Is All SEO the Same? When Does Your Cannabis Brand or Dispensary Actually Need SEO?
- July 10, 2024
- Jessica Smith
- Marketing, SEO
Are you searching for how SEO can help your cannabis brand or dispensary rise above the competition? Look no further than this blog.
There’s never been a better time to establish a cannabis brand. As more states legalize cannabis, the market is growing rapidly, but this growth also brings intense competition. Standing out locally is crucial for dispensaries as more competitors enter the market.
So, what’s an ambitious Cannabis Brand or Dispensary to do?
The answer is strategic marketing. With a qualified agency partner, your brand or dispensary can master cannabis SEO. Effective SEO harnesses search terms to drive new customer traffic. If you want to thrive, you need SEO done right. Here’s how.
On-Page Cannabis SEO
The first level of cannabis SEO is the content users encounter when they first visit your site.
Once they arrive, the content on your page must correspond with their search intent. Search Terms, titles, headings, meta descriptions, and everything else must feel relevant and on-target. More than that, your page experience must be user-friendly and easily accessible; a high level of usability will prevent visitors from backtracking to another site.
Everything must be organized to present a polished, profesional, and SEO driven experience; this includes internal linking and using images with optimization and alt tags. But it can’t feel like you’re rooting for the robots; your content needs to feel organic and exude high levels of expertise, authority, and trust (EAT). More than that, it should be fun to read! A dedicated cannabis SEO agency can help you channel the voice of your brand and entice casual visitors to stick around.
Off-Page Cannabis SEO
There’s more going on in the world of cannabis SEO than meets the eye. In fact, much of the most critical work a cannabis SEO marketing firm can do for you will happen off the page in the form of backlinks.
The online cannabis landscape features a number of weed directories. Sites like Leafly and Weedmaps are where cannabis consumers often go to find local dispensaries and discover cannabis brands. A qualified cannabis SEO agency will help you gain backlinks on these sites and others so your brand can attract meaningful user traffic.
Technical Cannabis SEO
Let’s look further behind the curtain and see how developing a technical cannabis SEO strategy can help your brand grow. As you create your cannabis site, here are some of the technical details we can help you with:
- Structured data: Utilizing structured data (schema) helps search engines comprehend the context of your website’s content, enhancing its visibility in search results.
- Crawling and indexing: Ensuring your site is easily crawlable and indexable allows search engines to discover and catalog your pages effectively.
- XML sitemaps: An XML sitemap acts as a roadmap for search engines, guiding them to all your essential pages and ensuring thorough indexing.
- Page speed: Fast-loading pages improve user experience and may boost your rankings on search engines.
- Navigation: A clear and intuitive navigation structure helps users and search engines find content easily, enhancing usability and SEO.
- Site structure: A site structure that is well-organized makes it easier for search engines to crawl your site and for users to find the necessary information.
- Canonical tags: Using canonical tags prevents duplicate content issues by telling search engines which version of a page is the master copy.
- 404 pages: Fixing 404 errors by redirecting broken links or updating URLs ensures users don’t encounter dead ends, improving overall user experience.
- 301 redirects: Implementing 301 redirects ensures that users and search engines are directed to the correct pages, preserving your SEO rankings and link equity.
When you have a cannabis SEO agency to handle all the technical details, you can focus on the quality of your product and the presence of your brand.
Dispensary (Local SEO)
This all sounds good, but what if you’re a local dispensary? Do dispensaries need SEO? In our opinion: Yes! Here’s why:
With the right SEO agency partner, you can turn your online dispensary pages into major drivers for in-person retail traffic.
- We use research to learn what your competitors are doing so you can outperform them.
- Since “dispensary near me” is a top search term, we use SEO to help searchers find their way to your dispensary.
- We use Local Falcon to monitor the coverage area strength of your Google Business Profile listing.
- We build up location pages to help people in your area discover what your dispensary has to offer.
- We connect you to the biggest online weed directories so you’re easily searchable.
- We create content that answers searchers’ intent.
- We streamline your website design with UX and UI.
- We help you create a rewards or loyalty program to keep customers coming back.
For example, Hybrid Marketing Co. successfully implemented these strategies for Rootdown Dispensary, significantly enhancing its local online presence and increasing foot traffic to their physical location.
Google Business Profile
This tool, formerly known as GMB or Google My Business, is essential to building your cannabis business’ online presence. Here are some ways an SEO cannabis marketing partner can help your profile create real-world results:
- We handle the optimization of your profile.
- We manage reviews.
- We organize photos, name files, and ensure all files are the correct sizes.
- We use UTMs to track performance.
Having an experienced partner in cannabis SEO by your side will guarantee that your Google Business Profile remains effective and compliant.
Don't Forget About Bing Places
Last but not least, there’s Bing Places. This Microsoft equivalent of Google Business Profile is used by Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, and many other non-Google Chrome browsers. It’s also used by Bing Maps and Bing-powered voice devices.
Working with your business interests in mind, a good cannabis SEO marketing agency can manage your Bing Places profile just like it manages your Google Business Profile and achieve the same outstanding results.
With Chrome as the internet’s favorite browser, you might wonder how much this functionality matters? While many people prefer Chrome for desktop and mobile searching, Bing is the default voice search engine for Amazon’s wildly popular Amazon Alexa devices, including the Echo family. With a cannabis SEO marketing agency on the case, your brand will be the first to appear when your target customer asks, “Alexa, where the weed at?”
Cannabis Brand SEO
Due to the industry’s unique challenges and regulations, building a solid online presence for a cannabis brand requires specialized SEO strategies. Implementing on-page, off-page, and technical SEO can significantly enhance your cannabis brand’s online visibility, attract more customers, and drive business growth. Regularly monitoring and adjusting your SEO efforts will help you stay ahead in the competitive cannabis market, ensuring compliance and maximizing reach.
The Takeaway: Why a Cannabis SEO Expert and Cannabis Marketing Agency Matter
By partnering with an expert SEO cannabis marketing agency, your company will be able to succeed on multiple fronts. Upgrading your content and user experience with the power of SEO will create better business outcomes for both established and pioneering entities in the cannabis industry.
In order for your cannabis business to grow, you need to invest in the tools and experts who can take your work to the next level, helping you reach new customers in the expanding, fast-paced cannabis market. SEO can get you there. And nobody does cannabis SEO like Hybrid!
