About 80% of consumers search for services and products using search engines. But just being present online is not enough. Many companies create their first website and are waiting for potential customers. But it is not enough — if the site is further than the second position in SERP, almost no one reaches it.
More than 90% of users who search for goods or services on the Internet browse only the first, maximum second, search pages. In this case, just having a website is not enough. Optimizing your local business for search engines is crucial to attract potential customers.
If you are looking for professional services, address the MJSEO Agency that can help your cannabis website develop and expand. SEO experts know exactly how to make your brand recognizable in the cannabis niche and attract new customers. An experienced team will help you achieve your goals.
There are several approaches to optimization and among them are local and global SEO. Let’s have a look at these types and analyze what their differences are and what is better for a marijuana website.
Local SEO vs Global SEO
The main difference between these two types is that the former is aimed at a certain region, and the latter can include the whole world. Local optimization strategies usually include specific processes like adding a particular area to the search phrase.
To understand whether you should engage in local or global SEO, you should answer the question of whether you can provide services or sell goods to people in other states or countries. Considering the specificity of the cannabis niche, the answer could be “No” which means that local SEO is a better choice for you.
Another criterion is the ability to compete with other businesses and websites in a certain region. For example, if you want to provide your services in the whole state and not only in a particular city, you should be ready to spend more money to overcome your competitors. In that way, small startups and businesses should start with local SEO, making their brand recognizable and increasing its visibility.
Local SEO Workflow
How to start getting customers from search quickly? It is essential to build the promotion process correctly. Each new stage should be based on the data obtained in the previous stage. At each point, you need to focus as much as possible on the key task — building a promotion strategy that is profitable for the business.
The logic of building the work process and the sequence of actions:
- Competitor analysis;
- Optimization of site pages;
- Technical optimization;
- Working with Google My Business;
- Getting links;
- Search for additional points of traffic growth.
Let’s have a look at all of these steps.
Competitor analysis
At the beginning of the work process, a search and analysis of competitors in a niche are always carried out for the main key queries without reference to the region. This allows you to understand the business itself: how it works, what its values are, as well as identify the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, which will help to draw up a search engine promotion plan.
Optimization of the main page of the site
The home page is the most important. It is the most lead-generating one for this type of websites. Before writing a technical assignment, you need to understand which optimization actions will organically complement the page.
When making recommendations for optimization, it is crucial to understand that the main page of the site solves business problems and only then SEO ones. It is essential to remember that the main page of the site should capture the user’s attention and, using the necessary information blocks, lead them to the order.
During this stage, it is also crucial to improve content strategy. Make sure that text blocks and articles on your website provide the visitors with all the necessary information and are written for people and not for search engines. Include keywords and phrases in your text to attract the target audience from the SERP.
Website technical optimization
Website analysis for technical errors should always be performed. Sites should either not have problems or errors or have minor flaws. However, if there are any bugs, they can harm the indexing and ranking of the site.
Working with Google My Business
Users are increasingly looking for services, online stores, grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses located near them. Adding a local business to Google My Business is one of the quickest and easiest ways to get featured in local Google SERPs for SEO in the US.
Google My Business is a free tool from Google that allows you to place information about an organization on a Google map and search results.
Local SEO Link Building for marijuana
Backlinks to a site remain one of the most important Google ranking factors. The only thing that changes is the requirements for these links. For SEO promotion of a local site for the cannabis niche, the link requirements are the same as elsewhere — quality and relevance.
How to get even more traffic to your local cannabis website
There are several efficient ideas:
1. Blog site development
It is highly useful and effective to use a blog with informational articles for the content development of the site.
2. Creation of site pages for new, similar services
Another way to get additional traffic to the site is to expand the services provided.
3. Expanding local results
By expanding local search results, we mean the creation of regional pages for other cities from the state where the business is located.
4. Block or page with Frequently Asked Questions
Using a block or page with questions and answers, you can expand the coverage of key phrases. In addition, you give users answers to the main questions that arise, which increases the amount of useful content on the site and improves its quality in general.
