So, how does that work exactly? Here are three ways dispensaries can use SEO to increase their sales.
Study the Keywords
The keywords that lead people to your site can teach you a lot, but not all keywords are the same. You can use a tool specifically designed for keyword research (my personal favorite is SEMRush) to get a more in-depth look at what’s happening behind the scenes, but Google’s suggested search feature can give you a lot of information too. While all kinds of keywords have value and a role to play in an SEO strategy, we’re going to focus on geographic and informational keywords and how they can impact your cannabis sales.
For a dispensary, geographic keywords such as “dispensary near (city),” or “best cannabis strains in (city)” are a natural fit because they’re less competitive than broader keywords like “best cannabis strains” that have more search volume and are subsequently way more competitive and difficult to rank for. What’s the point of this? It helps you figure out what terms to put in your title tags, H1s, and other website content, which will in turn help connect your website with the customers who are searching for it.
On the other hand, informational keywords don’t have as much direct purchase intent, and are instead being used for research purposes. They’re still valuable though! Some examples of these might include “what is cannabis” or “what’s the difference between indica and sativa.” That’s right, the same questions you probably get asked a million times per day by your customers are the same ones they’re looking up online. Identifying those questions, answering them in a genuinely helpful way, and optimizing the pages people are landing on can help increase the traffic coming to your site. If you have a blog, these queries can make excellent topics for blog posts, which will in turn increase traffic. Answering user questions also helps establish your business as a trusted authority, which is a factor in SEO success.
Gather Competitive Research
You can gain a lot of useful information from researching your competitors. The more similar their business is to yours, the more useful the information will be. Everything from the keywords they’re ranking for to the way they structure their products and content on their websites can offer useful insights into what works well in your industry and your area. Research and take note of things that are working well, and things you could potentially experiment with on your own website.
Know Your Local SEO
Getting local SEO dialed in is key to successful marketing for cannabis businesses, especially with all of the legalities surrounding cannabis sales. Local SEO, as the name implies, is a search confined to a specific local area. The first step to getting local SEO right is to claim your business profiles on Google My Business and Apple Maps. These profiles have all of your business information such as your hours of operation, your contact information, your address, and your website. While local search is an art form in and of itself, your website needs to have your local information included, especially if you have multiple locations.
Why does all of this matter? Because search engines index local listings too, so when people are searching for cannabis retailers in your area, you’re much more likely to show up if your local listings are dialed in.
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