A GUIDE TO CANNABIS SEO
CANNABIS SEO FOCUSES ON ENHANCING THE VISIBILITY OF CANNABIS-RELATED WEBSITES THROUGH ORGANIC METHODS. WITH THE RISING DEMAND FOR WEED PRODUCTS, SEO BECOMES EVEN MORE CRITICAL IN THIS COMPETITIVE INDUSTRY. KEYWORD RESEARCH, ADAPTING TO USER SEARCH INTENT, AND PROVIDING CREDIBLE ANSWERS TO CUSTOMER QUERIES ARE KEY ASPECTS OF EFFECTIVE CANNABIS SEO STRATEGIES. BY LEVERAGING SEO, CANNABIS COMPANIES CAN GAIN CUSTOMER TRUST, IMPROVE WEBSITE TRAFFIC, AND OUTPERFORM DISPLAY ADVERTISING AND SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS. WE HAVE OUTLINED BELOW EVERYTHING YOU WILL NEED TO GET YOuR SEO JOURNEY UNDERWAY.
KEYWORD RESEARCH
IT'S ESSENTIAL TO IDENTIFY THOSE WHO ARE VYING FOR SEARCH ENGINE VISIBILITY WITHIN YOUR TARGET MARKET AND ANALYZE THEIR APPROACHES TO GAIN VALUABLE INTELLIGENCE FOR SHAPING YOUR OWN SEO FRAMEWORK. USING TOOLS LIKE SEMRUSH CAN HELP YOU IDENTIFY KEYWORDS, SEARCH TERMS, BACKLINKS, AND PLENTY OF OTHER USEFUL TIPS FOR STRUCTING YOUR STRATEGY. A good look at how your competitors do SEO lets you access a goldmine of information to help you create a framework for your strategy.
At its most basic level, an analysis of your competitors will show you:
Their strengths and how you can enhance them
Their weaknesses and how you can avoid them
Content strategy and website structure
Link-building strategies and their dynamics
Which SEO tasks you’ll need to prioritize firsT
KEYWORD DIFFICULTY
THE METRIC IS TYPICALLY RATED ON A SCALE OF 0 TO 100. A LOWER DIFFICULTY SCORE, RANGING FROM 0 TO 30, INDICATES AN EASIER PATH TO RANKING. A MODERATE LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY FALLS WITHIN THE RANGE OF 31 TO 70, WHILE A HIGHER SCORE OF 71 TO 100 INDICATES A MORE CHALLENGING RANKING PROCESS. UNDERSTANDING THIS SCORE ALLOWS YOU TO GAUGE THE COMPETITIVENESS ASSOCIATED WITH TARGETING A PARTICULAR KEYWORD AND HELPS INFORM YOUR SEO STRATEGY ACCORDINGLY.
A simple Google search with cannabis industry-specific keywords will display the top performers. Even though you may have competitors in your niche, they may not be the same as your SEO competitors. UNDERSTANDING THE RELEVANT TERMS AND PHRASES THAT RANK WELL WITHIN YOUR NICHE MARKET, PARTICULARLY FOR SIMILAR OR RELATED PRODUCTS, IS CRUCIAL FOR OPTIMIZING YOUR SEO EFFORTS. IN THE REALM OF CANNABIS SEO, THE MARKET IS STILL RELATIVELY NEW, RESULTING IN LIMITED AVAILABLE KEYWORD INFORMATION.
Utilize Local SEO
Local SEO is critical for local online visibility. A vital component of SEO for brick-and-mortar dispensaries or small stores.
SEARCH INTENT
SEARCH INTENT REFERS TO THE UNDERLYING PURPOSE BEHIND A USER'S SEARCH QUERY ON A SEARCH ENGINE. BY COMPREHENDING THE MOTIVE BEHIND A SPECIFIC SEARCH, YOU CAN TAILOR YOUR CONTENT TO ALIGN WITH THE USER'S NEEDS. UNDERSTANDING AND CATERING TO THESE DIFFERENT SEARCH INTENT TYPES EMPOWER YOU TO CREATE RELEVANT AND VALUABLE CONTENT THAT FULFILLS THE SPECIFIC NEEDS OF USERS.
THERE ARE FOUR PRIMARY CATEGORIES OF SEARCH INTENT
TRANSACTIONAL: THIS TYPE REVOLVES AROUND MAKING A PURCHASE, INDICATING THE USER'S INTENTION TO ENGAGE IN A TRANSACTION.
NAVIGATIONAL: USERS WITH NAVIGATIONAL INTENT ARE SEEKING A SPECIFIC WEBSITE OR STORE, AIMING TO LOCATE A PARTICULAR ONLINE DESTINATION.
COMMERCIAL: COMMERCIAL SEARCH INTENT INVOLVES GATHERING INFORMATION BEFORE MAKING A PURCHASE DECISION. USERS IN THIS CATEGORY ARE CONDUCTING RESEARCH AND COMPARING OPTIONS.
INFORMATIONAL: USERS WITH INFORMATIONAL INTENT ARE DRIVEN BY THE DESIRE TO ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE. THEY SEEK TO LEARN SOMETHING OR GATHER INSIGHTS ON A PARTICULAR TOPIC
SEARCH VOLUME
THIS MEASUREMENT REVEALS THE AVERAGE MONTHLY SEARCH COUNT FOR A PARTICULAR KEYWORD. A HIGHER SEARCH VOLUME INDICATES THE POTENTIAL FOR INCREASED TRAFFIC, COMPARING PAGE VIEWS TO SEARCH VOLUME CAN SERVE AS A USEFUL BENCHMARK FOR DETERMINING APPROPRIATE KEYWORDS FOR FUTURE CONTENT.
QUALITY CONTENT
ESTABLISHING HIGH-QUALITY CANNABIS CONTENT SERVES AS A CRUCIAL PATHWAY TOWARDS ESTABLISHING AUTHORITY, RELEVANCE, AND TRUST FOR YOUR WEBSITE TO SURPASS OTHER CANNABIS RELATED CONTENT IN SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS. LEVERAGE YOUR CONTENT TO PROVIDE INFORMATIVE CONTENT, ADDRESS RELEVANT TOPICS, ANSWER QUERIES, PROMOTE EVENTS, SHOWCASE NEW PRODUCTS, AND SHARE INDUSTRY NEWS.
FIX CRITICAL ERRORS ON YOUR WEBSITE
IF YOU HAVE ANY TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH YOUR SITE, THEN IT’S UNLIKELY THAT GOOGLE WILL GIVE IT A BOOST. IT IS IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO PERIODICALLY TAKE A LOOK UNDER THE HOOD OF YOUR WEBSITE TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS RUNNING SMOOTHLY.
LOAD TIME
SITE SECURITY
SERVER PERFORMANCE
SITE SPEED
COMPRESS IMAGES TO 150KB-200KB
MAKE MOBILE RESPONSIVE W 1-2 SECOND LOAD TIME
META DESCRIPTIONS
TITLE & HEADERS
CANNABIS LINK BUILDING
LINK BUILDING IS AN ESSENTIAL STRATEGY IN SEO FOR CANNABIS WEBSITES, INVOLVING THE ACQUISITION OF LINKS FROM EXTERNAL SITES TO YOUR OWN. THESE LINKS SERVE AS SIGNALS TO SEARCH ENGINES, INDICATING THAT OTHER ENTITIES PERCEIVE YOUR CONTENT AS CREDIBLE AND VALUABLE. IT BECOMES CRUCIAL TO DEVELOP A ROBUST LINK-BUILDING STRATEGY. BY CULTIVATING A NETWORK OF QUALITY BACKLINKS, ULTIMATELY POSITION YOURSELF AS A TRUSTED AND REPUTABLE SOURCE WITHIN THE COMPETITIVE CANNABIS INDUSTRY.
CANNABIS BLOGS
THIS COMBINATION OF SEO EFFORTS AND INFORMATIVE BLOG CONTENT NOT ONLY ESTABLISHES YOUR BRAND'S AUTHORITY BUT ALSO EDUCATES YOUR AUDIENCE. THE RESULT IS AN AMPLIFIED ONLINE PRESENCE AND IMPROVED SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS, LEADING TO INCREASED WEBSITE TRAFFIC AND HEIGHTENED VISIBILITY WITHIN THE COMPETITIVE CANNABIS INDUSTRY.
BLOG PILLAR IDEAS TO IMPLEMENT
INTERVIEWS
REVIEWS
NEWS & HAPPENINGS
HOW-TO’S AND TUTORIALS
TOP (5) LISTS
RESOURCES OR LINKS
INFOGRAPHICS & STATISTICS
CONTRIBUTED GUEST POSTS
MONITOR YOUR ANALYTICS & ADJUST
GOOGLE ANALYTICS IS AN INDISPENSABLE MARKETING TOOL THAT OFFERS INVALUABLE INSIGHTS. BY IMPLEMENTING A TRACKING CODE ON YOUR WEBSITE, YOU GAIN THE ABILITY TO EFFECTIVELY MONITOR AND MEASURE DATA. IDENTIFY YOUR TOP-PERFORMING WEB PAGES, INCLUDING PRODUCT PAGES AND BLOG POSTS. THIS DATA SERVES AS A VALUABLE GUIDE FOR OPTIMIZING BOTH NEW AND EXISTING PAGES. ANALYZE THE INFORMATION OBTAINED AND PINPOINT AREAS THAT REQUIRE UPDATES OR ENHANCEMENTS BASED ON YOUR FINDINGS.
