The biggest mis-understanding about search engine optimization is that it is something you either have or you don’t.

Some sites are better organized for Google crawlers and that is an essential part of getting traffic to your site. But more than that, SEO is an ongoing process of site marketing. Here are 5 key tips for Search Engine Optimization for your florist website:

1. Know Your Ranking

Download the Google Toolbar — once installed, just roll your cursor over the bar icon on the toolbar to see your 1 – 10 ranking. A ranking of 3 or 4 is a great ranking.

2. Metatags, Keywords and Sitemaps, Oh My!

Make sure your front page and product pages have Metatags and Keywords. These tags are invisible to your customers, but they help tell a search engine robot that a rose bouquet is a rose bouquet.

3. Backlink Magic

Search engines rank your site based on the number of incoming links. The best kind of links are ones with high rankings themselves, typically high traffic sites like newspapers. Slow, steady building of links over time is a big help. Think of sites like Yelp as great places to place your content (ahem, make sure your customers or at least someone is writing good reviews of your business).

4. Content is King

Search engines love sites with regularly updated content. A great way to enable this is a blog on your site. WordPress is a good free alternative, but requires installation and database setup. Tumblr is a super easy way to blog, but won’t be hosted on your site so it’s a second best.

5. Find Yourself On A Map

Make sure your business is appearing on search engine maps. Google Place Page and BingPlaces for Business are a good place to start.

That’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to search engine optimization. But it’s a good place for any florist to start getting his florist website up to standard.