With medical and recreational cannabis becoming legal throughout the United States comes a wave of businesses crashing into the market. While this sounds like a good thing, the large amount of competition makes it difficult for brick-and-mortar and web-based stores to survive.
About 80% of people research a pot company online before purchasing, making your online presence vital to surviving in such a flooded marketplace. Here are some SEO tips to help your business stay afloat and increase your chances of showing up to consumers online.
Creating A Google Business Profile
Creating a Google business profile will index your name, address, and phone number with Google. It’s also the only way to put your business on a Google map whenever someone searches for your type of service.
Use Social Media
Staying active on social media will help build a relationship with your audience and, when done right, benefit your cannabis SEO. The best platforms for your business depend on your strategy, but the general consensus is to use at least Facebook and Google+.
Facebook is one of the most used social media platforms. It can reach various people and redirect traffic to your website, helping you reach your audience more easily. It also has a targeted and customizable ad platform that, when utilized properly, can boost your SEO and sales.
Google+ may not be as popular as other platforms, but it does offer Google indexing, which most others don’t. Posts published under this platform are indexed in search rankings, meaning using the right keywords can greatly increase your chances of being found during a Google search.
List Address And Phone Number On Your Website
Having a website nowadays is essential if you want to be competitive. It should have a unique and quality design and content in order to draw in consumers and keep them coming back.
What’s just as important is to have your name, address, and phone number in the text of your website so that when someone is looking for searches in your area, Google can give them your information.
Add Business To Popular Directory Listings
Websites like Yelp, Local, and YellowPages provide high-quality links to your website and increase the chances of traffic going to your business.
There are directories specifically for cannabis-related businesses, but be careful. Use credible directories, however, and only a few at a time, or else it could hurt your SEO rather than help it.
Gather Reviews
With listings and directories under your belt, ask customers to leave a review. Not only do potential customers see these positive reviews, but they also tell Google that your business is something to suggest.
Have A Blog
Good SEO increases traffic, and regularly publishing blog posts is an easy way to keep people coming back to your website. You can use them to promote new products, events, and industry news. It’s important to post on a schedule to keep your audience engaged.
Apply An On-Site Strategy
If you're not experienced in the technical aspects, you may want to consult a cannabis SEO professional or a web developer. Applying an on-site strategy is vital to building your SEO and shouldn’t be disregarded.
Keyword strategy: using keywords to reference your business helps consumers find you.
Title tags: name the pages appropriately for consumable content.
Header tags: organizing content makes it easier to peruse through.
Image alt/title tags: providing contextual info about an image.
Content structure: Organize your content so readers can easily navigate your site.
URLs: naming links so Google can decipher them easily.
301 Redirects: forwarding URLs that are no longer used, so visitors never reach a dead-end.
Quality Web Development: website coding must pass a range of criteria to be ranked well by Google.
Use Google Analytics
Without Google Analytics, tracking which SEO strategies worked for you and which didn’t will be nearly impossible. It’s an easy and quick way to monitor your traffic, bounce rates, conversions, and other metrics as more visitors filter on and off your website.
Optimizing your website for better search results can increase sales and visibility. When a potential consumer searches for your service or product, your SEO will guarantee that your business shows up for them.
Building a quality website that drives lots of traffic to you and reaches a high ranking on Google isn’t impossible, but takes time and effort to accomplish without a strategist.
With all the tips included in this article, you should have a foot in the door and push yourself and your business into higher ranks, keeping yourself afloat in such a flooded marketplace.