With the growing number of dispensaries in the San Francisco Bay Area, it can be a challenge to make your cannabis dispensary stand out. Have you ever thought about how important it is to get your cannabis retail store or medical cannabis dispensary to rank well in Google search results? A Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plan is an essential part of a digital marketing strategy for your cannabis dispensary. If you want to improve the SEO and search results for your cannabis business, follow these 5 tips.
1. Claim your Google My Business Page
When opening a new cannabis dispensary, one of the first digital marketing tips is to claim your Google My Business Page (GMB). Once you set this up, your cannabis dispensary’s business profile appears on the first page when people are searching for your dispensary or other cannabis dispensaries like yours on Google Search and Google Maps. By creating this page, you make it easier for your dispensary to stand out over some of the other dispensaries that don’t have a GMB. In addition, your cannabis dispensary will be able to bring more customers in.
2. Choose the Appropriate Business Category for your Cannabis Dispensary on GMB and Yelp
A detail as small as picking the appropriate business category on your Google My Business Page for your cannabis dispensary can have a large effect on your local SEO strategy. For GMB, make sure that you pick the most accurate categories as possible. Choosing the right categories can positively influence your rank on Google Maps. For other platforms, such as Yelp, make sure that you maximize the number of categories that you are allowed to use (3) so that you can appear in more searches.
3. Optimize your GMB and Yelp pages with Photos
One of the best and easiest ways to optimize your GMB and Yelp pages is to simply post photos of your cannabis and dispensary. Include photos of your cannabis products, budtenders, and even your satisfied customers (with permission). On a side note, make sure that the pictures are of good quality so that your cannabis dispensary can maintain a professional reputation. To serve as a local ranking signal to search engines, in the photo’s file name include the dispensary’s name, address, and the city.
4. Work Hard for Positive Customer Reviews on GMB and Yelp
Even though it may not seem that important, positive customer reviews are essential for the good reputation of your business. In addition to the reputation, online customer reviews will help with the SEO and local search rankings of your business. Your cannabis dispensary should work closely with your budtenders to make sure that good customer service is the priority of the business, that way your customer reviews can be positive. Positive customer reviews indirectly allow your business to grow.
5. Social Media Produces Social Signals
Believe it or not, keeping engaged in social media helps your dispensary’s SEO and search rankings. Social profiles for dispensaries can show up in Google searches of the profiles are optimized. SEO can also develop from the active interactions/ social signals on your social media. Social signals like favorites, likes, votes, pins, filter out to the various search engines and as one can imagine, the more interaction, the higher your business ranks.
Follow these tips to help your cannabis dispensary grow. At Piedmont Avenue Consulting, Inc. we can help market and grow your dispensary whether you’re located in the San Francisco or Los Angles area. Piedmont Avenue Consulting, Inc. is a San Francisco Bay Area-based business development and marketing consulting firm that creates brand awareness, strengthens customer loyalty, and increases lead generation by leveraging new technologies and streamlining business processes.
If you are interested in learning more about the best marketing strategies and business practices for your dispensary, visit our cannabis marketing page or schedule a free consultation today!
