Why does local SEO for cannabis businesses matter?
Local SEO improves your visibility on search engines, as well as branding awareness and familiarity among your target users. Local SEO for cannabis businesses also matters because it helps users find your business online when they search on Google and other search engines.
To find out more about the importance of local search engine optimisation and things to improve and work on, keep reading the following.
Google My Business
You should create a Google My Business Profile as it will index your business name, address and telephone number in Google Search. GMB also makes your business visible on Google map results when people search for similar services in your area.
To start, you should write a solid description of your business, make sure to list it in the correct category and upload photos of your business so that people can easily recognise it.
For better results, you might also want to include a branded My Business Map to your site that will be able to link back to the Google My Business Page for increased visibility of your medical marijuana business.
By having professional, updated and accurate information on your GMB page, Google Search will also know more about your business and rank it higher in local search results.
Get Listed in Web Directories
Online directories, the web version of Yellow Pages, are comprehensive platforms that people use to know about and contact relevant local business that they’re looking for.
Submitting your business in web directories improves your local visibility, allowing you to connect with your target market.
Web directories also often amplifies your online visibility, because they can help your medical marijuana business to show up even in directories where you didn’t submit a listing. This is because many directories automatically create listings using pulled info from other directories.
Being listed in web directories can also strengthen your business’ reputation via positive reviews. However, you should not be afraid of negative reviews, provided they’re outweighed by positive ones. After all, mixed reviews also show that you’re transparent and genuine (more on reviews for local SEO in a bit).
Most importantly, your business will show up higher in Google if you list it on directories that receive high amounts of traffic. This is because they’re trusted by search engines. You can count on the stable ranking of many web directories; meaning you also have the chance of showing up on the first page of search results, which can drive more sales.
Just ensure you have an updated name, address and phone number in every directory listing. Also, check that your NAP is the same across directories.
On-Page SEO
If you want to improve your local rankings, you should also include on-page SEO in your efforts. You should apply an on-site strategy to improve your cannabis marketing results. For one, you should implement a keyword strategy that involves choosing the most competitive and best keywords based on your target market and business objectives. Then have a page for each of these keywords – each of which attempts to be the best possible search result for people searching for that keyword.
In addition, on-page SEO should include title tag updates, wherein you have to name each content page correctly (including an appropriate keyword). Also, don’t forget about using 301 redirects to forward broken URLs to ones that work – these are good for site usability and SEO.
In addition, you should work on improving your internal linking structure. This matters because it aids with website hierarchy and info architecture. An internal linking structure can also distribute ranking and authority among different pages.
Reviews Are King
If you also want to sell more of your offers, you should consider reviews that have a significant impact on your local SEO.
Give importance to customer reviews. Even search engines revealed that positive reviews could improve your page’s visibility on search results.
After all, 88% of shoppers and online users trust reviews, according to a Search Engine Journal survey. Two important places for reviews include your Google My Business page and your social media accounts, especially your Facebook page.
Conclusion
Using local SEO strategies for cannabis marketing can boost sales, because they increase your online visibility, show trust ratings/positive reviews, and help improve your business’ ranking in search engines.