Modern dispensary owners understand the importance of having a good physical location for their cannabis business, and there is an online equivalent: search engine rankings. By ranking higher for common search terms like “dispensary” or “THC gummies,” you put yourself directly in front of your target audience. But how do you rank for these search terms? The answer is SEO.
The primary principle of search engine optimization (SEO) is making your web pages easier for search crawlers to audit your pages. At their core, the webpages that rank highly on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) are the ones that provide the most value to the real people that read them. This means the best way to boost your search engine rankings is to create engaging webpage content that provides value to the people reading them.
Google uses a complex algorithm that looks at more than just the specific text on your page and the use of keywords. Today, SEO also includes how your website is set up to include meta tags, content, link building, social networking, web design, organic traffic, sitemaps, and even the images and navigation on the website.
As a dispensary, there are legal restrictions surrounding what you can add to a website. However, successful SEO strategies can still make your dispensary stand out and move up the search results rankings.
Local SEO
Local SEO refers to pages optimized for specific cities or locations. Including your address on your website and having a Google Business Profile set up makes it possible for your dispensary to pop up when people search for “dispensary near me” or “cannabis near me” in the search bar.
Google My Business is Now Google Business Profile
Claiming and setting up your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) and Bing Places for Business can help increase local searchability and build credibility with local searchers. If you set your profile up properly, your dispensary will show up on Google Maps. Google does have some unique restrictions on dispensaries and other cannabis-based businesses, so we advise working with a cannabis marketing agency to set up your Google Business Profile.
SEO Strategies Across Social Media
Social media marketing is an integral part of any digital marketing strategy, but it is often overlooked by SEO specialists, and SEO isn’t well understood by many social media marketers. Including some keywords in the form of hashtags or as part of your captions on organic posts can help increase the post’s organic reach in the algorithm. You can also direct traffic from your social media pages to your website, increasing the likelihood of your followers becoming customers.
Setting aside time to optimize your website for search engines properly can take up valuable time you can spend on other aspects of your business or with your family and friends. Working with a cannabis advertising agency for your SEO can save you time and lead to a better ROI and searchability.
