click: “Create Account”
2. Find your Business Name
Once you have logged into the Google Business click the blue button “Add Location”
- Enter the Name of the Business and click Next
- Continue filling in the information
- Check the Box “I deliver goods and services to my customers” and click Next
- To enter the suburbs you deliver to click the option “Specific Areas” and then enter ALL the suburbs that you deliver to.
- Then Click Next
- Choose a business categoryIE Florist
- Click Next
- Enter your Contact Detailsand the address of your website
- Click Next
- Then Click Finishand follow the instructions to Verify your Listing
3. Verify your listing
There are two ways to verify your listings:
- By Phone or
- Postcard
Choose the phone and an automated system will call the phone number with a PIN to verify. You will then need to enter the PIN into the dashboard
4. Once Verified start adding information.
This is important for you to do once the listing is verified. In the Google Dashboard, click the business listing and you will be taken to the Business Dashboard.
- Click Info in the Left hand menu.
- Update your opening hours
- Add your business description
5. Add some Photos of your business.
One of the important things you can do next is to add photos to the listing as these are a great way to show people that you are real florist!
To add photos to the listing:
Click the Photos Menu
Choose what type of photo you are uploading:
- Profile
- Cover
- Profile
- Interior
I like to have one of each at least, with more interior shots for florists.
That’s it! It should take a few days for the listing to appear and you can then start further optimizing this listing and accepting Google Reviews.
What to do if someone else has claimed my listing?
A fairly common occurrence in the online floristry world is that someone else may have already claimed your business listing, Don’t panic Google has a way to transfer the ownership.
Start off by asking staff and colleagues in case they have registered this on your behalf. If someone has you can get them to transfer the ownership by =following Google’s instructions:
https://support.google.com/business/answer/4566671?hl=en
If you don’t know the person or don’t have access to an old email address you will need to get Google to Request the ownership on your behalf.
If someone has claimed your business listing and is refusing to cooperate then you may have to contact Fair Trading in your local state or engage the services of a lawyer to demand ownership.
It is against the law for someone to pretend to be another business name so there is always legal recourse.
Other Business Listings
Don’t forget you also need to claim your business listings in Apple Maps and Bing.
Here is our guide for Apple Maps:
https://www.flowerstoreinabox.com.au/blog/get-siri-find-florist/
Conclusion
This is just the first part of optimizing your business and website for local search traffic. You should also be:
Optimizing your Metadata for local searches &
Creating SEO Suburb Landing Pages
In future weeks we will be discussing further optimizing your Google business listing and encouraging customers to leave reviews for you!
