SEO Tips for Cannabis Websites & E-Commerce Stores

Build in-depth Product Pages

Your product pages are the most important pages on your e-commerce website.

In order to rank your product pages well. They will need a number of upgrades that will help rank them better in search engines.

Step 1: Write Long Form Product Descriptions

Just like category pages, the product pages should have long-form content about each product that is unique. Ideally, it is over 1,000 words.

Longer content is proven to rank higher in search engines and it’s no different for product descriptions.

Step 2: Add Product Videos

Videos of your products on your product page have multiple positive results that will help:

  • Increase conversion rates
  • Build trust
  • Increase SEO

Whether you add videos of people using your product, how to use your product, feature highlights or simply user testimonial videos, they will help increase your product’s conversion rate and rank your product pages better in search engines.

Bonus Tip: Add your product videos to Vimeo/Youtube and add a link back to your product page from the video description for a free backlink and easy access to your product page!

Step 3: Get Product Reviews on Your Website

Obviously, you are going to have a hard time getting sales or ranking your product pages when your product has no reviews.

In this day in age, people look towards reviews to decide whether or not they want to buy a certain product.

Getting as many reviews as possible on your products will help build social authority, trust, and of course, increase conversion rates!

Having product reviews will also help your product pages rank better in search engines. When you have product reviews and rich snippets (we will talk about them later) your star reviews will show up in Google SERPs which will make your listing stand out and increase the number of people clicking to your site, which is good for SEO.

Create Relevant Educational/Blog Content

As I mentioned before, writing long-form content can be great for ranking your e-commerce category pages and product pages, but you can also build other types of content to generate more traffic to your store.

But before writing any blog posts or articles, you first want to do some research as to what people are searching for.

We can use a tool like Ahrefs and search for our main keyword or service. So let’s go to the content explorer and search CBD. We can then sort by organic traffic to get ideas of the content we could write that gets traffic.

Now we know that an article written around this topic could get 230,000 visitors a month so this would be a great content idea to build.

Make sure your content is focused on your product and answers popular questions people may have about your industry or product.

Here are some other types of content you can build to generate backlinks and traffic:

  • Educational Articles
  • In-Depth Product Reviews
  • Comparison Guides
  • Top Lists

Optimized Internal Linking

Building links to an e-commerce store can be more difficult than other websites so internal linking is very important to pass any link juice throughout your entire e-commerce site.

This is why it’s a good idea to add links to your products in the content throughout your website. Happen to mention your product in a blog post? Add a text link directly to the product page.

The easier it is for your users and Google crawlers to navigate your website, the better your pages will rank.

Build a Google My Business for Local SEO

Whether you are doing local SEO or national SEO, Google My Business is a powerful tool to generate more business online, for free.

Google My Business is Google’s management system for Maps locations and local results.

Hiring WJ Media Group For Your Cannabis Marketing

Hire professionals here at WJ Media Group. We are currently working with numerous cannabis companies, building their websites, and social media presence, and further boosting their SEO and web presence. We provide a secure and trusted service, contact us here. Visit our cannabis marketing page.

How to Make Your Dispensary Stand Out

As the cannabis industry grows and more and more dispensaries pop up, it is becoming harder to make your dispensary stand out. To ensure that your business is able to attract and retain as many customers as possible. It is vital to offer a customer experience and products that are memorable and unique. Try these easy tips to make your dispensary stand out.

Create A Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs are a tried and tested method of bringing customers back to a business more frequently, and convincing more people to make that store their go-to shop. Dispensaries are no exception to this. Different types of loyalty programs can offer different benefits to you and your customers. For example:

  • A customer referral system rewards shoppers when they introduce your dispensary to their friends, helping you reach a wider audience. This is particularly useful to increase awareness of your business when opening a new location.
  • A points system gives customers progress towards a reward every time they make a purchase. This encourages them to buy more when they visit your dispensary. In addition to shopping exclusively at your dispensary, so they don’t miss out on earning more points.
  • A VIP membership scheme lets customers pay a recurring fee to experience a premium service. VIP membership benefits could include a permanent discount on purchases, or a delivery of curated products to enjoy each month.

Create Educational Content

Many customers, particularly beginners who are unfamiliar with the wide range of legal cannabis products available in your dispensary. They may need more information before they feel comfortable buying. Creating content to help them is a sure way to make your business feel more approachable.

Address common concerns about the legal issues surrounding cannabis. Further share information about how to use products. As well as helping customers understand the differences between products and how to find the right products for them.

The cannabis market can be a confusing place to newcomers. Education is vital in giving them the confidence to buy. Furthermore, a lack of information increases the chance that a customer has a negative experience with a product bought from you. Which they further decide not to return.

Get More Customer Reviews

Customer reviews play a major role in consumers’ decisions about where to shop. The more reviews you have on your website and directory listings such as your Google Business Profile, the better. A large number of reviews gives customers more confidence in your business.

The simplest way to get more customer reviews is to just ask. Additionally, reply to every review, even the negative ones. If a customer goes to review your business and sees that you are not reading or responding to any reviews, they have much less reason to give their feedback.

Don’t forget to monitor and respond to negative reviews as well. Trying to understand and manage negative reviews is also important to manage your brand reputation online.

Hire and Train Knowledgeable Staff

Finding the right cannabis product to provide the experience a customer is looking for requires a strong understanding of your entire product range and the various effects that different cannabis strains can have. Training your staff with this knowledge is vital to ensuring every customer not only leaves your store with the right product for them. But also that they enjoyed talking to and learning from your staff.

Target Underserved Niches

Some cannabis products are harder to find than others. It is likely that every dispensary in your local area sells a wide range of flowers and edibles. But what about oral sprays, topical creams, inhalers, and the many other less well-known types of cannabis products?

Offering these products can attract a loyal group of customers who can’t find what they are looking for anywhere else nearby. Find out which types of products that consumers are struggling to find at other dispensaries, and stock your own shelves with some high-quality options to fill that gap.

Providing a customer experience and buying process that is easy to understand and puts shoppers at ease ensures that they will remember shopping at your dispensary for all the right reasons. Following these tips will help you ensure that your dispensary not only stands out from the competition but also keeps your customers coming back time and time again.

 

Cannabis Marketers’ Top Digital Marketing Methods

Cannabis Marketers’ Top Digital Marketing Methods

Cannabis marketers’ top digital marketing methods are explained here. Researchers from the Cannabis Marketing Association, New Frontier Data, and NXTeck completed the 2022 Cannabis Digital Marketing Survey. Their findings indicate the following methods are most effective for cannabis businesses and their ancillary businesses:
-Website/blog: 64%

-Email marketing: 53%

-Social media: 52%

-Search Engine Optimization (SEO): 51%
In other words, the most effective digital marketing opportunity in the cannabis industry is content marketing. The top four digital marketing methods are all part of content marketing. As they far outranked all other digital marketing methods. Cannabis marketers rank earned media at 19% as the next most effective method. It should be noted that much of earned media is an extension of a brand’s content marketing strategy.

Bottom-line, there is no more powerful digital marketing opportunity for cannabis marketers than content marketing. The creation and sharing of amazing content should be a significant part of your marketing budget.

The Domino Effect of Great Content Published Often and Consistently

Content marketing is so powerful because of the domino effect. When you publish useful, meaningful, and relevant content on your blog. You’ll then have something amazing to share in your email marketing and across social media platforms.

As more people see your content in their email inboxes or preferred social media platforms. They’ll further engage with it, and some will share it with their own audiences, friends, and followers. In order to increase traffic to your website, you can repurpose a single piece of content. As well as awareness of your brand, and leads thanks to the domino effect that occurs online.

Content Marketing

It’s the marketers who understand the value of great content and their target audiences who have the most success with content marketing. These marketers know how to write content for the web (including style, formatting, SEO considerations, and more). They know how to break content into pieces to efficiently repurpose it. Then further extend its reach and lifespan far beyond what the original content could do alone.

For businesses, keep in mind is not just that you should be investing heavily in content marketing. In addition, not all marketers are content marketing experts. Visuals contribute greatly to the success of content marketing. Hence, amazing digital assets need to be created by designers. If you’re investing heavily into content marketing, make sure you have the right people to develop the best strategy. Then further implement it effectively to drive the highest returns on your investments.

The Importance of Your Blog as the Foundation of All Content Marketing

The power of content marketing starts with your blog. A blog that is part of your business’ website is an essential piece of digital marketing today. Keeping a blog updated with fresh content is the whole point of blogging. That means you’ll have more content to share. As a result, Google and other search engines will have more ways to find you.

Search engines rank high-quality, authoritative content higher than other pages in search results. You’ll get more search engine traffic if you write epic blog posts on your website. This is simply because your posts will appear higher in search results. The more people who visit your blog posts, the more who will share them across social media. Which further brings even more people to your website.

Blog Post & Marketing

Your blog also fuels your email marketing, social media marketing, and digital advertising. Blog posts give you opportunities to create targeted email marketing campaigns and social media posts (or ads). These drive people to your website, boost brand awareness, and increase leads. You can use your blog posts to promote lead magnets, such as ebooks and checklists. This can further require that visitors provide their email addresses in order to access those assets. Promote the lead magnet blog post across social media and other digital advertising methods. So, you’ll grow your email marketing list and generate more leads.

Digital Marketing in the Cannabis Industry: Key Takeaways

Marketers report that a cannabis business’ website/blog, email marketing, social media, and SEO are the most effective digital marketing methods. Much better than any other digital marketing opportunity. All of these methods are part of content marketing, so take a look at your marketing budget. Then make sure you’re allocating enough of it to content marketing.

According to the 2022 Cannabis Digital Marketing survey, only 19% of marketers say programmatic ads are the most effective. Just 17% said pay-per-click (PPC) ads are most effective, and 10% said display ads. This compares to 64% who said their website/blog was most effective, and 51%-53% who said their email marketing, social media, and SEO were most effective. Now, take a look at your budget and re-allocate accordingly.

Branding Your Cannabis Business

Logos

The logo of your cannabis brand should determine the overall brand’s visual direction. Start by focusing on your logo when rebranding or building your business. In addition, you can use it to build out the rest of your visual identity strategically. Think beyond what looks good when making creative decisions for your logo. Make sure the design aligns with the values and messaging of your business. There is no doubt that your cannabis brand’s logo plays an important role in the look of your business.

The reason for this is that it serves as a brand identifier. An effective brand logo will do three things: 1.) build trust and brand recognition. 2.) make your cannabis company or brand stand out from the competition. 3.) visually represent your brand in the most basic form. To avoid distractions, you should design your logo in black and white at first. The next step is to explore colors once your design has been solidified.

Colors

Color plays a critical role in your cannabis brand’s look and feel. Different colors evoke different emotions and often serve as a first impression for the customer. Take time to review the psychology of color. Then choose a color palette that will speak to your core demographic in the cannabis community. Color is a great way to contribute to your cannabis brand’s look and feel while adding versatility to your designs. Take advantage of the color palette that you choose – it is a chance to visually communicate with your customers. Colors can also increase recognition up to 80 percent for your cannabis brand. They further end up being the biggest reason consumers decide to buy!

Fonts

Similar to a photo or icon, fonts are a great way to elevate your designs and content. Your font choice is a way to express your cannabis brand’s personality. As well as the atmosphere you’d like to create when presenting your name and tagline in your logo. Be careful not to choose too many fonts – remember you want to stay consistent. You should choose fonts each with a specific purpose – some for print and some for the web. To determine the best font for your cannabis brand’s look and feel. Make sure that they read well,  are visually pleasing, and use them throughout all your branding assets.

Photography

You can boost your business and tap into your viewers’ visual senses by investing in quality photography. When a cannabis brand prioritizes professional photographs to showcase itself. Then they’re more likely to stand out among their competitors in the industry. By placing customers in the environment of the photograph, photography elevates a cannabis brand’s look and feel. It can make a potential client feel more trusting of a provider. Use photography as a tool to elevate your design elements and create consistency across all your social media platforms. Including flyers, website design, and collateral. A good tip is to find a set of photos that you love. Then use those exclusively across all of your cannabis brand assets. This will give your designs visual cohesiveness.

Website

Once you’ve finalized all your design elements. It’s time to build out your most important cannabis brand look and feel asset and promotional tool – your website. Often entrepreneurs make the mistake of prioritizing their website design and treating the logo as an afterthought. Having your logo ready first, allows you to incorporate your cannabis branding colors and fonts into a website. In addition to the photos that you have chosen. To ensure your website and logo work in tandem. Further, implement your core logo colors throughout the web pages as accent colors.

Consider also using your logo’s secondary colors to establish an even stronger connection. Make sure to take advantage of your website because it serves as your online store and often replaces print publications. Further, your website plays a key role in supporting your cannabis brand, facilitating sales, and generating leads. A website is a perfect way to display your cannabis brand’s look and feel. This is because it delivers your marketing message all day, every day.

Cannabis Marketing Tips in 2022

Cannabis Marketing Tips in 2022

Take Advantage Of Popular Hashtags

Participating in weekly or daily hashtag themes (via Twitter). Such as #designerweed or #cannabis, might help your company acquire the attention it deserves. Engaging in the community and contributing with hashtags that hundreds, if not millions, of people, are already using allows you to reach an audience far beyond your regular follower count.

Social Media Marketing

Know your audience and keep up with current trends on your social media platforms. What new ways could you use story formats? You can use hashtags, national or international holidays, and think outside the box.

SMS Messaging

Besides being efficient, text messaging also allows you to communicate with a large number of people. As long as you use caution and don’t break the law, you can promote your products with text messaging at a low cost. By sending targeted messages to clients, you can keep them engaged.

Paid Search

Paid search is an excellent approach to get your products in front of the relevant buyers and drive quality traffic to your website. This technique, however, will not work for cannabis advertising because Google has a policy against “ads for substances that affect the mental state for recreational purposes.” Until this guideline changes, you should focus your search-related efforts on SEO and GMB optimization.

Cannabis Websites And Blogs

By providing SEO-optimized blog posts for your website, you can market your cannabis brand through other similar sites. However, you’ll need to figure out which websites and blogs your potential clients frequent. After that, you can guest post on blogs, run ads on third-party ad platforms, or advertise on industry-related websites.

Reward Loyal Customers With More

Due to COVID-19, many customers have cut back on purchases, and products are in excess. You can also do this as a way to thank customers who stay with you regardless, just to show your appreciation.

Brand Visibility Through Event Marketing

Experiential marketing is one of the most effective methods for increasing brand awareness and affinity. You can use it to communicate and engage with your audience, as well as to increase brand loyalty. The brand experience should exceed customers’ expectations and be consistent with the company’s values. Follow WJ Media Group on Instagram for more information on cannabis marketing tips. In addition to our website where you can find more useful tips on cannabis marketing in 2022!

Click here for further information on cannabis marketing

Cannabis Marketing with WJ Media

Cannabis Marketing with WJ Media 

Cannabis Law Changes

Whenever a new state legalizes cannabis, marketing agencies look to apply their professional background to the cannabis industry. As the industry is still in its early stages, regulations are constantly changing, and growth is rapid. An organization that deals with cannabis should use a marketing firm with ethics, experience, and an extensive portfolio in the industry. That’s why we suggest choosing WJ Media Group for all of your cannabis marketing needs!

WJ Media group has thorough experience in the cannabis marketing industry. Marketing in the cannabis industry can be quite a task. The cannabis industry is notoriously harder to market in because of the more complex laws in place. Having to deal with stigmas and complicated rules, laws, and regulations is necessary. With more laws beginning to change as time goes on, the marketing of cannabis products is absolutely vital and necessary.

Every social media platform has its own set of rules and stipulations, and they all follow different guidelines. This makes cannabis marketing much more tricky than a typical product. Although it also provides room to thrive because of its niche. A cannabis company will run into issues regarding guidelines on social media. Using a media company like WJ Media will help relieve these issues and navigate safely while marketing your cannabis brand.

WJ Media’s Experience

WJ Media has experienced all of the issues that come with cannabis marketing, always finding a solution. Ranging from product information, packaging, labeling, and more. WJ Media has encountered various issues on social media platforms and worked through them. Having a company with experience in cannabis marketing is vital because of its complex rules. We here at WJ have done everything from recovering social media accounts to completely rebranding a company.

WJ Media offers multiple areas of marketing for cannabis companies.

Services:
  • Social Media Management- We define your competition and target audience. We then research what is working to generate the most traffic in your online industry, then strategize your campaign accordingly. 
  • SEO- With our tools, we help you grow your business online and then get noticed by Google.
  • Web Development- We develop modern websites for your business, then optimize for speed and efficiency
  • Google Business- We manage the back-end analytics and provide measurable results that demonstrate how our services help you reach your customers.
  • Packaging- concept, packaging design, sourcing, proofing
  • Branding- strategy, logo design, naming, copywriting
  • Web & Mail- graphic and web design, flyers design, magazine design, direct mail

For more cannabis marketing tips click here