Existing store: plantsforsaleinnyc.com (Shopify). Research output: research/market-seo-research.md (+ IP-data: current-site-audit.json, serp-snapshot-dracaena.json, autocomplete-suggestions.json).
Tooling: free tier only — SearXNG SERPs, Google Autocomplete (works), Trends/Keyword-Planner blocked ⇒ volumes flagged approx where not from user CSV.
| Reality | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Dracaena SERPs are won by DTCs + big-box | HouseplantShop, The Sill, Eureka (28 varieties), Home Depot — zero local Brooklyn store in any top-10 |
| Misspellings = 1/3 to ~1/2 of volume | dracena 6,600/mo is the #1 key; detected 27 rows / ~12K vol (~44%); SEMrush counts 42 / ~36% |
| Low-KD commerce keys are winnable | 18 keys KD ≤ 20 (dracaena plants for sale 17, plant for sale 13, buy dracaena 11, marginata cold damage 5) |
| "near me" = big-box only | dracaena near me → HD, Lowe's, Walmart, IKEA — a GBP + local lander beats them on the map pack |
Build: /collections/dracaena-plants on the core keys + per-species hubs (marginata, fragrans/corn plant, reflexa, godseffiana, aubryana, thalioides, draco) + ONE misspelling hub page ("dracena / dracnea / drakina…") instead of 42 thin pages.
| Cluster | Key examples (vol/mo · KD) | Intent | Page target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head & variant names | dracena 6,600·27 · dragon plant 5,400·32 · dracaena corn plant 2,400·32 · dragon trees 1,300·36 · ribbon dracaena 720·22 · драцена 480·26 (RU niche) | I,T | Flagship collection + PDPs + one RU page |
| Transactional buy | dracaena plants for sale 260·17 · plant for sale 90·13 · buy dracaena 40·11 · for sale/madagascar 70·16 · near me 70·19 | T | Collection + delivery lander + GBP |
| Species long-tail (low KD) | marginata family 140–210·19–30 · fragrans 390·19 · reflexa 140·21 · godseffiana 140·17 · aubryana 50·11 · thalioides 50·8 · cold damage 40·5 | I,T | Per-species hubs + care guides |
| Misspelling variants | dracena · dracanea 880 · drakina plant 720 · dracenea 320 · dracaenea/draceana marginata · fragans 390 | I,T | One hub page + search synonyms + titles |
| Local delivery mods (autocomplete-verified) | same day plant delivery brooklyn · plant delivery nyc · large plant delivery brooklyn · plant store brooklyn heights · plant nursery brooklyn near me · dracaena nyc · indoor plants delivery nyc | T | Delivery/neighborhood landers |
Count: 68 CSV keys + ~40 autocomplete phrasings · every CSV row carries T-intent (per owner: no informational dilution).
| Query family | Who holds top-3 | Content type that wins | Our opening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dracaena buy-intent | DTC collections (HouseplantShop, Sill, Eureka, Tonkadale), HD/Amazon | /collections/dracaena* pages | "In stock + same-day in NYC" — no local entity present |
| Dracaena care | The Spruce, Costa Farms, White Flower Farm, BHG | Care-guide articles | Blog engine (site: 0 posts) + marginata cold damage KD 5 |
| NYC delivery / indoor plants | PlantShed, Ed's, Dahing, Sill delivery page, Scott's, Old Yew | Dedicated delivery landing pages | Match the landing-page standard; neighborhood pages only Ed's has |
| Store search BK | Natty, SecretNYC listicle, Yelp, Chelsea GC, Tend, GRDN | Listicles + reviews + local sites | GBP + reviews + listicle inclusions (G11) |
| "near me" species | Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, IKEA | Big-box category infra | Local entity outranks on map pack + local landers |
| Lever | Address-dependent? | Now vs later |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile (GardenCenter/Retail + same-day attribute) | YES — blocked until owner confirms street address | Prep category, photo bank, products feed now; create on confirmation |
| NAP consistency + local phone | YES (name/address/phone branding) | Pick brand string now — titles need it (G2) |
| Citations: Yelp, Bing Places, Apple, Nextdoor, Foursquare, LinkedIn | Address needed for most | Draft Yelp/Nextdoor; publish at confirmation |
| Listicle inclusion (SecretNYC, Brownstoner, TimeOut — rank top-10) | Address + opening proof | Submission queue ready (Brooklyn-owned lists) |
| Neighborhood delivery pages (Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, Park Slope, Crown Heights…) | NO — zip-radius framing works today | Do now — only Ed's has them; mirror his URL pattern |
| Review engine (50 Google reviews / 6 mo, respond 100%, photo asks) | NO — flow builds on delivery | Wire post-purchase SMS/email ask at dev time |
Competitor pack-leaders: 4.2–5.0★, 38–176 reviews — 50 reviews in 6 months out-pulls every garden center in a 5-mile radius.
| Area | Standard |
|---|---|
| Structure | Species-first collections (dracaena flagship), size via tags/filters; one species collection per product; SEO slugs w/ 301s; pagination canonical-safe; misspelling hub + search synonyms instead of doorway pages |
| Schema JSON-LD | Product+Offer(+sku/availability) on PDPs · CollectionPage+ItemList · LocalBusiness + areaServed/GeoShape on delivery pages (0/22 competitors do this) · FAQPage on faq · AggregateRating only with real reviews · BreadcrumbList |
| Speed (Lighthouse mobile) | Perf ≥ 80 · LCP < 2.5 s · INP < 200 ms · CLS < 100 ms · ≤ 2 MB transfer · TTFB < 0.8 s (already 0.2–0.5 ✅) |
| Apps — avoid | Auto-title-rewriting "SEO" apps · multiple review apps (duplicate schema) · overlay "1-click speed" apps · megamenu JS bloat · popup email gates on collections · any 2nd ld+json blob per page |
| Indexing hygiene | robots allow /collections /products /pages /blogs; block /cart /checkout /account; sitemap in Search Console; themed 404; redirect renamed slugs |
| ✗ Gaps (13) | ✓ Already right |
|---|---|
| G1 no dracaena/collection, G2 titles median 89ch (14/22 >80) + no brand, G3 descs capped 300ch + contact desc missing, G4 no LocalBusiness/delivery schema, G5 no ItemList on collections, G6 zero blog posts, G7 no delivery/neighborhood pages, G8 generic slugs (/products/large-plants-over-5-ft-2), G9 og:image http://, G10 FAQ without FAQPage schema, G11 no GBP/reviews, G12 LCP 6.7 s / perf 70 / 1.95 MiB transfer (CLS 0 ✓, INP not reported → manual), G13 size-only IA | Unique titles+descs · canonicals · lang=en · Organization+WebSite · Product+price JSON-LD · sitemap+sub-sitemaps · robots with UCP · Cloudflare TTFB 0.2–0.5 s · size collections in place · themed content voice (HQ copy style) |
| Player | Dracaena price anchors (2026-10-03, public) |
|---|---|
| Natty Garden (Crown Heights, local) | Dracaena 4" $9.99 |
| IKEA (big-box) | marginata 4¼" $5.99 — cheap only at tiny size |
| House Plant Shop / Garden Goods Direct (DTC) | $13–45 small · $12.95–136.95 marginata PDP |
| The Sill (national, 2 BK stores) | $39–169 collection · large marginata cane $149 |
| Eureka Farms ("28 varieties") | $29–295 · large trees to $695 |
| Ours | marginata 4 ft / 6 ft + dragon tree 6 ft + pairs (PDP prices live) |
Defensible claim: lowest price on ≥ 4 ft dracaena among NYC plant stores — big-box is cheap only at 4", boutiques charge $99–695 at size. Publish a "we checked NYC prices" comparison block on the flagship collection (doubles as price-corner content).
research/market-seo-research.md · research/current-site-audit.json · research/serp-snapshot-dracaena.json · research/autocomplete-suggestions.json · research/kw_stats.py