Cannabis SEO is tricky to get right. Since many state governments have cracked down on paid cannabis-related ads, it’s even more important to harness your brand’s organic content. This is especially true during this current boom of cannabis start-ups, with the U.S. industry estimated to grow to $80 billion by 2030. Standing out from the competition can depend on the precision of your cannabis SEO.
Of course, your cannabis SEO 100% hinges on your brand, target audience, goals and competitors. Today we’ll go over three considerations to find your strain of SEO for your cannabis website.
1. Keywords should reflect your cannabis target audience.
This sounds simple but can quickly get complicated. Don’t just open Google’s Keyword Planner and add every single phrase that comes up. Think about who your ideal client is. These days, cannabis consumption goes beyond stereotypes. There are countless new profiles for cannabis users, each with different ways of talking about cannabis. It’s key to personalize your SEO according to your target audience.
Take for example cannabis products for millennial moms. You’ll want to cover keywords that this type of client would use to search, such as CBD oil, CBD oil for pain and CBD bath salts. This audience segment may be less likely to refer to it as cannabis, hemp or marijuana.
2. Optimize related content with client-specific cannabis concerns.
The more personalized your content, the better. Don’t stuff your website with just any information. Instead, focus on content that will appeal to your target audience.
If you’re looking to promote CBD oil products for millennial moms, for example, you’ll want related content on your blog that covers common concerns of this target audience. You might add informative posts including “Is CBD oil effective at night?”, “What CBD method is best for pain relief?” and “5 must-knows for CBD safety?”
Of course, your related content will be completely distinct if you’re a local weed farmer or a medical dispensary, which is why getting the pulse of your target audience is vital.
3. Highlight unique features of your cannabis products to raise the stakes.
When you’re writing content for new customer acquisition, you’ll also want to raise the stakes so clients make the purchase. This is best done by finding and marketing competitive differences. Depending on the cannabis products you sell, you’ll want to highlight features that make you #1 for your clients.
Sticking to our previous example of CBD bath salts, you can write product descriptions about how your salts last longer than competitors, how you offer a variety of scents, or even that your products come with free shipping. As we mentioned above, you can share these differences in your blog content, i.e. “How to have the best 1-hour bath with CBD bath salts,” or “Select your CBD bath salt scent according to your personality.”
As the SEO around your products becomes enriched and strengthened, your site will be better served to your target clients. In the end, this will help you stand out from others in the “weed race” for new customers.
Final takeaway
Besides these tips, all cannabis companies should also consider these areas as part of their SEO strategy:
- Local SEO for area-specific clients
- Link-building to increase ranking
- Newsletter subscription option
- Social media cross-over content and hashtag strategy
- Optimize content headings and order
- Meta titles and descriptions, plus descriptive URLs
- Great images with alt tag descriptions
- Technical SEO (content crawled and indexed)
- SEO analysis
If you want more information about these strategies, check out our SEO best practices infographic. At Onsharp, we’re also available for SEO consultations, if you want a more personal touch.
Ultimately, SEO is an essential part of acquiring the clients you’re targeting. With these three tips, you’ll better define your strain of SEO and stand out from the cannabis competition.
Download the PDF version
Click on the button below to download the PDF version of this blog post. Feel free to print or share with your business colleagues, or send them a link to this article.
