SEO for Cannabis Businesses

Running SEO for cannabis companies takes a special skill set. Weed has plenty of devoted users, so you know your audience is out there. But it can be tricky to connect with your niche. Marijuana companies face challenges like legal gray areas, sales restrictions, and more. You can overcome these hurdles with a strong cannabis SEO strategy! Explore the best SEO for marijuana companies with tactics that work for any industry, plus unique tips designed with cannabis SEO in mind.

Transform a strategic journey to elevate your cannabis brand with proven seo business strategies techniques. Explore the essentials of cannabis branding, understand the dynamics of cannabis seo, and seamlessly integrate brand identity with strategic keyword placement for enhanced visibility. Learn how to navigate legal considerations prudently, build a resilient link profile to boost SEO authority, and implement analytics for data-driven decisions. Get ready to witness strategic growth unfold before your eyes!

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, involves designing digital content to perform well on search engines. When you look something up on Google, Bing, or any other search engine, the results are pages that address the search query. The more relevant the content, the higher the page is listed.

How does SEO impact your cannabis company? That's simple: relevant, useful, authentic content performs best. It’s easy to reach your target audience when you design your webpage to meet their needs.

Standard SEO vs. Cannabis SEO

SEO is a standard digital marketing strategy. The same tactics that boost your canna content also work for other industries. There’s plenty of value in tips that aren't specific to weed brands.

However, the marijuana industry does have its own unique needs. We have to consider legal and logistical issues most other companies don’t. These cannabis-specific SEO strategies will keep you compliant with regulations while also reaching your target audience.

Standard SEO Strategies For Cannabis Brands
Your Brand Is Your SEO Foundation

Before you craft an SEO strategy, you need to establish a powerful brand. Your brand is more than your logo, name, or tagline. A brand is more like an identity. Branding includes a company’s philosophy, goals, voice, and worldview. These elements should influence everything a weed company does: how it interacts with customers, the products it creates, how it positions itself, and much more.

If your cannabis brand is already established, great news! You’ll rely on your brand while building your SEO strategy. (If your brand is still in the works, that’s great, too. ThrivePOP’s cannabis branding will get you started on the right foot.)

How does branding impact SEO content? Your brand should combine your business philosophy and your cannabis philosophy. Build your digital content around these concepts.

For example, one company’s brand may focus on wellness while another highlights recreation. Both companies should create digital content that reflects their priorities. We’d expect the wellness brand to feature content about the benefits of THC, CBD, the endocannabinoid system, self-care, and related ideas. Meanwhile, the recreational company would focus on the different types of high, trendy strains, the best activities to combine with cannabis, and other “fun” content. 

These are just examples. Your brand’s unique priorities and messaging should be clear on every page of your site.

Craft Authentic Content

Authenticity matters in the digital marketplace. Modern customers are used to clickbait titles, sketchy ads, generic graphics, and cookie-cutter copy. Don’t try to be like other cannabis businesses. Instead, here are some ways to embrace your individuality.
Let your unique brand light up your content. Your brand identity and your ideal customer should be complementary to each other. Keep both in mind while writing content. 
Use words that feel authentic to your culture. If you wouldn’t write “tetrahydrocannabinol” on Slack, your ideal customer probably isn’t Googling that term, either. 
Address customer problems. What cannabis questions does your audience ask? Your search engine ranking will improve when you answer these questions.
Feature first-hand knowledge when possible. Most marijuana companies have a staff full of weed fans. Leverage these lived experiences to give your content an authentic ring.

Use Audience Segmentation

Audience segmentation is a classic marketing technique that divides your ideal customers into similar groups. People in these groups share characteristics like geographic location, budget, level of marijuana experience, favorite products, age, and more. Your segments may have overlapping characteristics but they should also display important differences.

For example, consider how much experience your customers have with cannabis. Weed newbies may be overwhelmed if they see the same content as more experienced users. On the other side of the coin, beginner-friendly articles can feel patronizing to lifelong marijuana fans. Group these customers into separate segments, then create content that speaks directly to them.

Select The Best Keywords

Keywords are terms people put into search engines when they’re looking for answers. Content ranks higher when it includes these phrases. That’s because search algorithms make connections between the content on your site and the terms in user searches.
What cannabis keywords are best? It all depends on your company, your audience, your products, and your goals. The idea is to use the same terms as your customers. This is true for B2B and B2C companies.

Physical dispensaries that focus on in-person sales will benefit from keywords like “best weed near me” or “prerolls in [town].” Digital dispensaries need phrases like ”buy THC online” or “mail-order weed.“ Cannabis nurseries should feature their strains in keywords. B2B companies can use keywords like “wholesale THC edibles” or “bulk retail vapes” to target other brands instead of direct consumers

Cannabis SEO
Watch The Legal Issues

The cannabis industry is still going through some growing pains. Marijuana products are locally legal in some areas, completely banned in others, and everything in between. Some jurisdictions allow goodies like CBD and delta-8, but not THC. Regions that permit sales have a range of requirements such as minimum age, licenses, medical exemptions, and more. To complicate things even further, we also need to consider the different rules at the federal, state, and municipal levels.

Decriminalization is still spreading and it’s important to watch the legal issues carefully. Make sure your SEO content meets all relevant laws, regulations, and guidelines. Keep your site up to date with regular audits. Brands in different states can have very different limits and freedoms, so don’t look to your competitors to see what’s allowed. We recommend working with an experienced cannabis agency like ThrivePOP or your legal team to stay compliant.

Avoid Medical claims 

The benefits of THC aren’t anecdotal anymore: modern research continues to uncover positive reasons to use cannabis. However, marijuana brands can’t legally make claims about their goods. The Food and Drug Administration must approve products before we can say they treat diseases or conditions. 

The FDA has only certified three cannabis-sourced products. All three require a doctor’s prescription and supervision, so most marijuana brands don’t offer them. 

This restriction is a hard one. Many people—including many of your customers—use cannabis products to manage mental and physical conditions. This means that keywords like “cannabis anxiety” or “cannabis pain” are popular. If you use these keywords, make sure not to make direct medical claims. Again, consult with your marketing and legal team for detailed advice.

Grow your cannabis business with SEO 

SEO is a powerful marketing strategy that helps you reach your target audience. You can speak directly to your ideal customers with carefully crafted content. Relevant, authentic content using specific keywords can boost your search engine rankings and drive more people to your site. You’ll get even better results by combining general SEO tools with cannabis-specific strategies! Click here to learn how cannabis SEO with ThrivePOP can keep your brand growing.